I like to think that planning activities is not simply a task or job, but that it is an art. It is a craft that one can hone. Just like any other craft, it is not easily mastered overnight or by working in the field for a long period of time. In fact, I still consider myself to be at the beginning of my journey to hone my craft of being an activity professional.
I’m sure that every activity director, in every facility, comes across the same problem. Namely, that activities are becoming too routine and mundane for the participants in the facility. Of course, this is just one extra idea to spice things up, but I hope that by sharing my thought process behind this activity, I can help inspire others to innovate on their own.
Initially, our program was lacking variety in our table games. We can only play UNO and Yahtzee so many times before the staff and even those with short-term memory loss grow bored of it. In looking for a new activity, I wanted to start by investigating what sort of games our members used to enjoy. This way, I hoped to find an activity that would be readily relatable and feel comfortable for the members when we began playing. It turns out, somebody mentioned that their family played BUNCO with their neighbors and that it was a riot whenever they got together. At this point I was slightly petrified, I had never even heard of BUNCO.
