Celebrate National Bird Day

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be




Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two



Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Celebrate National Bird Day on January 5


Use this fun word search

Activities Directors-Ideas for January

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire


Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Activities Directors, other healthcare professionals and caregivers.
Here are some special days in early January.
You can make an activity out of each one of the items listed
Theirs is something in everyday of January to celebrate. In fact, most days there is more than one thing, so pick and choose to your heart’s content and make every day a special one. Here are a few left over from yesterday’s post - Prune Breakfast Month, National Book Blitz Month, Bread Machine Baking Month, Egg Month, Reaching Your Potential Month, Senior Woman’s Travel Month.

January 1

New Years Day
Betsy Ross’s Birthday (1752)
French New Year (Le Jour de l’an)
Ellis Island Anniversary (opened 1892)
Paul Revere’s Birthday (1735)
Income Tax (the first U.S. income tax in effect, 1862)
Panama Canal (beginning of building it in 1880)
1st Tournament of Roses (Pasadena, CA, 1886)
Chattananooga Choo Choo #1 Song (Glenn Miller,1942)
Sixteen Tons #1 Song (Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1956)
The Sounds of Silence #1 Song (Simon & Garfunkel, 1966)
Time in a Bottle #1 Song (Jim Croce, 1974)

More about National Activity Professional's week

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Don't Forget! National Activity Professionals Week. What are you doing?
2018 National Activity Professional Week

The National Association of Activity Professionals Celebrates

National Activity Professionals Week

January 21-27, 2018

The National Association of Activity Professionals

is proud to announce our theme:

People, Purpose, Passion

Activity professionals week: The importance of activities

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be




Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two



Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

NAAP


Why do we do the activities that we do? Is it just for fun? No, everything we do has a therapeutic purpose.
Did you know???? Games like horseshoes, floor basketball, ring toss, bowling, bean bag toss, etc. improve
eye-hand coordination, improve mobility, increase socialization, allow for competition, help control emotional
tensions by reducing stress, improve muscle tone, improve circulation, enhance leisure skills, improve gross
motor skills, etc.
Did you know???? Something as simple as a singalong or musical activity enhances memory recall, encourages
socialization, helps identify feelings such as warmth, happy, sad, relieves spiritual needs, relieves depression,
allows for expression and creativity, stimulates ears, vocal cords and facial muscles, etc.Did you know???? Crafts and art activities provide opportunities for self-expression and creativity, improve
coordination and flexibility, build confidence, enhance leisure skills, promote knowledge for new interests,
provide a sense of achievement, relieve tensions, improve fine motor skills, etc.
Did you know???? Activities such as trivia, spelling bees, reminiscent groups, Jeopardy, Family Feud,
hangman, etc. stimulates the intellect, improves memory recall, increases long term memory, invokes feelings
from the past, stimulates conversation, increases socialization, increases knowledge, improves self-esteem,
etc.
Did you know???? Entertainment activities provide auditory and visual sensory stimulation, help relieve
depression, promote socialization, help control emotional tensions, etc.
Did you know???? Bingo encourages socialization and interaction, increases concentration levels, increases
eye-hand coordination, allows for competition, etc.
Did you know???? Religious programs relieve spiritual needs, invoke feelings from the past, promote
community integration, elevate emotional well-being, reduce anxiety, provide for socialization, provide
opportunities for reminiscence, etc.
Therapeutic activities…the benefits are endless:
Heightens self-awareness, sharpens cognitive skills, reduces heart and lung risks, increases short and long
term memory, decreases confusion, improves skills for coping, reduces stress, enhances self-control,
promotes adjustment to disability, enhances communication skills, increases life and leisure satisfaction,
prevents secondary health problems, prevents decline in health status, reduces long term hospital stays,
increases physical conditioning, expands support networks, learns acceptable behaviors, enhances
independent living skills, increases self-reliance, improves cardiovascular functioning, maintains productivity,
increases strength and endurance, expands range of motion, enhances decision making skills, and the list goes
on!
National Activity Professionals Week is January 21-27, 2018

department's job to plan celebrations, but in this case the activity professionals are the honorees, and
someone else should plan the celebration.
NAP Week was created by the National Association of Activity Professionals (NAAP) to provide a format
for facilities to honor and recognize the dedicated activity professionals who contribute significantly to the
residents’ quality of life. As activity professionals, we should use this week to provide education to the
interdisciplinary team, volunteers, and families about the role we play in the residents’ lives. This can be
done through in-services, speaking to the Family Council, designing fun activities for the interdisciplinary
team to participate in, hosting an activity-based "fair" similar to a health fair, etc.
One way to promote cooperation among the interdisciplinary team is to take this opportunity to have the
activity professionals distribute Hershey's "hugs and kisses" to everyone assisting with the activity
program and/or helping the residents pursue their leisure interests. Have your staff keep track of everyone
receiving the "hugs and kisses" and then make certificates for each helper, acknowledging them as an
"official member" of the activity team. Distribute the certificates at the end of the week during a special
social honoring the activity professionals.
Be sure to make this week special for yourself and your staff. You deserve it!January is:
Celebration of Life Month: With the New Year comes a "clean slate" – a new beginning, a new life for all

Days to celebrate in January

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals,

Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two

Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

Base activities around them

January days There is something in everyday of January to celebrate. In fact, most days there is more than one thing, so pick and choose to your heart’s content and make every day a special one. Here are a few left over from yesterday’s post - Prune Breakfast Month, National Book Blitz Month, Bread Machine Baking Month, Egg Month, Reaching Your Potential Month, Senior Woman’s Travel Month.

January 1

New Years Day
Betsy Ross’s Birthday (1752)
French New Year (Le Jour de l’an)
Ellis Island Anniversary (opened 1892)
Paul Revere’s Birthday (1735)
Income Tax (the first U.S. income tax in effect, 1862)
Panama Canal (beginning of building it in 1880)
1st Tournament of Roses (Pasadena, CA, 1886)
Chattananooga Choo Choo #1 Song (Glenn Miller,1942)
Sixteen Tons #1 Song (Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1956)
The Sounds of Silence #1 Song (Simon & Garfunkel, 1966)
Time in a Bottle #1 Song (Jim Croce, 1974)

January 2

Drinking Straw was Patented (1888)
Boo Boo Bears Birthday (Yogi’s Buddy)
Run It up the Flagpole and See if Anybody Salutes (throw an idea out and see what people think)
Brooklyn Bridge Construction (1870)
First Picture of the Moon (1839 by Louis Daguerre, France)
First Female White House Staffer (Alice Sanger, 1890)
Oil Reached $100 a Barrel (2008)
Let Me Call You Sweetheart #1 Song (Columbia Male Quartet, 1912)
The Tennessee Waltz #1 Song (Patti Page, 1951)
Are You Lonesome Tonight #1 Song (Elvis Presley, 1961)

January 3

Fruitcake Toss Day (do we need an explanation for this one?)
Festival of Sleep Day (catch a few extra winks)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday (1892)
Mel Gibson’s Birthday (1956)
First U.S. Free Kindergarten (1876)
“Dragnet” Premiered (1952, TV with Jack Webb)
Alaska Admitted to U.S. (49th state, 1959)
I’m Always Chasing Rainbows #1 Song (Charles Harrison, 1919)
June in January #1 Song (Bing Crosby, 1935)
Your So Vain #1 Song (Carly Simon, 1973)

January 4

Isaac Newton’s Birthday (1642)
Trivia Day
Louis Braille’s Birthday (1809 - the Braille System)
Jakob Grimm’s Birthday (1785 - Grimm’s Fairy Tales)
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes #1 Song (Perry Como, 1953)
I Heard it Through the Grapevine #1 Song (Marvin Gaye, 1969)

January 5

National Bird Day
Diane Keaton’s Birthday (1946)
Robert Duvall’s Birthday (1931)
First Woman Governor Inaugurated (Wyoming - Nellie Ross - 1925)
Golden Gate Bridge (started in 1933)
“Mr. Ed” Debuts (1961)
“All My Children” Debuts (1970)
“The Wiz” Broadway (opened 1975)
Reggie Jackson Hall of Fame (1993)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight #1 Song (The Tokens, 1962)
Mr. Sandman #1 Song (The Chordettes, 1955)

January 6

Bean Day (make some 15 bean soup - yum)
Cuddle Up Day
Dia de Reyes (Mexican holiday)
Sherlock Holmes Birthday (1887 - author Arthur Conan Doyle)
Joan of Arc’s Birthday (1412)
New Mexico 47th U.S. State (1912)
Tiger Rag #1 Song (Mills Brothers, 1932)
At the Hop #1 Song (Danny & the Juniors, 1958)

January 7

Old Rock Day (time to make your own Pet Rock while listening to “old“ rock n roll music)
Kenny Loggin’s Brithday (1948)
Millard Filmore’s Birthday (1800)
“Flash Gordon” Comic Strip Debut (1934)
First Class U.S. Postage Raised to 5 Cents (1963)
I Will Always Love You #1 Song (Whitney Houston, 1993)
How Deep is Your Love #1 Song (Bee Gees, 1978)

January 8

Bubble Bath Day
Clean Off Your Desk Day
Elvis Presley’s Birthday (1935) (this one’s for you Susan)
David Bowie’s Birthday (1947)
National Man Watcher’s Day
Bobby Fisher Wins U.S. Chess Championship (at age 14, 1958)
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head #1 Song (B.J. Thomas, 1970)
Hello Goodbye #1 Song (Beetles, 1968)

January 9

National Apricot Day
National Static Electricity Day
Crystal Gayle’s Birthday (1951)
Bob Denver’s Birthday (1935)
Richard Nixon’s Birthday (1913)
Isle of Capri #1 Song (Ray Noble, 1935)
The Chipmunk Song #1 Song (Ray Seville, 1959)

January 10

First Meeting of the United Nations (London 1946)
Peculiar People Day (I knew they had a day for me)
Pat Benatar’s Birthday (1953)
George Foreman’s Birthday (1949)
Rod Stewart’s Birthday (1945)
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing #1 Song (Leo Sayer, 1977)
I’m a Believer #1 Song (Monkeys, 1967)

Continued in another post

January 4 is trivia day

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is some great information


Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,


Your residents will love the Amazon Kindle Fire




Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be




Here is a way for nurses administrators, social workers and other health care  professionals to get an easyceu or two



Follow alzheimersideas on twitter

The Dementia Caregiver's Little Book of Hope [Kindle Edition]

To all the readers of this blog who are eager to learn more about dementia, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy new year

Use this trivia as part of an activity


There are loads of sites on the internet where you can access trivia games for almost any subject you can think of by just Googling “Trivia.” However, I’ve come up with my own trivia questions. This is a great idea for a party game or for a “girls” lunch. Print these questions (and any you would like to add), make copies for everyone ahead of time with no name at the top. Cut them into strips and place them in a container. At the party or get-to-gather, for each question pulled have one person guess who’s answer it is. Keep score and have a prize for the person guessing the most correct answers.


(1) Where were you born?


(2) What is your favorite color?


(3) Do you have any tattoos? How many?


(4) What is your favorite all-time book?


(5) What is your favorite all-time movie?


(6) How many piercings do you have?


(7) What is your favorite TV Show?


(8) What is your favorite Dessert?


(9) Where did you do on your last vacation?


(10) What is the most obscure job you’ve ever had?


(11) Where have you lived that most don’t know about?


(12) If you had to choose one favorite food, what would it be?


(13) Where do you dream of going some day?


(14) What food do you hate the most?


(15) What is your favorite song of all times? Why?