Large Group Activities

The Activity Director's Office Presents
Activity Ideas That Work
by Gina Salazar, AD

LARGE GROUP ACTIVITIES

TRAVEL HOUR:

PICK A DESTINATION,PICK UP A TRAVEL VIDEO FROM THE
LIBRARY OF THAT DESTINATION,GET SMALL ITEMS FROM THAT
DESTINATION,SERVE FOOD AND PLAY MUSIC...FOR
EXAMPLE,"WERE GOING TO MEXICO",GET A VIDEO ON
MEXICO,BRING IN A MEXICAN HAT,PONCHO,OR
MARACAS,WATCH THE VIDEO,THEN LET YOUR RESIDENTS
REMINISE ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES IN MEXICO WHILE SIPPING
ON MARGARITAS
(NON-ALCOHOLIC OF COURSE) AND NACHOS, PLAY MARIACHI
MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND.OTHER FUN PLACES TO
VISIT:CHINA(SERVE WON TONS AND HOT GREEN TEA)OR VISIT
FRANCE(SERVE FRENCH PASTRIES
OR CROSSANTS).HAVE FUN WITH IT AND USE YOUR
IMAGINATION!!!!

NAME THAT TUNE:

GET DIFFERENT OLDIES MUSIC(40'S AND 50'S) AND RECORD
SMALL BITS OF THE SONGS AND LET RESIDENTS TRY TO
GUESS WHAT THE TITLES ARE,WHEN THE SONGS CAME
OUT,ETC.STOP BETWEEN SONGS AND LET RESIDENTS
REMINISE ABOUT EACH SONG OR SING IT FOR THE
GROUP.SOME FUN QUESTIONS TO ASK:WHERE WERE YOU
WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THIS SONG?HOW OLD WERE YOU?DID
YOU EVER DANCE TO IT?DID YOUR PARENTS?
THIS ACTIVITY IS GREAT FOR ALL RESIDENTS,IT ALWAYS GETS
RESIDENTS TALKING AND INTERACTING...

BALLOON POP AND PLAY:

YOU WILL NEED ABOUT 20-30 BALLOONS, TAKE SMALL PIECES
OF PAPER AND WRITE SILLY THINGS TO DO ON EACH
PAPER(MAKE A FUNNY FACE, ACT LIKE A MONKEY,GIVE YOUR
SELF A BIG HUG,STICK OUT YOUR TOUNGE,SING THE
ALPHABET SONG,ETC.)WRITE SOMETHING ON EACH PIECE AND
STUFF ONE PAPER PER BALLOON AND BLOW UP BALLOON AND
TIE.THEN PUT YOUR RESIDENTS IN A LARGE CIRCLE AND LET
EACH RESIDENT PICK A BALLOON AND POP IT AND DO
WHATEVER IT SAYS TO DO .THIS ACTIVITY IS PRETTY FUN AND
A LOT IF LAUGHS!!!

BINGO:

Now what would an Activity Program be without Bingo?
In every place that I have worked as an Activity Director,the
residents LOVE BINGO!!
Spice it up though,play Pokeno (just like Bingo but played with a
deck of cards and the players cards have card faces instead of
BINGO and numbers on them) you can find the game in most toy
stores or WalMart.Or you could play Jingo, another variation of
Bingo sold by the Gary Grimm Company or in most teacher supply
stores.Or Play Lotteria,the spanish version of Bingo,also alot of fun!
There are so many fun versions of Bingo out there,just look around!