Easy activity. Fun with the residents!

[Missingyou, CNA]

Here is how to make a catapult out of "popscile sticks" I got at a dollar store, some rubberbands, and a cap (from a milk carton or soda bottle). We launched cotton balls.

The residents had a BLAST with them!!!!! and they were so simple to make and carry into work!!

I made about 6 of these and took them to the nursing home where I work. It was so much fun!! I brought them into the diningroom and handed some to other CNA's to help. We showed a few how to use them and then stepped back.

We let each person shoot them a few times then moved to the next person.

Most everyone laughed and had a fun time. Even the ones who typically don't interact because of late stages of dementia would react positively to a cotton ball flying past or at them!! :)

I choose to do this in the 15 minutes or so while waiting for dinner because I wanted it to be supervised. I didn't want anyone tumbling out of their chairs while reaching for a cottonball on the floor....Not to mention the attention spans for many of them lasted only a few minutes. The "higher functioning" resident's played much longer.

or P is for Preschooler - P is for Preschooler

What are some of your favorite activities you've seen with the residents? Ideas for activities that can be done while waiting for help getting to bed would be helpful! As we often have very borded resident's (with dementia) sitting in the hallways at 8pm since activity aides have all gone home.

[hookyarnandblanket]

Our activity director recently quit so another CNA and I are sort of filling in. One thing I am going to do is cover some Styrofoam cups with orange construction paper and draw jack-o-lantern faces on the paper, stack them, and have patients "smash" pumpkins with a koosh ball. I am also going to wrap a roll of toilet paper in orange tissue paper, and lay down a strip of tape on the floor and have them "chunk" a "pumpkin."

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

For a minute, I really thought you were talking about shooting new doctors with your homemade catapults!!!!! Hahahaha! Love this idea, going to do it with my kids!!!