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Free Activity Ideas with Photos

The ideas below were contributed by Activity Professionals, who have taken our Courses. Please note, this information is the only that is available regarding these ideas. You may need to use your imagination and creativity, if some details are missing. Please enjoy the Activity Ideas with Photos they are sharing with you!

#1. Nutrition Bingo - ACC, Shippens, PA
To simplify the Picture Bingo Card above to the left, Card with only four large pictures can be made for dementia residents. (Or two large pictures).Photo to the right shows Western theme Bingo card played to "black out."

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#2. Puppet Therapy ADC, - Flourtown, PA
Puppet Therapy brings great smiles on our residents' faces. They named our monkey "Chee Chee" and pet him, talk to him, smile and hug him. The resident pictured is 99 years old and crocheted the cape you see on "Chee Chee." She did not measure it, but it fits perfectly.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#3. Button Sorting - Assist. Activity Director, South Point, OH
Using different color buttons, the resident is asked to put, for example, all of the green buttons together, or just match different colors or sizes together. Also, they can put buttons with 2 holes together etc.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#4. Matching Game - Activity Director, Lititz, PA
Materials: 3 pairs of silk flowers (bright colors work best)
2" X 3" pieces of light wood or card board (6)
Hot glue
Glue one flower to each piece of wood. Have the resident match the flowers in pairs. This is a great way to get the resident talking about gardening. You can make it easier or harder by making more flowers.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#5. Calendar Puzzles - Assistant Administrator, St. Louis, MO
I use old calendars and make puzzles out of them, cut the pieces into easy shapes and laminate them.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#6. Shape Matching/Bingo - Activity Director, Surfside, FL
Similar to geometric puzzle in that resident needs to match color/shape. Also, can be used like Bingo. And can be adapted for lower functioning residents further by using 1, 2, 3 or 4 shapes on a card.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#7. Bracelet Ring Toss - Activity Director, Ashtabula, OH
This was made by using a white bowl with a tube that once contained glitter. It was filled with colored beads and glued shut. The tube is secured to the bowl by a screw, from the bottom. The rings are bracelets. The bright colors and the sound of the rings when they fall seem to be an enjoyment to the residents.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#8. Folding Baby Clothes - Activity Director, Dyersburg, TN
This resident's pasttime- she enjoys folding baby clothes- "Sucess Therapy". The has control of the whole activity and also reminisces along the way. She has a great attention span for this and she stays with her focus until completed.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#9. Towel Folding - Activity Director, Walkersville, MD
The activity below is Towel Folding. Some residents do well with little instruction but others need a lot of assistance. When project is completed we praise them and they feel a level of accomplishment.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#10. Decorative Clothing - Activity Director, Marienville, PA
Involves clothing and color sorting. Materials needed are craft foam and a hole punch.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#11. Clothespins on a Rod - Activity Director, Tallulah, LA
"Clothespins on a Rod" is an activity enjoyed by residents who feel satisfaction in being able to squeeze the clothespin to put it on a rod. Various adaptations include: the number and color of clothespins used, placement of clothespins, and using a timer to "beat the bell". (I saw a picture of somthing similar in a book and my father made it for me.)

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#12. More Calendar Puzzles - Activity Director, Brooklyn, NY
Make a puzzle from calendar photos. Cut photo from calendar and adapt to resident's ability- i.e. cut into 2 pieces; cut into 3 pieces. Have resident put pieces together to form photo.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#13. Aromatherapy - Activity Director, Columbus, OH
I use Aromatherapy scents and oils which gives residents opportunities to respond with their face and eyes or share a memory of the scent. The aromatherapy machine is plugged in to give aroma. The waterfall is put on, tapes are also used such as waterfalls or the ocean, etc. I also use sensory stimulation activities. The picture show box of feel and touch activities. Also, we use sound.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#14. Dough Rolling - Activity Director, Bedford, VA
Materials: 1 Rolling Pin, Soft Clay or Flour Dough
PLace hands on roll, have resident roll out clay/flour. If flour dough is used they thingk they are making bread. This is good for stretching, and uses eye hand coordiniation

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#15.Sensory Bags- Activity Director, Sheboygan, WI
At our facility, the Activity Dept. has just recently implemented sensory bags. These cloth bags wre made by our Auxiliary. The bags are approximately 12 x 12 with two loops on the top that slide over the handles of each resident's wheelchair. In each bag, we used their past and present interests to place sensory items that the staf may use as a diversional or 1 on 1 activity. Some items that we have placed in the bags include: small music boxes, singing fish, reminisce books, picture books of flowers, animals, baby dolls with clothes or blankets, stuffed animals, etc. Each bag is labeled for acitvity purposes and each bag also has a sensory card describing each resident.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#16. Follow Your Nose- Activity Director, Howards Grove, WI
This sensory activity has been very successful with both my high and low functioning residents. This was an activity purchased through an activity catalog. The fucus of this acitivty is to fucus on residents olfactory abilities. There are cards that correspond with little containers with smells. (such as strawberry, grass cuttings, wood, cinnamon, roses) Resident is asked to smell a smell, and is given two cards- resident is asked to tell the leader which of the picture cards represents the smell.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#17. Animal Matching- Activity Director, Beaver Dam, WI
Match the baby animal to its mother. Can start with one mother and have resident pick which baby. Add more animals. Can make baby and mother animal from some pattern, just different sizes, to simplify- then match big animal (big brother) to little animal (little brother). We sing a couple of animal songs with it.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#18. Fitting Shapes- Activity Director, Toledo, OH
I saw something like this in an activity booklet, due to limited activity funds, I took patterns home to my husband, and he made this project for me which works very well for low cognitive people. Fitting shapes and matching colors, good for eye hand coordination, and gives a sense of accomplishment. Increases attention and general response.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#19. Paper Plate Flowers- Activity Director, Ocean View, NJ
Materials: paper pie plate, different colored tissue paper. Just roll up the tissue paper and stick glued on to make a summer flower, paper squares cut ahead of time, residents hung them on their doors, have done other ideas with the plates and tissue paper, these projects are done once a week, with the help of staff and volunteers, residents enjoy showing off their finished craft projects.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.
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#20. Mailbox on Wheels- Activity Director, Summit, MS
Helps with motor skills, cognitive and social skills, reality, and reminds them of tasks of everyday.

All photos on this site are used with the permission of the facility, resident and/or family.