Beach Blanket Bingo

As a kick off to our  September "So Long  Summer" We held a Beach Blanket BINGO scavenger hunt  with the staff and residents. I scattered beach themed items around the facility- most things were in plain sight, but a couple were more challenging. I had the entire staff help residents (and the residents helping the staff) find them. The game is ongoing all day - so that 2nd & 3rd shift can play too. Thank You to Christine at Re-Creative Resources for the idea!

* I told the staff yesterday that it was beach day and it would be nice if the residents were dressed tropical. Some of the residents even became part of the game with what they were wearing.  I asked a few residents if they would wear a flower in their hair or on their hat. Because it is summer- some of the staff had tropical scrubs on as well and they also became part of the hunt!

*I wore my "beach skirt" - it has flip-flops, sailboats, bikinis, ice cream, umbrellas etc on it. I also put a flower in my hair.

*I have been hyping up this activity to the residents all week and explained it in detail to them yesterday. Repetition is key- that’s why they play commercials over and over again!

*I reminded staff this morning and told them there were prizes.

*I announced over the loudspeaker what was happening.

*In one living room I put on a CD that had songs like Surf City, Wipeout etc. In the other living room I put the movie Free Willy on- there is a killer whale on the Bingo Card :)  The history channel even had a show with sharks and other creatures and it was on in some of the residents rooms. Wasn't that nice of them to schedule it for me? :)

*Because I am excited, the residents got excited, and most of the staff got excited. There are always a couple party poopers- “I’m too busy working….” just ignore them. I started last year working with our staff to get them involved-  Whenever we have popcorn, smoothies or other treats- I make sure the staff gets a treat too.  I have special contests through out the year to go with the activities. Sometimes I will give out tickets for bringing residents to activities or when I catch them doing something nice. Later this month- I will be hiding flamingos around the facility for the staff to find- each time they find one they get a ticket. We draw for silly prizes- nothing expensive- sometimes its just a free pop- but the staff know that I appreciate them, so they do help me out when they can.  It is amazing what a little bit of appreciation can do!

*I handed out Bingo Cards to everyone- even if they were in their rooms and not “coming” to the activity. As they came out to lunch- they found items on the list- because most were in plain sight- and they got involved. I used “beachy” napkins that had some of the items on the list and put quite a few items in the dining room. I hid duplicates of a few items on either end of the building and if I didn't have the item I just printed a picture from the Publisher clip-art.

*Visitors and family members also got a Bingo card and were invited to play along.

*It was so much fun watching everyone searching for things- residents and staff were searching, laughing, and helping each other. I may have to do a different themed BINGO scavenger hunt in the near future....fall, Christmas, (hmm maybe with the kids) St Patrick's Day....there are a myriad of possibilities! 

If anyone wants to use our BINGO cards, I have a pdf of the BINGO card I made - I just haven't figured out how to post it here. Email me and I will send it to you!

Ikea frame make over

I love how these turned out! I used some ikea frames that I got at a garage sale. I painted them with Rust O leum Caribbean sands spray paint. They feel sandy. :) the paint didn't work quite the way I planned but that's okay. The people at Rust oleum were great to work with.
Anyway, I glued seashells, stones from the dollar store, and "kitchen twine" round them and added some vacay pix from SanDiego. Simple Sunday afternoon project!

from this to that! :-)  (of course since my phone put the pix in backwards - I guess its more like "this FROM that" :-)

Fence me in

I saw this fence on Pinterest and decided that it needed to go in my laundry room. However, we seem to have a shortage of drift wood around here in farm country. so I found some "value" wood for 2.00 and looked up how to age it. Seems easy enough... just vinegar, water and a steel wool pad soaked overnight. Then painted on the wood.
I dipped the end in the solution and it is already greying. If you look closely you can see the difference. Check back later for the results.

Ramblings

I had Monday off Work and planned to work on some WIP s and try tocatch up with Mt. Laundremore. But I walked into the laundry room and started cleaning. And Then I started painting... You see a few years ago I decided decorate my laundry room in a beachy theme. I bought paint and rearranged so the garage and laundry room could be separate rooms. Then life jumped in and the paint sat in the closet and the garage encroached itself back into the laundry area once again. I decided that I was going to get it done this year for sure! I bought shelves for totes and have been dreaming about it for so long.so Monday I started. So far I have painted three sections and myself blue. :) I have two sections to go and a stinky spot that I can't reach without moving the washer . These are some before pictures.lighting is awful, sorry. The last pictures are from the picnic the kidlets and I took yesterday evening.