Activities for Assisted Living Residents

Planners must also consider events that cater to the special needs of senior citizens in assisted living, such as physical mobility and maintaining mental sharpness. Many options for activity planners exist that allow them to create programs beneficial to their clients.

Exercise

According to AARP, exercise helps seniors live longer. It also helps maintain cognitive function. Several resources exist for use in helping assisted living residents to get a work out that equals their ability level. For instance, using a Nintendo Wii video game entertains while promoting physical activity. The Wii game simulating bowling allows player who can stand to get on their feet and swing their arms to throw the electronic bowling ball toward the screen with the pins. For those in a wheel chair, they still may participate by throwing the ball at the pins, exercising their arms and mental concentration skills.

Group exercises for people at assisted living are available on DVD. Using a large screen television, these specially designed programs cater to those with limited or deteriorating mobility.

Entertainers

Many local entertainers offer their services free or at a discounted rate to assisted living facilities. Visiting local church websites, for instance, one might discover a choir that would be willing to volunteer to come and sing for residents.

Event planners could ask the assisted living residents if they have any friends or family members who perform that might come and share their talent.

Games

Using games amuses assisted living residents and helps sharpen mental faculties. "Bingo" improves mental focus, as players listen for numbers and search their cards for a match. "Name That Tune" exercises memory recall as players strive to remember songs from their past. The "Guess Who" game has players provide a photo of themselves as a baby and other guess which baby photo is of which player. This game enlists concentration skills and promotes conversation for players about their history.

Education

Continuing education for seniors caters to the capabilities and needs of older people. Most towns have listings of continuing education courses broken down by target student groups. Event planners for an assisted living could contact the town or the instructors to attempt to arrange for classes to occur on site.

Classes on DVD also make a fine choice for educational opportunities for seniors. For instance, showing programs on learning a foreign language can meet weekly, allowing participants to practice what they learned each week.