Valentine’s Day is upon us once again. What better way is there to celebrate the most loving of days than with some fun Valentine’s arts and crafts and other activities to keep your care home residents occupied? From making beautiful decorations to sharing precious memories, here are some ideas to put everyone in a ‘love-ly’ mood this month.
Crafting cards
In the run up to Valentine’s Day, your residents might enjoy making cards to exchange with their loved ones, friends or even each other. These needn’t be romance themed – there are many different kinds of love! The wonderful thing about making cards is that there is a huge varieties of techniques, ideas and materials to use that you can have a lot of fun with it as an activity. You could bring out the watercolour and pencils and hold an afternoon or painting or drawing, or cut out pictures from magazines to create a collage. Check out an origami video online or lay out the supplies for an embroidery or sewing session.
Flowers for everyone
Talking of origami, the Japanese art of folding paper remains a popular pastime to this day, and some of the most enjoyable types of models to make include flowers. Buy some lovely pastel papers, geta few tutorials up online and see who can make the most flowers. Other ideas to make Valentine’s Day flowers include crochet, knitting, clay or papier mâché. You could use the results to decorate the care home, perhaps by hanging them up in garlands or arranging them in vases to bring some colour to winter’s dull days. You could even run a flower arranging class to create some beautiful displays for the lunch table or for people to keep in their rooms.
Baking
They say that the way to a person’s heart in through their stomach. Hearts, flowers and ribbons make a delightful theme for decorating cakes and biscuits, while getting people involved in cooking special treats or meals for Valetine’s Day evening would make a lovely pastime. You could invite friends and family members to join you for an afternoon of tasting or even hold a Bake Off style competition and challenge residents to create something on a theme. Just don’t get too competitive on what is supposed to be a celebration of love and friendship!
Memories and stories
As they get older, many people love to reminisce about their lives and the people who they loved and were friends with along the way. If your residents have any photos, you could help them make scrapbooks about the best parts of their life – and write poems or stories alongside each picture. This would make a wonderful record of people’s favourite moments and be something that they could pass on to friends and family members as a memento. If people prefer not to write the details down, you could help them record anecdotes and memories on an audio recording device so that their own voice can tell the story instead.
Music and movies
It’s no coincidence that most pop songs are written about love in its many forms, and indeed other genres too, such as opera and musical theatre. Why not put together a selection of love-themed songs and play them over tea and cake, or dinner one evening to celebrate Valentine’s Day? You could even invite a musician or group to come and perform live love songs and hold a gentle dance class for anyone who would like to join in. Music can unlock the door to so many memories and emotions and is something that most, if not all people can enjoy and engage with, in one way or another.
Romantic movies are also highly popular and would make a fun theme for an afternoon film club. They can be a wonderful form of escapism and would be a great way to bring the theme of love and romance into your care home. Choose from the classics for an indulgent trip down memory lane, or have a chuckle with a modern-day rom-com. Either way, Hollywood had a knack for romantic storytelling that will go down really well with your care home residents this 14 February. Don’t forget to serve tea and cake, or champagne and nibbles for the full experience.