Pass out bags of confetti or silly string and toss around small balloons during a fun confetti throwing party game. To play the game, seat residents in two rows of chairs facing one another. Countdown from 10 and have residents toss as much confetti and as many balloons to the other side for about a minute. Encourage residents to throw back any confetti or balloons that land on them or on their side. The object of the game is to have the least amount of confetti on your side when time is up.

Want to reflect on everything that happened in 2021 with your residents and within your community? Invite residents to reflect and reminisce about 2021 and all the fun events and activities from the year. Go around the room and ask residents to list all the things that they wish they had done during 2021 and one favourite memory they had for the year.

Want to celebrate the countdown to 12, but 12pm? Help residents countdown to 12 o’clock noon in your communities dining room during a champagne brunch. Serve a nice brunch with champagne and provide hats and horns for residents to wear and do the countdown and celebration to ring at 12pm.

What is the first word you think of when you hear “New Year’s”? Many people would say “Resolution”. So why not use New Year’s Resolution to create a fun, active program that helps residents meet one another. For The Resolution Shuffle, each resident prints their New Year’s resolution on a recipe card. You can then shuffle them all together and pass them out. Each person must then match the resolution to the correct resident by asking questions until they find out the owner of the resolution. This activity creates an occasion for ongoing dialogue between residents as they check in with one another to see how a resolution is going.

Get your residents together to set resolutions for the New Year. These could be personal, such as reading a book a week. Or they could involve your community’s life enrichment program, such as attending one program a week, exercising twice a week, or striking up a conversation with someone new at a program every month. Resolution setting is a great way to get motivated, connect with others, and look forward to the future!

Create a modern-looking painting of fireworks using bendable straws and acrylics.

1. Tape 7 straws together directly underneath the bendable necks.
2. Bend open the straw tops. (See the second image in Gallery)
3. Select 2 or 3 paint colors that work well together and squeeze a dime-sized amount of each onto a lid or plate.
4. Dip the straw bundle into the “palette” until all the straw tops are covered in paint.
5. Place the straws onto a piece of paper and use your finger to gently flatten them so they all touch the paper.
6. Lift the straws off the paper and rotate them slightly before pressing them down again. Repeat several times.
7. Wash off the straws and try a different color combination.

This activity is a warm-up exercise used by teachers and professional actors. Residents can do the exercise themselves, or you can have staff demonstrate the techniques.

What is tableau?

Tableau is a drama technique that is used to help actors understand their character in relation to the people and objects around them. Freeze-frames are a form of tableau. With freeze-frame, the action in a play or scene is frozen, as in a photograph or video frame.

If the scene is complicated and involves a lot of movement and characters, practicing tableau helps the actors organize. When the scene is frozen, it gives the actors a chance to concentrate and think about their character and how it interacts with others in the scene.

Basic Tableau Exercise

1.   Organize participants into groups of 3–5.

2.   Give each group a situation and five minutes to create a freeze-frame of an event. Don’t let the other groups see what the event is. Some possibilities might include:

Wedding                          Christening

Funeral                            Surprise party

Camping                         Murder mystery

Trip to the fair               Boxing match

Yoga or tai chi class       A protest rally

At the prom                    Easter egg hunt

At the movies                 Group winning the lottery

Babysitting                     Cooking dinner for 20

3.   One at a time, ask each group to assume their freeze-frame position for the audience. Ask the audience to guess the situation or event. Also, ask what role they think each person is playing in the scene.

4.   After each group has had a turn, ask what made the various freeze-frame exercises effective.

Books can strengthen your body as well as your mind. Getting started with a strength-training program doesn’t necessarily require expensive equipment. A couple of books will do nicely. Use the following exercises as a stand-alone activity or try some of them at your next book discussion.

• You will need at least two books for each participant. You should have a variety of sizes and weights on hand. The books should be easy to grip. Paperback books work as well.
• You will also need some plastic or recyclable grocery bags with handles.
• All of the exercises below can be done from a seated position. Arrange chairs so there is plenty of arm room. Armless chairs work best.
• Repeat each exercise 8–12 times, or as many times as is comfortable.

Book Bag Exercises

The following exercises are done with books in plastic bags. Place one or two books in a bag. Tip: Double bag for extra security and tie close to the books. Double knot the handles so that they are about 6" to 8" long.

Half Biceps Curls

Hold a bag of books in each hand, palms up. With arms “glued to your sides” and elbows bent at 90 degrees, slowly lift your hands up to your shoulders. Lower back down.

Full Biceps Curls

Sit up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Dangle your arms at your sides. Hold a bag of books in each hand with palms facing toward your body. Slowly lift the books to your shoulders by bending your elbows. You can lift both arms at the same time, or you can alternate arms, lifting with one and then the other. Hold for a count of two. Gradually lower the books to the starting position.

Shoulder Shrugs

Begin with your arms hanging down and shoulders relaxed. Hold a bag of books in each hand, palms facing toward your body. Slowly shrug your shoulders as high as comfortable. Return to the starting point.

Side Hold It

Hold a bag of books in each hand and lower your arms down at your sides. Slowly lift your arms out to your sides, keeping them straight. Your goal is to lift your arms parallel to the floor, about shoulder level. Hold for a count of two. Gradually lower them back down to the starting position.

Front Hold It

Repeat the “Side Hold It,” but this time, extend your arms out in front of your body.

Bend Side to Side

Hold a bag of books in each hand and let your arms hang down at your sides. Slowly bend from side to side, trying to lower the bag of books to the floor.

Bend & Pick Up

Place a bag of books on the floor in front of your feet. Bend forward, pick up the bag, and sit up straight.

Knee Extensions

Place a book in a small plastic bag and tie the handles together. Hook your right foot through the bag handles. Lift your foot up, aiming your toes to the ceiling. The knee should remain slightly bent. Return your foot to the starting position and repeat. Switch to the left foot and repeat.

Leg Lifts

Place books in small plastic bags. Tie two of the bags together so that the books are about 15 inches apart. Drape the bags over your ankle. Extend your leg out in front and lift your foot. Hold for a count of two and slowly lower back down. Repeat with the other leg.

Hip Flex

Place books in small plastic bags. Tie the handles of two of the bags together so that the books are about 15 inches apart. Drape the bags over your right thigh. Sit tall, back straight, feet flat on the floor. Lift your knee toward your chest and back down to the floor. Repeat with the left leg.

Other Book Exercises

The following exercises are done holding a book in your hands (no bag). The weight of the book can vary depending on the person.

Chest Press

Hold a book in both hands at your chest. Push the book out in front of your body until your arms are fully extended. Return to the starting position.

Overhead Stretch

Hold a book with both hands with your arms extended over your head. Bend your elbows to lower the book down behind your head. Then raise the book back up to the starting position.

Back Extensions

Sit tall, back straight, feet flat on the floor. Hold the book to your upper chest. Slowly bend your upper body forward until you can’t go any further, or until comfortable. Slowly return to the starting position.

Book Balance

Sitting up tall, try balancing a book on your head. Tip: Ask a friend to stand by to catch the book just in case it falls.

Making lists of items in a particular category is a popular mentally stimulating activity. In this activity, however, the challenge is to decide whether or not an item belongs on the list.

Begin by explaining the purpose of the activity and giving an example. “We are going to decide if an item belongs on our list or if it doesn’t. For example, is an elephant a farm animal?

• Draw two columns on a whiteboard. Put a title of the category at the top of one of the columns. Write NOT at the top of the other column.
• Using the suggested lists in the PDF attachment (or make up your own list), ask the group whether an item belongs under the category or under the NOT column. Randomly select items from the lists.
• Write the answers on the whiteboard under the appropriate column.
• Pause and ask questions as you go along. For example,  “Did you live on a farm?”
• Once the group has completed one list, start a new category. The possibilities are endless, and the lists can be as simple or as challenging as you want. Tip: To make this game more meaningful, select categories that reflect the participants' past interests and backgrounds.

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Many people are natural born storytellers—they just don’t know it. This activity challenges participants to create a story with the help of the words written on three stones.

To make the story stones:

1. Obtain 12 smooth, flat, light-colored stones (1 1/2" to 2" each).
2. With a dry erase or washable marker, write one word on each stone until you have four objects, four settings, and four emotions of your choosing. Our examples are: kite, dog, flower, and mother for the objects; beach, garden, midnight, and yard for the settings; silly, peaceful, grumpy, and joyful for the emotions.

To use the story stones:

1. Turn the stones over so you can’t see the words, placing them in rows by category (object, setting, and emotion).
2. Demonstrate how the story stones work by reading the examples below.
3. If the words picked were dog, beach, and joyful, one story might be:

My dog, Stanley, loves to spend the day at the beach. He is most joyful when digging in the sand or splashing in the ocean. Normally dogs are not allowed on the beach, but Stanley is an exception. He is a surfing dog and can “hang ten” on a board better than most humans. People come from miles around to see him in action. Next, I’m going to teach him how to sign autographs.

1. If mother, midnight, and silly were the words picked, one story might be:

At the stroke of midnight, my otherwise responsible and serious mother becomes quite silly. She has been known to wake up out of a dead sleep, get out of bed, and start dancing. She blames it on restless leg syndrome. My father blames it on hormones gone berserk. No matter the cause, I’ve gotten some hilarious videos that I used to post on YouTube until my mother found out. 3. Then ask the storytellers to pick one stone from each row and have them tell a story using the words they selected. 4. You can change the words as often as you want by wiping off the marker with a damp paper towel. Make storytelling with stones a recurring activity.

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