Humor Week at Still Hopes Promotes Fun and Resident Socialization
We just finished our first ever Humor Week: Improving Your Health One Laugh At A Time. Everybody had a great time! I thought you might like to put it up in Vital Life.
I thought that the clues for the Scavenger hunt were cleverly written by Activities Staff, so I included it as an example. All staff and residents were encouraged to follow the dress code for the week. – Denise Heimlich, Wellness Director
STILL HOPES HUMOR WEEK
Improving Health One Laugh at a Time - April 23-27
Mark your calendar for these expert presenters:
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24 in the Garden Room
Attitue, Humor, and Pain by Bruce Schell, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and professor of Family and Preventive Medicine at USC School of Medicine. Dr. Schell has a long-term interest in the role of resources, such as humor on the effects of shysical disease, and will examine the roles of attitude and humor in the face of pain and changing health.
3:00 p.m. Friday, April 27 in the Garden Room
Humor's Impact on Health, presented by Dr. Elizabeth Patrick from Three Rivers Internal Medicine Associates. Dr. Patrick has a special interest in geriatrics and will speak about the relationship between humor and quality and quantity of life and the role of Laugh Groups.
Bring your Scavenger Hunt Skills and competitive nature to the Resident Meeting - 3:00 p.m. Monday. More information will be provided.
Enjoy Vocalist, Pam Phillips Thursday, 3:00 p.m.
Don't forget to dress for laughs...& prizes
Monday = Silly scarves & ties
Tuesday = Polka Dots
Wednesday = Wear Yellow
Thursday = Funny Hats
Friday = Dress Tacky
Expect the Unexpected
Surprise Performances, Activities, Games, & Laughter
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All exercise classes were re-created during Humor Week. I think that novelty was the most important aspect of modifying all the classes. The whole week was organized chaos! Here are some of the things we did:
1. Added music to classes that had not previously used music.
2. Exercises were choreographed to specific songs, often creating humorous movement patterns.
3. Incorporated scarves and towels into Gentle Motion and Aerobic Classes. We tossed the scarves...anything we could think of.
4. We used music from around the world for a class...polka, hula, tango, jig, etc.
5. We used bubble wrap for finger strengthening. Everyone worked hard to pop all of the bubbles!
6. We used blow horns to practice our breathing.
7. Class participants drew exercises from a silly hat and the class had to perform that exercise.
8. We ran relay races in the pool and played Sharks and Minnows. Races were run hopping, running, shuffling sideways, and paddling on noodles. Silly prizes were awarded to winning relay teams. The designated Shark had to catch the Minnows as they ran from one side of the pool to the other. Anyone caught became a Shark, increasing the number of Sharks to avoid with each das across the pool.
9. We threw 50 rubber duckies into the pool. Each participant had to retrieve one duck and bring it to the basket before retrieving another duck. Some ducks had "stars" drawn on the bottom. A participant won a prize if he or she picked up that duck.
10. We danced the Hokey Pokey and Bunny Hop in the pool.
11. We created the Great Duck Hunt on land. Using the same rubber duckies, we taped an exercise desctiption on the bottom of each duck and hid them all over the upper level of the Wellness Center. Each participant had to find a duck and perform that exercise (bouncing the stability ball around the Aerobics Studio 3 times, or performing 10 squats) before looking for another duck. Those who found the ducts with the "stars" won a silly prize.
posted by Bill Witte at 11:28 AM
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