13 Fun Ideas to Add to Your Senior Activity Calendar

Posted by Donna Mae Scheib on May 10, 2017

13 Fun Ideas to Add to Your Senior Activity Calendar

Whether you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert, every person desires meaningful relationships with others. As we age, it is easy to lose contact with friends as some move closer to family, and some make the decision to move into a senior living community. It can be hard to be motivated to go out and make new friends and try new things. Offering various social events, exercise games, and fun outings within your independent retirement community or your local senior center is a great way to initiate new friendships for seniors as well as to promote an engaging, positive environment for all. If you are an activity coordinator for your senior living facility or a senior who is looking for ideas for your senior center, consider some of the following ideas to add to your calendar.

Social Events

• Senior Prom- Though a little different from a high school senior prom, what a fun event that includes dressing up, dancing, and listening to music.  Build the event up by handing out invitations and putting up a song request list so everyone can contribute their requests for favorite tunes. Have seniors invite their families for even more fun!
• Cards, Dominoes & Bingo- Pick one afternoon a week where everyone can come together and play their favorite game! You can change the game played each week or rotate each month to give everyone a chance to play the game they love most.  Other ideas include choosing an evening to host a pitch tournament or a board game night.
• Saturday Morning Coffee- One Saturday a month, advertise a coffee chat for the community at your senior center. Offer your best coffee and provides some treats to invite others to learn more about what other events you do during the week, chat with local business owners, or anyone else who wants to chew the fat.
• Movie Night- Pick an old favorite or a new release and invite the senior community to enjoy an afternoon or evening together with some popcorn or other snacks. Consider putting up the subtitles to the movie for those who are hard of hearing.
• Preschool visit- This intergenerational event is a great experience for both seniors and younger children. Arrange for a preschool to perform their music program at your community center or the event hall in your living community. Ask current residents if they currently have any grand children or great-grand children that attend preschool to find a connection!
• Pet Day - Set up for a pet therapist and their qualified friendly companions to come by for an afternoon of fetch! Pet therapy offers calming effects such as lowering blood pressure. Perhaps you can consider having a pet that lives at the senior living facility and residents can volunteer to take care of the pet and be able to take the pet for walks, help bathe, and help groom it.

Social Exercise

• Exercise-a-thon- Choose a month and offer three different levels of prizes that seniors can work for by exercising! Completing an activity means accumulating a certain number of points. The prizes can be based off of the amount of points completed for the month! Examples could include group exercise class attendance, completing physical therapy sessions, walking, gardening, baking, cleaning, and woodworking.
• Beach ball volleyball- Set up a net and line up six chairs on each side. Seniors can follow regular volleyball rules and have a laugh at trying to hit the beach ball.
• Group exercise class- Organize a group fitness class that focuses on stretching, tai chi for balance, aerobics, swimming aerobics, or other simple exercises that a group can do together and can be motivated to stay active.

Social Outings

• Mystery Trip- Advertise a mystery trip where transportation is provided to a mysterious location! Support a local business, museum, or restaurant and help seniors to be involved with events in the community
• Volunteer- Arrange a day for seniors in your community to volunteer at a local food shelter, thrift stores, schools, a local humane society, or to serve as baby cuddlers at hospitals for babies born with drug addictions.
• Community event- Keep an eye on the calendar for various events that go through your community. Support the local theater by arranging an outing to attend a Sunday Matinee or support the local sports teams.
• Church Outings- Offer transportation to various churches or other religious groups in town for services, bible studies during the week, or even church choir practices.

Many independent senior living communities and assisted living communities strive to do their best at helping to create friendly environments where seniors can remain active and have a fulfilling social life. If you want to find more information about the variety of communities, our directories page can help you find senior living care near you. 

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