Easter is one of my favorite holidays! It’s so special, so spiritual, and there’s such a sense of new life surrounding it.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… holidays matter on The Memory Unit. Most of us have been celebrating the same holidays (with usually the same traditions) our whole life. Using activities that tap into these long-term memories and feel-good emotions are some of the best ways to boost engagement when working with individuals living with dementia. And we’re all about maximizing quality of life over here!
Whether you’re a Therapist or a Life Enrichment Director, these Valentine’s Day ideas are made for you!
Assemble a Spring Bouquet
This is one of my favorite activities (for literally so many holidays). You could use real or faux flowers to create beautiful centerpieces and bouquets to bring that spring-time feeling to the unit.
If you opt for faux flowers, you can get everything you need from the Dollar (*25*) Store. Vases, floral foam, and faux florals and greenery. These are always so beautiful when they’re complete (no matter how much practice you have in floral arrangements).
Listen to Hymns and Music
Music is such a great part of Easter. Over the years, I’ve had many Residents and Patients mention certain old hymns and songs that remind them of their childhood or certain Easter seasons with family.
There are vast avenues for music streaming, but I’ve created two playlists for your quick access. One is more traditional, and the other is more contemporary.
Host an Easter Egg Hunt
I honestly use a variation of an egg hunt all year long (usually with plastic cones). It’s a simple and easy way to address balance, visual scanning, motor planning, coordination, problem solving, and mobility.
I’m challenging you to challenge your Patients and Residents a bit with this activity. A few of the eggs can be easy to find, but mix things up. Encourage your Residents to retrieve eggs from the floor, or a shelf above shoulder height. Make the visual scanning aspect a little more challenging by hiding these eggs partially behind other objects.
And for sure make it fun by placing candy or stickers inside (making sure to consult the SLP to make sure everything is safe for swallowing).
Prepare Traditional Easter Treats and Foods
Food is usually a key component to any holiday celebration. Cooking and meal prep tasks are great interventions for therapy. We can address so many skills with one simple meal prep, and can modify just about any recipe to tailor to each Resident’s skills and therapy goals.
Now, let’s talk about making this skilled.
As with any intervention, you have to use your Activity Analysis skills. So the key questions you need to ask yourself:
- Why am I doing this with my Resident?
- What deficit’s or needs do they continue to show?
- What goals have I (or the OTR) written in the care plan?
- How can this activity address those needs and goals?
Your Resident might need to address community setting tolerance for safety and emotional regulation.
Literally any of these activities will address that. The focus will be on maximizing the Resident’s ability to easily transition to the task and remain in the activity for the duration. Document how many cues are required to initiate/transition to the activity and how long the Resident could tolerate the activity before self-terminating.
Your Resident might need to address cognitive function such as direction following, sequencing, problem solving, etc.
Again, most of these activities will address that. The focus will be on maximizing these skills, as evidenced by an ability to complete the task with the least amount of cues. Document how much cueing was required for each step of the task, how much assist was required for each step of the task, the aspects of the task that were the easiest, the aspects that were the most challenging, and any other notable behaviors.
Your Resident might need to address standing, balance, and mobility.
The obvious intervention idea for these skills is the Easter egg hunt. But you could also assemble flower bouquets while standing, and work together to find spots on the unit to place the completed bouquets as decoration. Or perform the cooking task in standing and then deliver the completed snack or treat to others throughout the unit.
When documenting these mobility tasks, you’ll want to include standing balance grades, the amount of rest breaks, the amount of physical assist and cues provided, as well as the cognitive attention demonstration throughout and the ability to tolerate the task as a whole.
I hope these ideas spark the creative juices for you if you’re feeling stuck! Pop off in the comments with other ideas and beloved therapy activities!
The Memory Unit OT 
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