This is the fifth post in our National Nursing Home Week series celebrating the Spirit of America.

Any celebration about America would not be complete without some red, some white, and some blue. This activity is great for stimulating the brain and conjuring up all the things one can think of that are either, red, white or blue in color.

Begin with the color red. Have residents come up with a list of all the things they can think of that are the color red. You can discuss items that are naturally red vs those that are not. Write this list on a white board or large sheet of paper. Then ask the residents to think of songs that focus on the things on the list. Here are some examples:

Strawberries (Strawberry Fields Forever)
Robin breast (When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin’ Along)
Tomato
Radish
Tulips (Tiptoe Thru the Tulips)
Roses (Roses Are Red)
Apples (In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree)

Next, create a list of things that are white:

Sport Coat (A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation)
Apple Blossoms (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White)
Ghost (Casper the Friendly Ghost)
Snow (Let It Snow)

And finally a list of things that are blue:

Eyes (Five Foot Two Eyes of Blue)
Blueberries (Blueberry Hill)
Moon (Blue Moon)
Gowns (Alice Blue Gown)
Sky (My Blue Heaven)

You can also discuss things that might include all colors like the flag. You can find a list of national flags with red, white and blue here. You could play the national anthems from these countries.

This is the fourth post in our National Nursing Home Week series celebrating the Spirit of America.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off, carrying, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon, the first men to walk on the moon. Celebrate by listening to and singing the following moon songs with your residents:

1. Blue Moon– Rodgers & Hart (1934), The Marcels (1961)

2. Blue Moon of Kentucky– Bill Monroe (1946)

3. Shine on Harvest Moon– Bays & Norworth(1908)

4. By the Light of the Silvery Moon– (1909) Edwards & Madden

5. Moonlight Bay– (1912) Wenrich & Madden

6. It’s Only a Paper Moon– (1933) Arlen, Harburg & Rose

7. Fly Me to the Moon– (1954) Kaye Ballard, (1964) Frank Sinatra

8. Moonlight Serenade-(1939) Glenn Miller

9. Moonlight in Vermont – (1944) John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf

Trivia: Names of the monthly Full Moon. Use the following information to create trivia questions and discussion:

January: Wolf Moon (January 12)
This moon was named because villagers used to hear packs of wolves howling in hunger around this time of the year. It’s other name is the Old Moon.

February: Snow Moon (February 11)
Snow moon is named after the white stuff because historically it’s always been the snowiest month in America. It’s also traditionally referred to as the Hunger Moon, because hunting was very difficult in snowy conditions.

March: Worm Moon (March 12)
As temperatures warm, earthworm casts begin to appear and birds begin finding food. It’s also known as Sap Moon, Crow Moon and Lenten Moon.

April: Pink Moon (April 11)
April’s full moon is known as the Pink Moon, but don’t be fooled into thinking it will turn pink. It’s actually named after pink wildflowers, which appear in the US and Canada in early spring.
This moon – which you can see around 07:08 on Tuesday April 11 – is also known as Egg Moon, due to spring egg-laying season. Some coastal tribes referred to it as Fish Moon because it appeared at the same time as the shad swimming upstream.
This moon is important because it used to fix the date of Easter, which is always the first Sunday after the Pink Moon appears. This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 16. The Pink Moon also heralds the beginning of Jewish Passover.

May: Flower Moon (May 10)
Spring has officially sprung by the time May arrives, and flowers and colourful blooms dot the landscape. This moon is also known as Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.

June: Strawberry Moon (June 9)
This moon is named after the beginning of the strawberry picking season. It’s other names are Rose Moon, Hot Moon, or Hay Moon as hay is typically harvested around now.

July: Thunder Moon (July 9)
Named due to the prevalence of summer thunder storms.

August: Sturgeon Moon (August 7)
Tribes in North America typically caught Sturgeon during this month, but also it is when grain and corn were gathered so is also referred to as Grain Moon.

September: Harvest Moon (September 6)
It was during September that most of the crops were harvested. This moon also gave light to farmers working through the night. Some tribes also called it the Barley Moon. The Harvest Moon can sometimes occur in October – whichever Moon is closest to the autumnal equinox.

October: Hunter’s Moon (October 5)
The light of this bright moon made it easy for hunters to spot prey ahead of the lean winter months. It’s also called Blood Moon.

November: Frost Moon (November 4)
The first of the winter frosts begin to take their toll around now.

December: Cold Moon (December 3)
Nights are long and dark and winter’s grip tightens, hence this Moon’s name. With Christmas just a few days away, it’s also referred to as Moon before Yule, and also Long Nights Moon.

For other fun facts about the moon visit The Telegraph

For our third day of National Nursing Home Week I suggest a challenging game of Jeopardy. Themed around the American pastime of baseball, challenge your residents to identify songs about baseball and baseball teams.


Set-Up:

• Using colorful index cards, write the following category titles (one category per card): Name That Baseball Tune, Play Ball, Be a Team Player, Three Strikes You’re Out.
• On sticky notes or index cards, write the following dollar amounts (one on each card in the four categories: $100, $200, $300, $400.)
• Arrange dollar amount stickies under each category, down the column low to high.
• Divide the residents into teams.
• Teams take turns choosing a category and dollar amount until all questions have been answered.

Use the following “key” for songs per category and dollar amount.

Name That Baseball Tune (Play recording or YouTube video for each song)
$100 Take Me Out to the Ballgame
$200 National Anthem
$300 Right Field
$400 Baseball Organ Music (Have residents identify when they might hear these “anthems” during a baseball game.)

Play Ball (Identify these songs with “ball” in the title)
$100 After the Ball
$200 Ball and Jack (if you are watching this video have residents identify the name of this dance)
$300 Great Balls of Fire (Can you identify this artist?)
$400 Woodchopper’s Ball

Be A Team Player (Identify these MLB teams)
$100 YANKEE Doodle (New York Yankees)
$200 Casey Jones the BRAVE Engineer (Atlanta Braves)
$300 Home on the RANGE (Texas Rangers)
$400 Springtime in the ROCKIES (Colorado Rockies)

Three Strikes You’re Out (Fill in the blank)
$100 ____________Up the Band
$200 The Empire _______________Back (Identify the movie and character)
$300 With a strong hand, ______________ out the blindness in me. (Listen to this song for the answer)
$400 Clock ________________Twelve

Feel free to include other questions to help residents answer each question. Enjoy!

Part two of a seven part series to celebrate National Nursing Home Week, May 14-20, 2017. This year’s theme: Spirit of America. What is more American than apple pie? Use these songs about apples and apple pie in the following activities:
Name That Tune
Music Bingo
Sing-along and rhythm band

1. I’ll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time
2. Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
3. Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
4. In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree
5. Ida Sweet As Apple Cider
6. Little Green Apples
7. Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
8. (Ah, The Apple Trees) When the World Was Young
9. One Bad Apple
10. If You Don’t Like My Apples

Suggestions for each activity:
Name That Tune: Play a portion of each song and ask residents to identify the title and/or artist for each song. If you have a large group, divide them into teams and keep score.

Music Bingo: Create Bingo cards using the titles, artists or a combination of the songs above. Play each song in place of calling out bingo numbers/letters.