Hospital: Four Activities for February

February is a wonderful month for many fun activities. Below are ideas for four events during the month of February.

February 5: Super Bowl Sunday

Plan an event at a medical facility for the big game! Get permission from the facility to come in and host a party; the Activities Director or Recreation Therapist may already have something planned. If so, ask if your Auxiliary can assist in any way. However, if your Auxiliary wants to do something on its own, here’s an idea:

• Find out how many patients/residents the facility’s Activities Director believes will watch the game. Make team banners out of triangular cuts of felt in each of the teams’ colors and include their names. Glue them to a wooden dowel stick and hand them out at the watch party.
• Start a pool on the team to win, the quarter the winning touchdown is scored in, etc. and watch the game with the patients/residents. Award a small football to the patient/resident that guesses the winning team and one to the patient/resident whose guess is closest to the winning score.
• Contact a high school football coach and see if members of the team would like to watch the game with the patients/residents.
• Don’t forget the food! Sugar-free fruit punch, chips and dips, a fruit/vegetable tray and other snack foods are always crowd pleasers.

February 13 – 17: National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans

The week of Valentine’s Day every year is a special time to say thank you and remember our hospitalized veterans. The National Salute program takes place each year at VA Medical facilities and honors the more than 98,000 veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who are cared for in VA Medical centers, outpatient clinics, domiciliaries and nursing homes. I encourage you to visit a veteran and/or host an event at a medical facility during this special week. The gesture is sure to lift their spirits!

February 14: Valentine’s Day

• Make Valentine’s cards and  take them to the facility and hand them out or give them to a recreation staff member to place on food trays.
• Plan a Sweetheart’s Ice Cream Social. Speak with the Activities or Recreation Director and find out how many patients/residents will attend – invite their family members, too! Bring the necessities to make milk shakes and sundaes, decorate with red, white and pink hearts, and play love ballads by crooners like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Barbara Streisand, Tim McGraw and Luciano Pavarotti.
• Visit the National Organization’s Pinterest Page “All About Valentine’s Day” for more sweet ideas.

February 20: Presidents Day

Host a U.S. President trivia challenge. Make up simple multiple choice questions to give the patients/residents a chance to “guess” right. It’s always more fun that way. You can even assign teams to compete against each other.

There are a number of websites you can choose from to get your material, such as:

• http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-presidenttrivia.html
• https://worldhistoryproject.org/quizzes/us_presidents

“The Secret Lives of the U. S. Presidents” by Cormac O’Brien is a book full of great presidential trivia material. It’s available at bookstores or online at amazon.com.

Don’t forget prizes!