Showing posts with label elderly activities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elderly activities. Show all posts

Tuesday 11 April 2023

Two NEW Printable General Knowledge Quizzes for your Groups

Wanting an easy General Knowledge Quiz?

Here are two for you...

Each has 10 questions and I have given you the answers, on a separate page.

They can be printed as required...


General Knowledge Quiz (2)

Looking for more printable quizzes - all with answers on a separate page?

Then do look at my eBook of 41 x 10 Printable Quizzes

Lots of different subjects and all picked, especially for the older generation...

Enjoy!


Saturday 4 February 2023

Simple Version of a Beetle Drive - for All Ages and Abilities!

Simple version of Beetle Drive Game

It is some years since I posted "My Simple Version of a Beetle Drive" and so I thought it was time to 'Bump It Forward'...

For those of you who haven't yet spotted it - this simplified version can be played by all ages and abilities, as players only have to be part of a team and then just take turns to shake the dice ... do have a look - great enjoyment for everyone...

Here is the link ...  "My Simple Version of a Beetle Drive"  Have fun with this old favourite game...


Thursday 26 January 2023

How to Make Felt Valentine Hearts - Tutorial & Templates

Valentine's Day on 14th February - time to make Felt Valentine Hearts!

They can be hung on a door handle or placed in a wardrobe....for a delightful waft of lavender amongst your clothes...! 

What a lovely Valentine gift for you to make! 
Here is the tutorial - with printable heart templates...

You will need... ðŸ’—💗💗

Felt (you will need approx 2 x A4 sizes of main colour and scraps of contrasting colour)

Embroidery thread

Button

Ribbon or cord to make hanging loop

Stuffing - we used Polyester Fibre Toy Stuffing

Lavender Oil (or any perfumed oil) Optional

To Make... ðŸ’—💗💗

Print out the template... Here are the Heart Templates

Cut out two of the large hearts and one each of the smaller hearts.

Attach the two small hearts with a button on top, onto one large felt heart.

Attach your looped ribbon to the top of the other large felt heart.

Stitch the two large hearts together - use either blanket stitch or just a running loop stitch, leaving a gap to insert your stuffing (with, if desired, a few drops of perfumed oil)

Stitch up the gap and you're done! 💗💗💗

These felt hearts are easy to make and are not only for Valentines Day - 
they really are Anytime Hearts!

Tuesday 10 January 2023

Quiz - "Songs ... Fill in the Colours!" Printable with Answers

Quiz - Songs... Fill in the Colours
Time for a Quiz I think - the weather is typically January, so we need to keep busy indoors...!

So here it is with "Answers" for you to print out - Enjoy!
Quiz about colours

Quiz - Songs ... Fill in the Colours!

If you want more quizzes - have a look at my eBook 

Saturday 13 August 2022

Paper Plate Dream Catcher Tutorial - Easy and fun to make!

These Paper Plate Dream Catchers are great fun to make and easy for any age and ability...

You will need... 

A good quality paper plate -  needs to be rigid enough to keep its shape

A length of Yarn - we Used Cotton Yarn DK - 2.5m plus 2 or 3 pieces for the dangles - each about 40cms long - Also about 30cms to make a tag to hang it.

Beads with large holes - we used Pony Beads

Feathers - dyed ones available at craft shops

Colouring-in pens or paints

Punch to make holes 

Sticky Tape

How to make... 

Cut out the centre of the plate.

Punch holes around the inside hole as per photo - about 2.5cm apart - no need to measure - don't have to accurate!

Working on the "bottom" surface of the plate - colour or paint the decoration - our plates had ridges which added to the effect!

Take your long piece of yarn and secure one end with sticky tape to the inside of the plate.

Thread the yarn through the holes - back and forth - no fixed pattern - just as you like! When about two thirds through, thread some beads onto the yarn (see photo above) 

When all the holes are used up, secure the end again with sticky tape, on the inside of the plate.

Punch a hole centre top and make a loop to hang up your Dream Catcher.

Punch two or three holes along bottom edge for dangles...

Tie a bead about a third of the way down on your yarn - then thread beads onto the longer piece above the tied bead.

Thread the end of this yarn, above the beads, through the punched hole and secure with sticky tape inside the plate.

Repeat with other one or two dangles.

Tie feathers onto the ends of yarn below the beads.

Sweet Dreams!
Nicola with her Dream Catcher

Andy painted his Dream Catcher with Acrylics
























 

Thursday 21 April 2022

New Pattern Designs to Complete...! Printable Templates!

This is a Circle in a Square Collage craft project which I posted in 2016 - I am repeating it with three new variations to play with - starting as always with the basic shapes design, as before and then use your imagination...

Circle in square collage
Circle in Square Designs

Here is the Circle in Square Template

New Pattern Designs to complete
One of the New Pattern Design Templates


Allow each member in your craft group to design and colour their own creation, as they want.

You will be amazed at what is produced...the above were done by our Mencap Art and Craft group and they loved creating their designs...

New Pattern Designs to complete
Very simple, but challenging enough to create enthusiasm and such pride in their artwork...

To make a collage, just cut out the finished squares and stick them together onto card - we used A2 black card, but any colour will do.

Make your collage as big or small as you like - depends on the size of your group of course and how many squares you have to display!

Have fun being creative...!

New Pattern Designs to complete

Monday 7 February 2022

Printable Quiz - Ten Words ending in TEN!


Quiz - words ending with TEN

An easy quiz - just for fun...over a cuppa tea or coffee!

How many words do you know that end in "ten" ?

For example...often, handwritten 

Ask your group to try to write a list of 

that end in "ten"...

Here is selection of some I have found, but there are lots more...have a dictionary on hand to resolve disputes!

Have fun! 


If you would like more quizzes to have fun with, here is the link to my
Printable Quiz eBook - 41 x 10 Easy Quiz questions


 

Tuesday 25 January 2022

Valentine Padded Felt Hearts - Tutorial and Printable Templates


Padded Valentine Hearts tutorial
 Sewing Valentine Padded Felt hearts on a cold Winter's afternoon, with a cup of tea and donuts to follow - our Mencap group really enjoyed this project!

What you will need...

One A4 size piece of felt - for the 2 large heart shapes

Smaller pieces of felt in contrasting colours for small hearts

Buttons

Embroidery thread and needle

Ribbon (30cms or longer if you wish)

Polyester fibre filling (toy stuffing)

Pinking shears (optional)

How to make it...

Print out your patterns  

3 x Heart Template Shapes

Cut out two large hearts 

Cut out one each of the smaller size hearts (per side **)

Place the button on top of the two smaller heart shapes and sew them 
together, leaving your thread hanging down underneath.

Place this in the centre of one of the large hearts and sew together, through the three hearts and the button.

If you want - do the same with the other large heart (you will then have small hearts and buttons on both sides of your finished padded heart **) 

Place the two large heart shapes together and starting at the bottom point, stitch them together - either using blanket stitch or a simple running stitch.

When you reach centre top of your heart, slip the ends of your folded ribbon in between the two large hearts and sew through them to attach the ribbon to the heart.

Continue sewing down the other side, stopping when you have about 4cms still open. 

Don't end off - leave your thread hanging.

Stuff your heart at this point and then continue sewing until you reach the bottom point again.

If you have used a running stitch (as in the purple sample), you can trim off the edges of your heart with pinking shears (optional) 

Here are some our group made... Hope you all enjoy this 
project!


Felt Hearts Valentines






Click on these hearts for another Tutorial >>>>>>

Wednesday 19 January 2022

20 Anagrams Printable Quiz - In the Kitchen - With Answers!


quiz anagrams kitchen utensils
I have put together 20 Anagrams of things you would find in the kitchen - have fun re-arranging the letters. Here is the link to this printable quiz...

 
Quiz Anagrams - In the Kitchen

If you want more quizzes have a look at my Quiz eBook...

41 Easy Quizzes with Answers 
Fun, easy but stimulating....!




Saturday 9 September 2017

Benefits of Colouring in for the Elderly with Printable Drawings!

Benefits of colouring in for elderly

I have long believed in the therapeutic effect of colouring in for adults of any age.

I loved colouring in with my grandchildren, when they were little - not just to please them, although they loved Granny to join in, but for the pleasure and relaxation I found myself enjoying in the process.

I found this very good website, "Golden Carers", which not only discusses the benefits of colouring in for the elderly, but also includes five downloadable drawings. 

They can then be printed as needed.

Here is the link....

Benefits of Colouring in for the Elderly

Enjoy!

Friday 27 May 2016

We Made Tissue Paper Flowers at Mencap for Braintree Carnival

Tutorial for Tissue Flowers

Mencap is putting together a float, to join in with the annual Braintree Carnival, which will be held on Saturday 11 June.

Our Thursday Art and Craft group was asked to make lots of bright colourful Tissue Paper Flowers to put on the float and so we had a lovely afternoon making them.

We followed this excellent tutorial...

Tissue Paper Flower Tutorial

Our tissue paper came in A4 sheets, so using 5 sheets for each flower, we made them up as per the tutorial. 

Because we used a slightly bigger sheet of tissue paper, our flowers were larger, but it worked just as well.

Tea and Tissue Paper Flowers


Jenna with her flowers



Andy painting Union Jacks



Thursday 7 April 2016

Quiz - 12 Anagrams - In the Garden - Printable!

Quiz about garden Anagrams

As the season changes and our thoughts turn to Spring, I thought it was a good time to have a Quiz - 12 Anagrams - In the Garden...

Here is the link...with Answers in case you get stuck!

12 Anagrams - In the Garden

Hope you enjoy this quiz - if you want more, do have a look at my eBook - 

41 Easy Quizzes and Answers - Printable

Great fun with your senior groups, over a cup of tea and a biscuit...!




Saturday 30 January 2016

Quiz - Movies with Names in the Title - Printable!

Quiz about Movies


Who wants a Quiz?

Here is one about Movies - each Movie has a name of a person in the title - print them out here...

Quiz - Movies with Names in the Title 

and fill in the names...

Answers supplied if you get stuck - have fun over a cup of tea with your group...!

If you want more easy printable quizzes have a look at my eBook...

Friday 4 December 2015

Christmas Bunting - Printable Templates!

Felt Christmas Bunting

A simple string of Christmas Bunting - can be made out of felt, as above, but will also be just as effective cut out of card. Mine has just five shapes, but you can make the String of Christmas bunting as long as you wish, using a mixture of the shapes or just choose one or two of them...

You will need...
Felt sheets or Card

Buttons and other embellishments

Tacky Glue

String, ribbon or tape and small craft pegs 


To make...

Print your Template of Christmas Shapes

Cut out the shapes - in felt or card

Decorate with embellishments / buttons, using fabric or tacky glue and leave to dry

Peg the shapes onto your string and hang them up...

Enjoy this exciting time of the year - have fun preparing for the Festive Season...!!

Friday 20 November 2015

Easy 3D Tissue Flowers in a Vase - Tutorial and template

3D tissue flowers in vase

So easy to make these 3D Tissue Flowers - we put them in a vase and mounted them onto black card...! 

These tissue flowers can also be made to decorate greeting cards - just make them smaller to fit your card.

What you will need...

Tissue paper

Stems - we used wooden coffee stick-stirrers but you can use string, paper strips etc

Print-out of template for vase

A4 sheet black card

Strip coloured paper for "table cloth"

Double sided sticky pads

Glue stick

Stapler

Stickers and bows (optional)

How to make them...

Cut out one vase template (there are two on each print-out) crease down lines on sides and bottom.


Turn it over and colour-in your vase front.


Then on the coloured side - Apply glue to the tabs - bottom and sides..


Attach the bottom tab to your black card and then ...



folding your glued tabs inwards, attach you vase to the black card. Push the tabs inwards so the vase is 3D and not flat.


Fold your tissue paper so you have about 20 layers of tissue (approx 9cms square) and staple twice in centre as per picture below.


Cut into a circle (no need to measure - doesn't matter if a bit wobbly!) and then cut into edges about 1cm (as below)


Then, one layer at a time, separate the tissue layers and pinch up into the centre.


Place your stems in the vase (fix in place with a piece of double-sided adhesive pad) and then attach your flowers - also using double-sided adhesive pads.

Finish with a strip of coloured paper across the bottom "table cloth" and we added a few butterfly stickers...


These 3D Tissue Flowers can also be used on greeting cards - make them any size you want...!


Monday 14 September 2015

Beach Hut Birthday Cards Tutorial - Summer Activity!

Caroline and Paula's cards
 As we started the last term of the year at Mencap, we decided to make Beach Hut Birthday cards - a last bit of Summer fun, by the look of the changing weather, here in Essex...Autumn approaches!

What you need...

Blank greeting cards (rectangular shape)
Coloured paper 
Thin card (for the door)
Happy Birthday wording - stickers or print my sheet out here
Colouring-in pens 
Glue stick
Seaside theme stickers (optional)

How to make...

With the card folded, make a mark on the top edge, half way across. 
Make another mark on each side of the card, about a third of the way down.
Draw a line from these side marks to the top mark and then cut, to make the roof shape.

Cut a rectangle of thin card for the door.

Cut strips of coloured paper for the stripes on the roof and walls. Cut them about 1cm longer than you need.

Using a glue stick (any glue actually will do) stick the coloured strips of paper onto the roof and walls. (Leave some white stripes showing if you like)

Let the ends of the strips stick out from the card. When dry, turn the card over and trim the strips back to the edges of the card.

Glue on the door.

Colour-in and attach the "Happy Birthday" and apply the seaside theme stickers.


Nicola made this bright card!

 Enjoy making these Beach Hut Birthday Cards with your group...

Friday 10 July 2015

The Wizard of Oz - a Poster!

Wizard of Oz Poster Craft

 The Wizard of Oz

 

Some of our group at Mencap in Braintree are going to Southend-on-Sea in August to see the stage show of "The Wizard of Oz", so we decided to make a poster...

The prints of the original cover and first page of L. Frank Baum's book (1900) we found on Gutenberg

The characters - printable versions of Dorothy with Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Lion and The Wizard of Oz himself, were easily found on Google images. 

We added the witch's hat, a rainbow (essential!) and Dorothy's red shoes. 

The Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City and the "frame" we made from coloured electrical tape (I was surprised at how many colours are available in electric tape these days - will have to keep it in mind for future projects, as so easy to use) 

To finish off, we stuck flower stickers down the edges of the yellow bricks and a few butterflies found their way on as well!

Next week is the end of the term so we will be having our usual party food and games afternoon... plus achievement certificates all round!

Saturday 13 June 2015

Felt Owl Purse - with Printable Pattern



 We made Felt Owl Purses this week at Mencap





They are so cute and very easy to put together.

We used magnetic fasteners (from eBay) but  this is optional - can be made just with the flap as is...

Buttons for eyes!

 






So get your felt out and start making your own Owl Purses - would be a good item to make for a fund-raising stall...!

Here is the link 


Enjoy choosing the colours for your unique Owl! Cut out the pieces and sew them as per our samples!

Enjoy!