ElderSong Publications, Inc. Activities of 2007

2007 Newsletter Activities

The Gift Of Friendship
Fitness Fun and Fellowship
Ushering In Spring!
Meet The Neighbors
All Things Green
Anniversary Celebrations
The Simple Pleasures Of Summer
Good Old School Days
Family Fun In The Fifties
Autumn Sights And Sounds
Favorite Holiday Memories
Birthday Celebrations

THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP
(January 2007)

Most senior adults grew up learning to value family, friends, and community. They experienced the importance of an extended family and a network of friends in hard times such as the Great Depression or World War II. February is a good time to celebrate the gift of friendships with your group. Encourage participants to share remembrances of their best friends through the years. Ask: What is a friend? How can you be a good friend? How are friends different from family? Did you have friends from all walks of life? What is the longest friendship you ever had?

Enrich your sessions with some songs about friends. Sing or listen to favorites such as "Make New Friends," "Getting to Know You," "You've Got a Friend," or "Friendship." Ask: How have your friends influenced your life? Talk about the difference in friendships between men and women. Pass around pictures of women together: bridge club, homemakers club, quilting bee, Mah-jongg. Add photos of men together: clubs like Elks, Rotary; sports; playing poker or pool. Share recollections of favorite times with friends.

Here are more activities to enjoy with your group during the month. (Note: Some of these activities are adapted from the chapter titled "Friendship," found in the ElderSong book, Down Memory Lane, Second Edition.)

Name words that are synonyms for friends, e.g., pal, mate, buddy, chum, partner, comrade.
Ask participants to share remembrances of these kinds of friends: best friend, childhood friend, long-distance friend, good friend, old/new friend, true friend, "fair-weather friend," famous friend, girlfriend/boyfriend.
Talk about the value of intergenerational friends. Invite a troop of Girl Scouts to make friendship bracelets with your group.
Share ways to stay in touch with long-distance friends, e.g., letter writing. Model letter-writing skills for the younger generation and talk about basic letter-writing etiquette from Emily Post.
Celebrate special friends on Valentine's Day with some heart-shaped foods-cookies, cakes, or sandwiches.
Read this quotation about gossip from Will Rogers - "The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them." Ask: Can gossip hurt friendships?
Share some friendship poetry, e.g., poems from Helen Steiner Rice.
Sing the song "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" and reminisce about your old gang of school friends. Pass around yearbooks and chat about school reunions.
Ask participants to name some gifts that have become keepsakes that they gave to or received from special friends.
Invite a guest from a youth-mentoring organization such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America to talk about providing friendship and support to youngsters.
Share techniques to learn the names of new people. Discuss why names are so important in making friends.
Write a poem about friendship titled Recipe for Friendship. Invite group members to name all the things that go into making a lasting friendship.
Ask participants to take on the role of greeting card writer and to design a new friendship card for golden year friends.
Watch a movie about friendship, such as The Sunshine Boys with Walter Matthau and George Burns, Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell, or a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby "Road" picture.
Read some proverbs about friendship, e.g., "A friend in need is a friend indeed" or "The best of friends must part." Ask your group members if they agree or disagree with the statements.

Take a look at ElderSong’s new winter 2007 catalog and you'll find lots of resources to plan some sessions on the topic of friendship. We've highlighted some of them below. Be sure to check out the latest ElderSong sing-along, Hymn-Sing with ElderSong, Volume 1. Continue to look for upcoming editions of this newsletter the last week of the month. Our newsletter contains useful information to make your job of working with older adults more fulfilling. In this issue, you'll find:

THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP

Friends have common interests and share enjoyable activities together. Encourage your group to reminisce about some of their favorite pastimes with friends when they were children and teenagers. Ask: Where did you meet new friends? Some of your group may recall meeting new people at church during Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. Perhaps they looked forward to family events such as an old-fashioned church potluck where they enjoyed the fellowship from the people in the congregation. Many may remember singing in church with friends and family.

Ask: Did you learn old hymns at an early age? Do you have a favorite hymn you love to hear or sing? You can recreate the fellowship of an old-fashioned hymn sing, using ElderSong's newest sing-along recording, Hymn-Sing with ElderSong, Volume 1. The compact disk features 25 favorites such as "This Is My Father's World," "Standing on the Promises," "I Need Thee Every Hour," "Just as I Am," "Marching to Zion," "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms," "Blest Be the Tie That Binds," and more. The songs were recorded with just two singers and simple piano accompaniment. The music is sung in low, singable keys, with a large-print lyrics book to accompany the CD.

Good friends laugh and have fun together as they enjoy everyday life. Ask your group to describe a favorite get-together with their pals. Some people might recall a night of board games or cards - with a dose of friendly competition! Spark some memories by playing a simple trivia game with your group. The book, Everyday Life Trivia, features hundreds of questions about the daily life of Americans in the 20th century. You can choose from 23 topics, including Baseball, Books, Dogs and Cats, Hair and Cosmetics, Mealtime, Motor Vehicles, Nicknames, Toolbox, and Working. (You'll find some sample trivia quiz questions from this resource later in this newsletter.)

Golden year friends are special companions. Ask: How does friendship change, as you get older? Sharing stories together can provide a sense of connection among older friends. Read some uplifting stories from the popular book, Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul: Heartwarming Stories About People 60 and Over. You'll find stories grouped under themes such as Sharing With Others, Across the Generations, Celebrating Life, On Love, and Ageless Wisdom. Many of the stories focus on close friendships. Discover the rewards of an umbrella ministry in "They Call Me 'The Umbrella Lady'"; share in the joy of a young girl who befriends an older person in "Help for the Helper"; listen to a friend offer perspective on a money inheritance in "The List."

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"A friend is a gift you give yourself." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

FITNESS FUN AND FELLOWSHIP
(February 2007)

A new season is approaching-the weather turns warmer, the days get longer, and our thoughts often turn to physical activity. Spring is often a time to start an exercise program, enjoy a favorite sport, or get busy with house or yard work.

Physical activity is important for all ages. Senior adults can attest to the value of an active lifestyle. Pass around props, such as a water bottle, tennis shoes, t-shirt (look for a funny exercise slogan), baseball, and a wood-handled jump rope. Ask your group: What physical activities did you enjoy as a child and young adult? What sports did you like to play? Are you an exercise enthusiast? How did you help your family build fitness into everyday life? Now is the time to plan some fitness fun and fellowship for your group. Spark some treasured memories with the following activities.

Ask your group to define fitness. Talk about the President's Council on Youth Fitness, which was established in 1956 under President Dwight Eisenhower. (The name was later changed to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.) What do participants remember about President Kennedy's call for Americans to participate in exercise? Ask: How did you and your family exercise for fitness in the 1960s?
Ask participants if they ever joined a YMCA/YWCA physical fitness program in their youth. Share memories of the Y's gyms, pools, and summer camps.
Pass around copies of old Sports Illustrated magazines. What do the men remember about the "Sportsman of the Year" award, which began in1954 with track and field star Roger Bannister?
P· Pass around a box of Wheaties-"Breakfast of Champions"-cereal. Ask: How does Wheaties promote fitness and sports? Challenge your group to name the first athlete featured on the Wheaties box. (Answer: Lou Gehrig in 1934)
Ask the men in your group to share recollections of any physical fitness tests taken for military service. Describe the fitness test for the 1940 Selective Training and Service Act.
Show photographs of or pass around vintage 1930s/1940s/1950s sportswear - e.g., swimsuit, golf outfit, tennis skirt.
Encourage participants to describe a typical school "gym" class from their childhood. Ask: Did you wear a one-piece gym uniform with sneakers?
Share recollections of high school and college sports teams. Did any group member play a sport(s) in school? Ask: What are the benefits of participating in a school sport? What did you learn about competition? About teamwork?
Ask participants to list some of their favorite recreational activities that involve physical activity. Many of them will name dancing. Share nostalgic memories of ballroom dancing during the 1930s/40s. Watch the elegant dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1937 musical Shall We Dance.
Show clips of The Jack La Lanne Show, which aired from 1951-1985. Ask what participants recall about the "father of fitness" and TV's first exercise show. Ask: Did you ever join an exercise class?
Show a short documentary on the ancient and modern Olympic games. Ask your group to talk about athletes and sportsmanship.
Invite a seasoned runner to talk about a training regimen for a long race or marathon. Share recollections of the Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon.
Invite a nutritionist to talk about the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid and how it relates to older adults. Offer a simple food and nutrition quiz, e.g., name four fruits that begin with the letter 'p'.
Examine some world records in sports from The Guinness Book of World Records or a world almanac.
Watch clips from ABC's Wide World of Sports, which debuted in 1961 with host Jim McKay. Ask participants to share a "thrill of victory . . . agony of defeat" moment with the group.

FITNESS FUN AND FELLOWSHIP

Many senior fitness programs include exercises to maintain balance and coordination. One such program, which incorporates a physical component for people with dementia, is Movement with Meaning: A Multisensory Program for Individuals with Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease. The program combines gentle dance movements, yoga-inspired poses, and breathing exercises with music, poetry, and sensory activities. The resource book will show you how to establish a Movement with Meaning program at your facility, including how to select participants and organize a nurturing environment. There are step-by-step instructions for each activity, with 100 photographs and four 30-minute sessions described in detail. You can learn how to customize sessions for individual participants in order to stimulate physical, mental, and sensory awareness.

Many people enjoy exercising with a buddy or meeting with a group for support. Ask participants to share motivational tips for fitness programs. If you're looking for a balanced program of exercises for older adults, you'll want to try Exercise SeniorStyle, a set of two 30-minute sessions on DVD (also available in VHS). The exercises are designed to improve overall fitness and promote relaxation among your participants. Session 1, Beginning Level, features primarily seated exercises. Session 2, Advanced Level, features standing exercises. Both are done to original, upbeat music. The exercises are safe, fun, and easily adapted to accommodate disabilities.

Music invites movement and social interaction. Familiar swing tunes from the 1930s and 1940s will evoke lively memories of dance halls and marathons. Play some favorites from Benny Goodman, who ushered in a new dance craze in the 1930s. The CD The Best of Benny Goodman and His Orchestra includes 11 hits from the "King of Swing." You'll enjoy Goodman's theme song "Let's Dance" as well as "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Rose Room," "Air Mail Special," and "You're a Sweetheart." Reminisce about the "Let's Dance" radio show and the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen in which Goodman and his band appeared.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or in the life of another." ~ Helen Keller

USHERING IN SPRING!
(March 2007)

The birds are singing, the bunnies are hopping, the flowers are blooming-spring is bursting out all over! It's time to awaken our senses and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of a new season. Ask your participants: What are your favorite signs of spring? What do you like most about the season? What springtime activities did you enjoy as a child? Did you ever catch "spring fever"? What special traditions did you enjoy with your family during the season? Encourage group members to complete this sentence: Each spring . . . .

You'll want to plan some activities for the season of growth and renewal. Here are some suggestions to savor the delightful sights, sounds, and smells of springtime.

Invite a master gardener to talk about window box gardening. Fill a small window box with seeds of fragrant flowers.
Serve a special spring dessert (rhubarb pie, coconut cake, strawberry shortcake) on pretty dessert plates.
Ask participants to complete this line of verse by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to . . . " (thoughts of love). Encourage participants to share courtship stories. Ask: Did you have a high school sweetheart? How did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
Invite an artist to demonstrate Impressionist painting techniques. Look at an art print of Claude Monet's "Fields in Spring." Ask participants to describe the images that come to mind as they view the colorful print.
Hold a spring fashion show featuring vintage hats. Pass around old hat boxes.
Reminisce about the ritual of spring cleaning. Ask: Why is spring a good time to rid your house of dirt and clutter? Share some of Granny's tips and tricks for cleaning, e.g., white vinegar in bowl to rid room of odors.
Watch the 1949 musical comedy Take Me Out to the Ball Game with Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, and Gene Kelly. Share memories of attending major or minor league baseball games with parents or grandparents.
Celebrate National Arbor Day, the last Friday in April, by singing some songs with "tree" in the title, e.g., "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" or Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree." Ask participants to name their favorite kind of tree.
Display pussy willow tree branches, forsythia, or red buds in a large vase of water.
Invite a member of a local bird club, e.g., Audubon Society, to talk about how birds learn songs. Study the habits of the mockingbird, one of the first birds to sing of the arrival of spring.
Pass around photographs of spring wildflowers. Reminisce about picking wildflowers, like purple and white violets, in the meadows or woods. Enjoy the scent of a sweet violet candle.
Talk about seasonal colors. Assemble a color palette for spring.
Share stories of an annual family tradition of tapping trees for maple syrup. Sample Vermont maple syrup products on pancakes, waffles, or biscuits.
Hold a jellybean counting contest. How did the popular candy become associated with Easter? Ask if anyone remembers buying the "penny candy" during the Depression.
Show pictures of spring tree buds and blossoms. Ask your group to identify the kind of tree, e.g., apple, pear, cherry, and dogwood.
Share recollections of spring farm chores, such as feeding newborn calves, baby pigs, and lambs, or of planting corn, oat, or barley crops.
Bring in some fragrant spring flowers to smell - hyacinth, daffodils, lilies of the valley. Caution: some people are allergic to pollen. Easter lilies, in particular, can create a major allergic reaction in some people.

USHERING IN SPRING!

Spring is a favorite season among people of all ages. To stimulate memories of the season, you can use music as a motivational tool. Hidden Treasures: Music & Memory Activities for People with Alzheimer's will show you how to turn music sessions into treasured memories. The resource offers suggestions on how to set up a session for success by assessing the environment and stimuli in the room. You'll also learn how to structure a music session for Alzheimer's clients, including introduction, movement, guided instrument activities, target activity, and closing. You'll find 24 target activities based on a theme or shared experience. For springtime fun, check out the activity titled "Signs of Spring." Participants will be reminiscing about flowers, birds, baseball, and weddings, and singing favorites such as "When You Wore a Tulip," "Bicycle Built for Two," "Singing in the Rain," and "Bye, Bye, Blackbird."

Go "treasure hunting" throughout the year with more target activities, including "Rainbow of Colors," "Westward Ho!" "A Day at the Beach," "Hats," "Flag Day," "The Luck of the Irish," "Going on a Picnic," "Auld Lang Syne," "Music Toss," "Election Toss-up," "Spin the Bottle," and more! The chapter titled "Bag of Tricks" offers an additional 12 music activities for your group.

Spring is a season of fragrance. Flower gardens are full of unique scents. Display a fragrant flower bouquet as you watch Ambient Flowers: Ultimate Video Garden . The DVD will enchant your group with over 300 gorgeous flowers and special music-acoustic guitar or classical masters. Watch any flower scene with musical accompaniment or listen to natural garden sounds. You can also watch scenes grouped by bloom color. This DVD includes interesting facts and trivia about each of the flowers.

Songbirds welcome the new season. Ambient Gardens: Songbirds of Spring is a soothing and relaxing compact disk full of bird calls and songs and natural garden sounds. You can reminisce about planting backyard spring gardens that attract songbirds, butterflies, bees, and insects as you listen to the sounds of nature.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."
~ Mother Teresa

MEET THE NEIGHBORS
(April 2007)

Pet sitting for old friends who live next door, playing your weekly bridge game with the ladies in the neighborhood, shoveling the sidewalk of the elderly couple down the street, watching your next-door-neighbor's children for the afternoon, sipping a lemonade on the front porch of your neighbor's home. Do these scenes conjure up memories of your old neighborhood? For many senior adults, the answer is "yes." Older adults hold a special affection for home and family, community and neighbors. As you prepare to celebrate Older Americans Month in May, you can honor the role of neighbor with your group. Ask: Did you grow up in a close-knit, caring community? Could you go next door to borrow a cup of sugar? Describe your neighbors when you were growing up. How did they become a part of your family's life? Which ones were memorable and why? In what kind of neighborhood did you raise your children?

Many senior adults grew up in small towns and farm communities and learned to value the gift of good neighbors. Here are some activities to stimulate memories of their times together.

Show photographs of old houses with front porches. Ask participants: What role did the front porch or stoop play in socializing with your neighbors? Why was there a decline in front porches after World War II? (Consider: suburbia, carport, TV) Enjoy lemonade and cookies as you reminisce.
Share recollections about Welcome Wagon, which delivered baskets of gifts from local businesses to new homeowners. Ask if anyone ever served as a hostess. Has anyone ever been the recipient of a home visit from a Welcome Wagon hostess? Ask the participants to name the items they would want to put into a welcome basket for new residents in your facility. What else could they do to welcome new people there?
Show photographs of a typical 1940s small town: Main Street with movie theatre, corner drugstore, barber shop, church, variety store, neighborhood grocery store, beauty shop, hardware store, used car lot. Discuss the advantages of small-town life and the benefits of knowing your neighbor and the "locals."
Ask participants who grew up in a rural setting to give examples of "neighbor helping neighbor" in a 1940/50s farm community.
Share old copies of the Saturday Evening Post, featuring the art of Norman Rockwell. Ask: What image of small-town America did Rockwell portray in his art? In your experience, was the portrayal accurate?
Reminisce about neighborhood activists and volunteers. Share recollections of 1950s neighborhood associations or civic clubs in the suburbs. Ask: Did you ever lobby for a new park, a traffic signal, or street repairs? What motivated you to work to improve the services of your neighbors and to build a better community?
Ask participants to explain the meaning of the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses." Role play a "Keeping up with the Joneses" scenario: You're a 1960s husband and wife in a middle-class home in suburban America. The next-door- neighbor has just come home with a new color TV. You're stuck with the old black- and-white set!
On a lighter note: Encourage your group to reflect on neighbors and news. Ask: How did your family hear or read about news of your neighbors? Examples: party-line telephones; small town newspaper's social column; talking in the barber shop or beauty parlor; talking across the back fence
Share memories of neighborhood gatherings and social events: pool party, garage/yard sale, potluck, Christmas caroling, Tupperware home party, bridge group, backyard barbecue, 4th of July picnic, Friday night poker game.
Watch a popular Frank Capra film. Examples: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town or It's a Wonderful Life. Ask: What does the movie say about small-town family values?
Play a card game from a neighborhood get-together: whist, pinochle, canasta, bridge, or rummy. Ask if anyone ever belonged to a card club.
Compile a list of suggestions for good neighbor etiquette, e.g., Return items that you borrow promptly.
Discuss the old adage "Good fences make good neighbors" (See Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall") and other neighbor proverbs.
Sing or play recordings of some songs about friendship: "Dear Hearts and Gentle People," "Those Were the Days," "That Old Gang of Mine," "Auld Lang Syne."

MEET THE NEIGHBORS

Stir up memories of the old-fashioned neighborhood with some read-aloud narratives written with the older adult in mind. Yesterdays: A Collection of Short Stories, Nostalgic Photographs, and Related Programming Materials for Seniors has 20 endearing short stories for your group to enjoy. Each 3-7-minute read-aloud story presents an enjoyable plot that encourages personal reminiscing. You can use the stories in one-to-one sessions, for senior group activities, or for intergenerational programming. Included with each story are questions for discussion, related trivia, word games, and fun facts to share with the group. An added bonus: 20 full-sized nostalgic photograph cards related to the stories in the book. Other helpful sections in the book include "Using Short Stories with Older Adults" and "Why Is Reminiscing So Important?"

To introduce discussion on the topic of neighbors, you can read about the woman who adds extra crunch to her wartime vanilla cake recipe - just in time for the neighbors - or the ice cream man who captures the attention of the neighborhood children. Pass around the black-and-white photograph related to each story to increase sensory stimulation and recall. There are no lengthy character descriptions or complicated storylines, so the stories work well with persons experiencing memory loss.

The Depression era often found neighbor helping neighbor. In the midst of the 1930s and 1940s, radio star Kate Smith became a household name. Kate hosted her own radio variety show, The Kate Smith Hour, from 1937-1945. She later appeared on television and in films. The CD The Best of Kate Smith (arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle) will encourage your group to reminisce about the popular vocalist who held a special place in the hearts of Americans. The collection features Kate's popular version of "God Bless America," plus 12 other favorites such as "Ridin' High," "The Very Thought of You," "Love Walked In," "Love Is Here to Stay," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "The Nearness of You." Ask if anyone in the group ever wrote a fan letter to Kate.

Often neighbors become good friends after they get to know each other. You can encourage friendship and conversation within your small group with the game Penny Ante - Blue. The format of the game is simple: Draw a card and follow the directions. Each card tells a player to give or take a penny. For example: Take a penny if you like exercise. Take a penny if you have ever played bridge. Take a penny if you have laughed out loud today. Give a penny to each person who has been to Hawaii. Give a penny to each person who is wearing a tie. Give a penny to each person who has the letter "J" in their name. Players are asked to share an opinion, notice things about other people in the group, or answer simple recall questions. If you are looking for more cards, Penny Ante - Red is also available for your group to enjoy.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"He that can have Patience, can have what he wills." ~ Ben Franklin

ALL THINGS GREEN
(May 2007)

Spring is awash in vibrant colors and fragrance. It's a good time to enjoy some color appreciation activities with your group members. Take a poll of favorite colors among your group. Green is sure to be cited as a popular seasonal color. Explore how the color green appeals to all of the senses with some simple introductory activities. Look at paint chip samples in shades of green (e.g., sea foam, mint, lime, moss, jade, olive). Wear a green item of clothing, such as a tie, socks, or hat. Taste a green dessert, such as key lime pie or lime sherbet. Smell some fresh green mint.

Color can spark many memories. Here are some recall and reminiscing activities related to the color green.

Reminisce about trading stamps popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Ask: Did you shop in stores that gave you S&H Green Stamps with a purchase? What kind of items did you buy with your Green Stamps?
Enjoy looking at reproductions from 20th century American folk artist Grandma Moses, who painted scenes of rural life. Note the shades of green she uses in her spring and summer scenes.
Pass around a picture of the 4-H Club emblem, a green four-leaf clover. Ask participants to share recollections of the meaning of each 'H' in the emblem (head, hands, heart, health).
Discuss the meaning of the term "greenback," often associated with money. Hold up a one-dollar bill. Ask if anyone ever owned a "Mom and Pop business." Share stories about framing the first dollar you ever made.
Explore the meaning of the following idiom: "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
Talk about ways to use the herb mint in cooking. Sample some mint tea, candy, or jelly. Ask participants about the use of spearmint or peppermint as an old folk medicine.
Pass around a pair of vintage OD (olive drab) military fatigues. Reminisce about green military uniforms from World War II.
Laugh at an episode of the 1960s TV sitcom Green Acres.
Reminisce about the first Super Bowl in 1967 with the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Any Packer fans among the group? Ask if anyone remembers seeing Packer fans paint their faces with green and gold.
List professionals or club members who wear green garb: e.g., physicians, park rangers, Girls Scouts, Kansas City Athletics, Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
Show photographs of The Green Monster, the left-field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox. Ask: When and why was the wall painted green? Did you ever see a player hit a home run over the wall?
Share memories of TV's Green Grocer, Joe Carcione. List tips for picking out fresh produce. Name fruits and vegetables that are green, or try a fruit taste test.
Reflect on the U.S. environmental movement, which became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Ask participants if they became involved in "green issues." What do they remember about the first Earth Day? Did they ever join the Sierra Club or Audubon Society?
Show photographs of vintage John Deere tractors and farm equipment (green and yellow color). Share family farm memories such as spring planting.

ALL THINGS GREEN

Green often symbolizes nature and the environment. Your group will enjoy the relaxation DVD Ambient Calm: Scenes of Serenity. There are 14 soothing scenes, including vistas of waterfalls, clouds, butterflies, sand dunes, a quiet pond, and a beach sunrise. The scenes are accompanied by custom sound effects or special music-classical, piano and guitar, or jazz. Create a custom play list for your group. Choose the order of scenes and the type of music or sound effects to accompany each scene. Enjoy some good, old-fashioned fun and mental stimulation. The resource What Do You Know? Trivia Fun and Activities for Seniors. contains 33 inventive trivia quizzes for your group. Try the quiz titled "Color Appreciation" (you'll find sample questions on the color green later in this newsletter). Or, choose from 11 group activities that encourage discussion and socialization. Activities such as "The Four Seasons," "Auction and Bidding," "Picture Identification," and "Word Bingo" can be used for some color-related activities. Enjoy some green fruits and vegetables with a cooking activity. Marion Thomas' The Special Needs Cooking Experience. is full of recipes that are adapted for use with people with special needs, including Alzheimer's and other dementias. The cookbook contains over 60 recipes with easy-to-follow directions. Your group will enjoy tasks such as measuring, stirring, and rolling to prepare economical, tasty foods, including ambrosia salad, gazpacho, vegetable pizza, tacos, apples theresa, and flavored jiggles. Create foods to stimulate all of the senses.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." ~ Grandma Moses

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
(June 2007)

The wedding season is officially here. Are you thinking about love songs and wedding bells? Summer is typically full of marriage ceremonies and anniversary celebrations. It's a great time of the year to celebrate the joy of love and marriage with your group of senior adults. Share some remembrances of the courtship, engagement, wedding, and marriage of some special couples. Ask: How did you meet your spouse? How long was your courtship? What year did you get married? When is your anniversary? How did you celebrate your wedding anniversaries over the years? What shaped your view of love and marriage? Enjoy Guy Lombardo's recording of the "Anniversary Song" as your group reflects on milestone anniversaries, such as the 25th, 50th, or even 60th.

Here are more activities to use with your group throughout the month. (Note: Some of these activities are adapted from sessions in the ElderSong resource, Down Memory Lane, Second Edition.)

Name some terms of endearment used by couples who are dating. Examples: sweetheart, lovey, honey, sweetie, sugar, doll.
Describe an old-fashioned marriage proposal. Ask: How did your spouse ask for your hand in marriage?
Sing some favorite love songs, e.g., "I Love You Truly," "Love and Marriage," "I'm in the Mood for Love," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "You Made Me Love You."
Share wedding day reminiscences. If available, display wedding mementos from group members, e.g., invitation, cake topper, toast glass, wedding album. Ask if anyone in the group had a special wedding dance at the reception.
Display a "Just Married" sign. Reminisce about the first year of married life. Ask: What advice would you give to newlyweds?
Pass around photographs of vintage wedding chests. Ask if anyone received an heirloom gift that has been passed to another generation. Share some of these gifts with your group, e.g., a traditional double wedding ring quilt or hand- embroidered linens. Ask the ladies if they wore a wedding gown made by their mother or a local seamstress. Did anyone wear Grandmother's wedding dress?
Reminisce about 1940s wartime weddings. Ask if anyone married while the groom was on leave from the military.
Enjoy watching the 1954 musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Look at wedding gown ads from bridal magazines. Compare bridal wear from different decades. Listen to traditional wedding songs: Bridal Chorus from the opera Lohengrin ("Here Comes the Bride"), "O Perfect Love," "Because," "Wedding March" (Mendelssohn).
June is National Rose Month. Display a bouquet of red roses as a symbol of love. Enjoy the scent of some fresh rose petals. Serve some wedding cake (ask for old wedding cake recipes) decorated with roses.
Define love. Talk about the beauty of mature love. Ask: How does love change after many years together?
Compose a "Recipe for a Happy Marriage," e.g., a touch of humor, one cup of trust, a dash of common sense.
Use Emily Post's traditional gift suggestions for the first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, and fiftieth anniversaries to talk about gift giving. Example: First anniversary - paper. Ask your group to name paper gifts to give to a special couple, e.g., tickets, books, artwork.
Encourage participants to reflect on their wedding day vows. Ask: Did you ever celebrate a milestone anniversary by renewing your wedding vows? Use the following verses from Robert Browning to compose some wedding vows: "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. . . ."
Write a wedding anniversary toast for a special couple.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Wedding anniversaries are special occasions to be celebrated with family and friends. Encourage participants to reflect on ways to observe wedding anniversaries - gifts, cards, calls, dinners, or trips. The popular resource Down Memory Lane, Second Edition, is full of ideas for your reminiscing groups. The sessions titled "Falling in Love," "Weddings," and "Marriage" will help uncover a lifetime of special memories to celebrate the gift of marital love. You'll find song and visual aid suggestions, trivia quizzes, hands-on activities, listening activities, discussion questions, and more. There are 65 session themes in this completely revised and updated 2nd edition.

Be sure to make music a part of your anniversary celebration. Use music from the era of courtship. A favorite with senior adults: swing music and the Big Band sound! The 3-disc CD set Swingin' to Swing's Greatest Hits features 36 all-time favorites. "In the Mood," "Take the 'A' Train," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," "Boogie Woogie," "Begin the Beguine," "Stomping at the Savoy," and "One O'clock Jump" will encourage your group members to reminisce about the year they met their spouse. Relive memories of the dance hall or the USO canteen as you enjoy the sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Harry James, Les Brown, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington.

Many couples travel to celebrate a milestone anniversary. They might visit places of courtship or even revisit their honeymoon site. The 4-disc DVD set from Reader's Digest, America's Most Scenic Drives, will encourage participants to share memories of special trips with their spouse. Here's a look at some of the breathtaking scenery you'll find:

Scenic Drive 1: From Maine to Key West - Nantucket and Cape Cod, Mississippi River, Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains
Scenic Drive 2: From Texas to Yellowstone - Bridges of Madison County, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park
Scenic Drive 3: From Arizona to Alaska - Hawaiian Islands, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Alaska's Seward Highway
Bonus Program: America the Beautiful Musical Tribute - 19 songs including "New York, New York," "Chicago," "Rocky Mountain High," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "Oklahoma!" and "Star Spangled Banner."

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." ~ Mother Teresa

POSTSCRIPT

Sandy Yeroshefsky is the friendly voice you hear on the phone when you call the ElderSong office. Sandy recently celebrated her 10th anniversary with ElderSong. Wish her happy anniversary when you call!

THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF SUMMER
(July 2007)

Do you remember running barefoot through the backyard, napping under an old elm tree, or spitting watermelon seeds with your best friend? Ah, the lazy, hot days of summer are here! It's time to celebrate the simple pleasures of the season. Your group of senior adults can cool off with handheld paper fans as you help them recall some of their favorite summer experiences. Here are a few activities to enjoy.

Listen to some patriotic music. Talk with your group about the origin and history of "God Bless America," written by Irving Berlin, but destined to be associated with popular singer Kate Smith. Listen to Kate's rendition, first sung on her radio broadcast in 1938. (Song available on "Best of Kate Smith" CD.)
Organize an old-fashioned ice cream social for your group, complete with sundaes, floats, and shakes.
Reminisce about listening to or watching baseball games, America's national pastime. Ask: Did you have a favorite Major League team? Did your family gather around the kitchen table to listen to play-by-play accounts on the radio? How did the game change for you when you were able to watch a live game on your newly acquired television? How often did you drive to the ballpark for a family outing? Did you ever make a trip to the movie theater to see sports highlights on newsreel? Take a "seventh- inning stretch" and sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Share memories of summer camping adventures. Talk about the different types of camping experiences, including YMCA, Scouts, 4-H camp, or church camp. Sing some camp songs in the round, e.g., "Bingo" or "Yankee Doodle." Make s'mores with the group.
Show photographs of a favorite American icon, the drive-in movie theater. Share recollections about the experience of watching a movie in your car. Watch a favorite family classic like The Shaggy Dog or Pollyanna.
Ask participants to name their favorite books for summer reading. Ask: Where was your favorite place to relax with a good book? Share recollections of borrowing books from the summer bookmobile or the main library. Enjoy some light reading with your group. Suggestion: Art Linkletter's book, Kids Say the Darndest Things! (TV show available on DVD.)
Encourage group members to share summer berry-picking adventures. Bring in an old pail filled with fresh berries. Taste jellies and jams made with summer fruits.
Share memories of a favorite summer activity for bargain hunters: attending flea markets. Ask: Can one person's trash be another person's treasure? Bring in items you would find at a flea market and ask participants to price them. Examples: old records, old toys, glass, magazines, jewelry.
Organize an intergenerational garden tea party (indoors). Decorate with fresh summer flowers. Ask the ladies to wear big-brimmed hats. Older ladies can teach younger girls about tea etiquette.
Share family stories about visiting the county fair. Sample typical fair foods, like corn dogs and funnel cakes. Play a ring toss game.
Examine sunflower art by Vincent Van Gogh. Paint a cheerful bouquet of sunflowers. Eat some sunflower seeds.
Share nostalgic memories of sitting on the front porch with extended family and neighbors on a hot summer night. Ask: Did your family have a rocking chair or swing on the front porch? Did you gossip, give advice, share family stories, or watch children catch fireflies? Serve a favorite summer drink, such as iced tea, lemonade, or a root beer float.
Enjoy some songs related to the season: "Summertime," "Those Lazy-Hazy- Crazy Days of Summer," or "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree." Ask: What are some activities you enjoy during the summer months?
Show clothing advertisements of 1950s-era summer fashions, including Bermuda shorts, surfer shorts, tank tops, clam diggers, pedal pushers, bikinis, and RayBans. (Available on Everyday Fashions of the 1950s.) Ask participants to describe a favorite summer outfit.

Display an old fishing rod. Encourage the men to share some funny fishing stories. Ask: Did you ever hook a really big one? Ask participants to list words associated with the sport of fishing, e.g., reel, rod, bait, tackle, lure.

THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF SUMMER

Summer is a time to relax with family and friends. Games can provide some lively interaction and fun. Want to stimulate group participation, encourage socialization, and build camaraderie among an older adult group? ElderSong's new trivia book, Quiz Me from A to Z, contains 26 quizzes designed for older adults who are suffering from dementia. The authors, Cheryl Rush and John Pettit, created the questions from their personal experiences of working with the Alzheimer's population in an adult day care center. The resource can also be used with the general older adult population. There are 30 trivia questions for each letter of the alphabet. The answers for each group of questions begin with the same letter of the alphabet. You can divide your group in teams or play as individuals. Some sample questions from the book are included in the A to Z Trivia Quiz found in this month's newsletter.

Take some time to enjoy the beauty of nature. Sunsets, ocean waves, colorful fish, coral reefs, rainfall - these are some of the natural scenes you'll find in the relaxing DVD Ambient Water: A Video Aquarium. Your group can choose from 16 different water scenes (including freshwater and saltwater) and 8 audio tracks of background music or natural sound effects. Soothing and refreshing - it's perfect entertainment for a warm summer day. You can customize your own play list for hours of enjoyment.

Enjoying some music is a pleasurable summer activity. Ask your participants if they grew up listening to radio broadcasts and recordings of Big Band jazz. You can spend a hot summer's evening listening to some cool jazz with the CD Best of Duke Ellington. You'll hear 12 classics, performed by the legendary Duke Ellington and his band. Share music recollections of "Satin Doll," "In a Sentimental Mood," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Rockin' in Rhythm," "One O'clock Jump," "Honeysuckle Rose," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Flying Home," and more. From sassy and upbeat to smooth and mellow - the songs in this collection are sure to please jazz fans.

Travel is often a memorable part of any summer. Reminisce about special family vacations or trips during the summer. Ask: What is your favorite way to travel-by car, boat, train, plane? Did you ever take a multi- generational vacation with kids, parents, grandparents, and great- grandparents? What is your favorite vacation spot? The Reader's Digest Classic Collection DVD, Scenic Cruises of the World, will take your group on a dream cruise around the world's most dramatic coastlines to more than 20 countries, islands, and varied locations. Experience different cultures and meet the locals. You can set sail in search of unique places and people with three special programs on one DVD: Majestic Americas, Romantic Europe, and Exotic Islands.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"So of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more it remains."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

GOOD OLD SCHOOL DAYS
(August 2007)

School bells will be ringing again soon. A new generation of school children will be learning the 3Rs, just like their parents and grandparents. August often brings back nostalgic memories of the "good old school days." Many of today’s older adults who lived near small towns and in rural areas received an education in a one-room school. Encourage group members to share recollections of a typical school day for both the teacher and the students. Ask participants to chat about some of their favorite memories of school. Here are a few suggestions to get your group talking. (Note: Some activities are adapted from the ElderSong resource Trivia Treasury.)

Discuss the difference between book smarts and street smarts. Ask: Is academic knowledge more valuable than common sense? Where did you learn common sense? How do you teach common sense to someone?

Define bookworm. Ask: Did you enjoy reading as a child and young adult? What do you remember about your school library? Was it simply a classroom collection of books? Name some books you enjoyed reading, e.g., Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys series or Little House on the Prairie books.

Reminisce about memorable schoolteachers. Ask: What qualities do good teachers have in common? Watch a favorite movie about the impact of a teacher on his or her students, e.g., Mr. Holland's Opus.

Gather old school photographs of your group. Mount them on poster board. Have group members guess who's who.

Ring an old brass school bell. Sing the classic song "School Days," first heard in 1907. Ask: What are "dear old Golden Rule days"?

Encourage participants to share school experiences related to the following topics: length of school year, methods of discipline, and amount of homework. Ask: How do your school experience compare or contrast with your own children's school experience?

Show an old photograph of a recitation bench, often found in one-room schools. Ask: What was the purpose of the bench? Encourage participants to recite some lines from a favorite patriotic poem (or read it aloud from a book). Suggestion: Longfellow's "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."

Hold an old-fashioned spelling bee, using variations such as the following: Choose words that all start with the same letter; are slang words from the 1920s; are the names of famous people or places; are related to a theme, e.g., flowers or kitchen tools.

Hold a simple arithmetic contest or "ciphering match." Name synonyms for cipher, e.g., calculate, compute, solve. Ask: How were you taught arithmetic in school?

Reminisce about the involvement of families and the community in the life of the school. Ask: What kinds of big events took place during the school year, e.g., field days, Christmas program, school play, promotion ceremony/picnic?

Brainstorm a list of traditional school games played during lunch or recess. Ask participants if they can recall how to play The Farmer in the Dell; London Bridge; Ante Over; Red Rover, Red Rover; Drop the Hanky; Button, Button; Red Light; Leap Frog; Simon Says; and Mother May I.

Read a moral tale from an old McGuffey’s Reader. Ask: What common values are taught in the lesson? Share recollections of character traits that were stressed in school.

Have some fun with a school craft project, such as paper folding. Make a paper model airplane or paper cup.

Reminisce about the school dress code. Ask: What is the purpose of a dress code? Display some vintage school clothes such as a pinafore dress, overalls, shorts/knickers, and high button shoes.

Share memories of traditional school books, such as Noah Webster's dictionary. List ten words every educated person should know. (Consult a dictionary for clarification.)

GOOD OLD SCHOOL DAYS

The good old school days included lots of memorization and recitation. Students were asked to stand and recite a previously assigned lesson. As a result, your senior adults have lots of memories of facts and figures. It's time for a refresher course, using Trivia Treasury: Trivia and Word Games for Older Adults. You'll find 31 trivia quizzes and descriptions of 42 word games - old and new - with varying degrees of difficulty. The author has designed the quizzes primarily for persons who have lived in the United States since the 1920s, with particular emphasis on the years 1920-1950. Here's a sample of the trivia quiz topics: Colorful Phrases, Food Origins, Intellectual Sayings, Shopworn Phrases, Trademarks, Very Trivial Trivia, Who Married Whom, and World Citizen. Word games include variations on Hangman, Guessing Game, What Was My Line? Advertisements, Shake the Can, Daffy Definitions, Guess the Price, and Double Words. (Note: Some sample trivia questions from the book are included in the Presidential History Quiz found later in this newsletter.)

Remember Art Linkletter's House Party show that aired on television from 1952-1969? A favorite part of the show was Art's interviews with young school children each day. ElderSong is now offering Volumes 2 and 3 of The Best of Art Linkletter's Kids Say the Darndest Things on DVD. Your group can enjoy nearly two hours of charming childhood insights on home life on each DVD. Some of the conversation topics from Volumes 2 and 3 relate to family and school day memories. Here's a few of them: A Child's Perfect Day, Changing History, Young Presidents, Improving Your Teachers, Being a Grown-Up, Hard Rules to Follow, Hard Things About School, Orders From School, Perfect Teachers, Good Manners, Childhood Perks, and more!

School chums hold a special place in our hearts. Encourage the men in your group to share memories of friends and buddies and child's play. Kids and cowboy heroes are sure to be mentioned. You can saddle up and sing along with America's favorite cowboy, using the CD Gene Autry: Greatest Hits. Enjoy 10 Autry classics such as "Back in the Saddle Again," "You Are My Sunshine," "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine," "South of the Border," "Blueberry Hill," "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," and more. Many of Autry's hit record songs were featured in his Western movies. Reminisce about Autry's career in radio, movies, and TV shows. Don cowboy hats as your participants share recollections of B Westerns, National Barn Dance show, and yodeling cowboys.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Man's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

FAMILY FUN IN THE FIFTIES
(September 2007)

Remember when hula-hoops, sock hops, drive-in movies, and fins were all the craze? Ah, the good ol’ Fifties! Today’s senior adults were busy raising young families during the decade, but they still managed to find time for some good old-fashioned fun. Your group will enjoy reminiscing about leisure and recreation in the Fabulous Fifties. Here are some activities to elicit memories of family time.

Ask participants to recall memories of the television game show Name That Tune, which first aired in the 1950s. Hold a 1950s Name That Tune contest. Encourage group members to name the title and artist of old fifties songs.

Relive the days of the pet poodle craze. Pass around old poodle collectibles, such as a poodle skirt, stuffed poodle, poodle figurine, poodle pin, or poodle planter. Ask if anyone owned a toy poodle as a family pet.

Hold a 1950s costume contest. Suggestions: greaser, beatnik, Elvis, carhop, soda jerk, cheerleader.

Share photographs of old-fashioned roadside diners of the 1950s. Describe the decor and the food choices. What songs did participants listen to on the jukebox? Sample a diner treat - an ice cream sundae (ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and a cherry on top).

Hold a Scrabble competition or bridge tournament. Or, play some favorite card games of the 1950s, e.g., rummy, canasta, hearts.

Enjoy the hilarity of the comedy duo, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, by watching one of their old movies or episodes from The Colgate Comedy Hour , which ran on NBC in the1950s.

Share recollections of 1950s backyard barbecues. What do the men remember about grilling for the neighborhood get-togethers? Share recipes from Betty Crocker cookbooks of the decade.

Enjoy a "Mitch Miller and His Gang" sing-along. The Sing Along with Mitch albums of the 50s featured a chorus singing old favorite tunes. Try "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "Carolina in the Morning," or "By the Light of the Silvery Moon." (Check out the Mitch Miller collection in the ElderSong catalog

Chuckle at old Peanuts comic strips, which debuted in the 1950s. Encourage group members to share some insights they have learned from the Peanuts characters.

Lip sync to 1950s pop singers, like Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Connie Francis, or Patti Page. Remember "Love and Marriage" or "How Much is That Doggie in the Window"?

Share memories of summer vacations/day trips in the family station wagon. Show pictures of an old Ford Country Squire or Buick Roadmaster. Ask: What was it like to travel in a station wagon? What were some of your favorite vacation spots? Did you ever travel on Route 66? What do you remember about the newly built interstate highways?

Ask participants to describe the impact of Walt Disney on family entertainment in the 1950s. Mention The Mickey Mouse Club; the opening of Disneyland in 1955; and the 1950s films Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp.

Share family photographs of children playing Little League Baseball. Ask group members if their whole family became involved in the sport, as a coach, player, or fan. Read this popular baseball poem aloud to your group: "Casey at the Bat."

Ask participants what they remember about a 1950s ice cream parlor, pizza parlor, drive-in movie theatre, bowling alley, or record shop.

Enjoy some wholesome 1950s entertainment by watching one of these favorite musicals: Oklahoma! Show Boat, Carousel, Singin’ in the Rain, or South Pacific.

FAMILY FUN IN THE FIFTIES

If you want to learn how to encourage older adults to share their life stories, try the new resource Getting to Know the Life Stories of Older Adults: Activities for Building Relationships. The book is full of engaging exercises to help senior adults look at their life experiences in a new way. There are nine scripted main exercises and more than 30 informal mini-exercises covering topics such as Name Stories, A Special Home, Holiday Traditions, Family Leisure Time and the 1950s, Life as Social History, Best Qualities, and more! The exercises - designed to draw on positive memories - are easy to implement with a minimum amount of preparation and props. You’ll uncover the unique experiences, characteristics, and interests of your participants. BONUS: The resource includes a CD-ROM with participant handouts, read-aloud passages, informational charts, and art templates for easy printing.

The exercises in Part 3 of the book - "Family Leisure Time and the 1950s," "How Things Have Changed," and "Life as Social History"- are full of games, discussion, and storytelling ideas to elicit memories of family life in the Fifties. Your group will especially enjoy reminiscing about the early days of television!

Do you need a visual tour of the decade? The Reader’s Digest DVD The Fabulous 50s: The Fun and the Feel of America’s Dream Decade will provide your group with an overview of the history and culture of America in the Fifties, when television became the new medium of the home. Relive the days of Elvis, Levittown, I Love Lucy, Thunderbirds, and Ike and Mamie Eisenhower. Get a taste of 50s music from Nat "King" Cole, Liberace, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. There are also celebrity appearances by TV personalities, sports heroes, and entertainers, including Steve Allen, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Rocky Marciano, and Bogart & Bacall. The DVD includes coverage of world and national events such as President Truman and the Korean War, the elections of 1952 and 1956, McCarthyism, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the marriage of John Kennedy, the opening of Disneyland, and the launching of Sputnik.

Entertainment comes in many forms. Ask participants if they danced to love songs in the 1950s. Chances are that the Italian-American pop crooner Dean Martin sang many of their favorite songs. The compact disk Dean Martin: All-Time Greatest Hits is a collection of Dean’s hit songs of the 1940s and 1950s. Your group will enjoy "That’s Amore," as well as gems like "Volare," "You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You," "Innamorata," and "Come Back to Sorrento." Reminisce about the career of the singer, actor, and comedian. Ask participants if they remember the members of the Rat Pack or if they ever saw Dean’s nightclub act in Las Vegas. What do they recall about The Dean Martin Show on NBC or his celebrity roast specials?

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."
~ Henry David Thoreau

AUTUMN SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
(October 2007)

The seasons are changing, and soon nature will create a feast for our eyes! Autumn is particularly colorful - from the leaves on the trees, to the grapes on the vines, to the pumpkins in the fields. It’s the perfect time to make your activities a sensory experience for your senior adults.

Some of the season’s holidays, national celebrations, sporting events, festivals, and family outings are highlighted below. Use them to evoke memories of the sights and sounds of autumn. Add your own sensory activities to the mix.

Family Farm. Reminisce about life on the family farm during the harvest season. Use the following action verbs to stimulate some memories: pick, thresh, press, chop, rake, plow, tend, gather, harvest, and shuck. Pass around seasonal favorites (such as corn, acorns/nuts, wheat stalks, straw, sunflowers, apple or cornhusk dolls) for visual stimulation.

Farmers Market. Create a seasonal decoration such as an autumn centerpiece using gourds, berries, Indian corn, dried flowers, and small pumpkins. Sample fall fruits such as pears, grapes, and apples.

Pick-Your-Own Orchard. Hold an apple-tasting party. Slice varieties of apples (e.g., Red and Golden Delicious, Stayman, Gala, Empire, Rome Beauty, or Fuji) into bite-sized pieces. Ask your group members to pick their favorite. Enjoy a favorite apple dessert.

Grandma’s Kitchen. Enjoy some flavors of fall. Sample some of Grandma’s favorite fall desserts (e.g., cinnamon buns, apple spice cake, pumpkin pie, or gingerbread). Identify baking spices by scent (e.g., cinnamon, clove, nutmeg).

German Oktoberfest. Sing the famous polka song "Beer Barrel Polka" and demonstrate the Chicken Dance. Sample some German foods such as Black Forest cake and apple strudel.

College Football Game. Wave college pennants and sing football fight songs. (Example: "Notre Dame Victory March") For exercise, pass a football. Watch a DVD of football bloopers.

World Series Playoff. Reminisce about Yankees baseball in the 1950s, the decade in which the team won six World Series championships. Show photographs of managers/players such as Casey Stengel, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle. Invite a baseball card collector to talk about Topps baseball cards in the 1950s.

Veterans Day Parade. Share recollections of military parades, ceremonies, and speeches. Listen to some patriotic music. Invite members of veterans organizations (e.g., American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars) to speak about activities in the community. Display vintage military uniforms.

Election Day Polling Place. Invite a long-time election poll worker to share memories of presidential election days at the polls. Pass around presidential campaign memorabilia. Hold a straw election.

Halloween Party. Ask participants if they recall when the first Halloween costumes appeared in the stores. Create a character costume from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, or 1960s. (Example: Charlie Chaplin)

School Classroom. Read some traditional poetry on the autumnal season. A favorite: "To Autumn" by John Keats.

Broadway Theatre. Celebrate the fall season on Broadway by watching the film version of a 1950s musical, like State Fair, Guys and Dolls, or Oklahoma!

State Fair. Celebrate this popular American tradition by sampling food-on-a-stick. Show photographs of fair entertainment (e.g., dog show, pig race, tractor pull, demolition derby, rodeo) and ask your group to talk about family fun at the fair.

Fall Foliage Trip. Ask participants to describe an autumn drive on an Indian summer day. Collect several kinds of colorful leaves and ask participants to identify as many of the leaves as they can.

You can savor the season with some helpful resources from our ElderSong catalog. New this month - Volume 2 of I Hear Memories! Check out the preview below.

Continue to look for updates of this newsletter the last week of the month. Our newsletter contains useful information to make your job of working with older adults more fulfilling. In this issue, you’ll find:

AUTUMN SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

The fall season stirs many nostalgic memories among senior adults. You can use ElderSong’s newest product, I Hear Memories! Volume 2, to reacquaint your group with some of the sounds of autumn. The CD offers 20 one-minute sound scenes for reminiscing. Fall sound scenes include Classroom, Football Game, and Halloween. (Other vintage sounds on the CD: Diner, Beauty Parlor, Pets, Grocery Store, Airport, Office, Handyman’s Workshop, Camping, and more.) The companion book features a description of each sound scene, prop suggestions, discussion questions, and songs for listening or singing. Here are some sample discussion questions for Halloween.

What symbols are associated with Halloween?

Did you ever play a trick on anyone at Halloween? What did you do?

What kinds of activities or games are fun to play at Halloween or a costume party?

Try the following song suggestions: "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider," "Have You Seen the Ghost of Tom?" or "That Old Black Magic." You can add props such as masks, children’s costumes, and soft candy for stimulation.

Enjoy trivia quizzes and word games on seasonal and holiday themes in Holiday Mind Joggers. Try the trivia quiz on "Halloween." (You’ll find some sample questions later in this newsletter.) Challenge your group to some mental exercise with some crossword puzzles and word scrambles from the book. For the fall season, consider the following quizzes: "School Days," "Autumn," and "Trick or Treat." You can use the word lists (e.g., bonfire, canning, turf, hues, cider) to trigger memories of seasonal sights and sounds.

Relish the beauty of nature as you view Wood Star Videos: Memories of the Zoo, A View of the Ocean, Autumn’s Walk - three relaxing programs on one DVD. In Autumn’s Walk, you’ll experience a beautiful fall day from dusk to dawn. See sun-kissed ponds and rolling mountain streams. Gaze at colorful trees across a quieted landscape. Enjoy the sight of migrating geese, squirrels, and birds - to the accompaniment of soothing background music.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

FAVORITE HOLIDAY MEMORIES
(November 2007)

Which holiday memories hold a special place in your heart? Listening to "White Christmas" on the kitchen radio, baking a batch of Christmas cookies with your children, or trekking through the woods in search of the perfect Christmas tree? The holiday season is a time to welcome family and friends and share in some traditions, both old and new. Festive food, music, and decorations add to the mix!

Make the season bright for your senior adults. A few simple activities will help trigger some holiday nostalgia.

Display or show pictures of Christmas decorations from the late 1940s and 1950s: bubble lights, aluminum tree, cardboard Putz house, angel tree topper, glass ornaments, box of tinsel. Ask participants how they decorated the family tree. Plan a Trim-a-Tree Party with your group.

Display classic holiday toys: American Eagle wooden sled, Lionel toy trains, Raggedy Ann doll, teddy bear, Lincoln Logs, Radio Flyer wagon, Candy Land game. Encourage participants to share memories of a favorite Christmas toy.

Evoke nostalgic memories with old Christmas postage stamps, holiday cards from Currier & Ives (winter scenes) and Norman Rockwell (Santa Claus figures), and Christmas postcards. Ask participants what they recall about Christmas Seal drives. Read some sayings from the old cards.

Savor the sweet aroma of Christmas by baking a batch of old-fashioned sugar cookies. Gather holiday aprons (1940s pattern), cookie cutters, and holiday cookie tins.

Enjoy some vintage holiday sounds. Listen to 1940s Christmas songs, such as "White Christmas"/Bing Crosby, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,"/Judy Garland, "Winter Wonderland"/Perry Como, "The Christmas Song"/Nat King Cole, or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"/Gene Autry.

Hold a gingerbread house-decorating contest. (Use pre-assembled kits or houses made from graham crackers.) Decorate with candies from participants’ childhood - gumdrops, red licorice, candy canes, hard candies - and tubes of frosting.

Hold a gingerbread house-decorating contest. (Use pre-assembled kits or houses made from graham crackers.) Decorate with candies from participants’ childhood - gumdrops, red licorice, candy canes, hard candies - and tubes of frosting.

Listen to an audio performance of the holiday classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Or, read from the original 1843 version of the tale in which Ebenezer Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas. Watch a favorite movie version with the group. (Trivia: Name some actors who have played Scrooge in the movie version. Answer: Alastair Sim, Albert Finney, George C. Scott.)

Prepare a Christmas dessert recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation - e.g., plum pudding, mince pie, or Stollen.

Reminisce about kicking off the holiday season with a special trip, e.g., Colonial Williamsburg, the White House, or Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Ask participants if anyone ever saw a holiday show on Broadway. Did anyone ever attend a community tree ceremony?

Share recollections about helping others at Christmas by donating time, money, or material items to a favorite charity. Examples: Toys for Tots (Marine Corps Reserve), Salvation Army Christmas Kettle, food drive, soup kitchen.

Encourage participants to wear something festive for the holiday season, e.g., Christmas ball earrings, Christmas pin, Santa hat, reindeer tie, glittery sweater, red socks.

Talk about the traditional role of bell ringing during the holidays. Display old jingle bells in a wooden bowl, a strap of sleigh bells, and church handbell. Name holiday songs with ‘bell’ in the title, e.g., "Jingle Bells," "Silver Bells," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," "Christmas Bells Are Ringing," "Jingle Bell Rock."

Watch a movie version of the popular Christmas ballet The Nutcracker. Enjoy Tchaikovsky’s "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." Ask if anyone ever saw a local stage production of the ballet.

Organize a Secret Santa gift exchange for your group. Arrange for donated items. Ask a volunteer to don an old Santa suit for the occasion. Share recollections of seeing Santa in a department store for the first time.

Display some Christmas collectibles, e.g., wooden nutcracker soldiers, Santa Claus figures, crèche/ nativity sets, Spode Christmas tree dinnerware. Ask if anyone had a favorite holiday collection.

FAVORITE HOLIDAY MEMORIES

For holiday inspiration, you’ll want to share a keepsake with your group: Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Treasury: Holiday Stories to Warm the Heart. The heartwarming stories are grouped under themes, such as The True Meaning of Christmas, The Spirit of Giving, Yuletide Memories, Holiday Traditions, and Boughs, Holly and Mistle . . .aneous. You’ll find stories from real people who share cherished holiday moments. Enjoy "Blue Christmas," "Christmas in the Sticks," "Secret Santa," "One Christmas Card Coming Up," or "How I Discovered Hanukkah." The stories are perfect for a read-aloud session with your group. Sip hot chocolate as you reminisce about the meaning of the holiday season.

Get in the holiday mood with a musical celebration of Christmas. View the Reader’s Digest DVD titled An Old-Fashioned Christmas. The video includes performances of 35 well-known Christmas carols and popular Yuletide songs, such as "Deck the Halls," "Here We Come A Caroling," "The Holly and the Ivy," "Jolly Old St. Nick," "The First Noel," and more! Accompanying the music are warm and familiar scenes of family life during the holiday season. Encourage your group to share their favorite holiday traditions, as you watch joyous images, like trimming the tree, baking Christmas cookies, and gathering for Christmas dinner.

Christmas and music seem to go together - from caroling in the neighborhood, listening to a holiday concert, or singing Christmas carols and hymns during a church service. Your group will enjoy the CD set Christmas All-Time Greatest Records, Volumes 1 and 2. The set includes some of the most popular singers of the 20th century performing traditional favorites, such as "White Christmas"/Bing Crosby, "Winter Wonderland"/Lena Horne, "Silent Night"/Ella Fitzgerald, "The Star Carol"/Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree"/Brenda Lee, "The Christmas Song"/Osmond Brothers, and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"/Andy Williams. Encourage your participants to sing along as they welcome the holiday season with the gift of music.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"At Christmas, all roads lead home."
~ Marjorie Holmes

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
(December 2007)

Birthdays are fun for all ages. A good way to commemorate the day you were born is to celebrate with a party. Everybody loves a good party! But there are other ways to have a fun and memorable birthday. Senior adults will enjoy a simple celebration of their decades of life experience - and the wit and wisdom that come with aging.

Here are some suggestions to help celebrants feel loved and remembered on their special day. (Note: Some activities are adapted from the ElderSong resource titled Roses in December: Music Sessions With Older Adults. The book is a featured product below.)

Listen to the 1953 song "Young at Heart" sung by Frank Sinatra. Ask: What does "young at heart" mean to you?
Finish this saying: "Life begins at_________." Ask: How do you feel about aging? At what age did you feel and look your best?
Write a poem together with the title "A Recipe for Long Life." Discuss the topic (long life) and assemble participants’ ingredients into a recipe format (e.g., a pound of friendship, an ounce of humor).

Share recollections of milestone birthdays, e.g., 16^th, 21^st, 30^th, 40^th, 50^th, etc. Ask: Which birthday was the most memorable for you? Did you celebrate with a big party? Describe the invitations, decorations, favors, food, and music. Did you ever give or receive a birthday roast?

Gather pictures of the birthday honoree from each decade of his/her life. Ask the honoree to share something special from each decade.

Hold a birthday party with a nostalgic theme. Suggestion: Highlight the decade in which the guest of honor was born, e.g., 1930s music, movies, fashions, foods.

Decorate with smiley face birthday party supplies and enjoy some clean birthday humor. Share jokes, funny stories, and silly songs. Ask participants to give their best version of a snicker, giggle, chuckle, cackle, belly laugh, etc.

Reminisce about family birthday traditions, such as eating birthday cake and ice cream. List types of cakes and ask your group to describe the texture and flavor of each one. Suggestions: hummingbird, ice box, marble, sponge, angel food, chiffon, devil’s food, red velvet. Sample some favorites.

Discuss birthday customs and traditions of different cultures. Learn to say "Happy Birthday" in different languages, e.g., Spanish - Feliz Cumpleanos!

Give January birthday celebrants a white carnation (listed as the flower for the month).

For honorees, share headlines from old newspapers about "The Day I Was Born." What was happening in the world on the day the honoree was born? How has the world changed?

Design birthday hats, original birthday cards with personalized messages, or laminated picture placemats (with birthday greetings from the group).

Reminisce about popular birthday gifts. A favorite for the ladies: jewelry. Display some jewelry such as birthstone rings, charm bracelets, or watches.

Hold an intergenerational birthday party. The goal: Make the older adults feel like kids again! Enjoy old-fashioned games such as Hide the Thimble, Hot Potato, Pin the Tail. Invite a clown to entertain the group. Serve birthday cupcake cones.

Find out what famous people share a birthday in the same month as the honorees. Assemble a trivia quiz on the celebrities.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Make music a part of your birthday celebrations. You’ll find helpful suggestions in the session plan titled "Birthdays" in Roses in December: Music Sessions for Older Adults. The book features music activities, reminiscence activities, discussion questions, song suggestions, and sensory stimulation activities. Here’s a sample from "Birthdays": Listen to the song "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" from The Sound of Music. Ask, What advice would you give a teenager today? The resource offers over 75 thematic music sessions for older adults. A few of the session topics: Animals, Bells, Camping, Colors of the Day, Fast Facts About Trumpets, Flowers, Friendship, Gardens, Gifts, Humor in Music, I Love a Piano, Music and Feelings, Rainbows, Roses, Songs in Space, Sunshine, Train Travel, and more.

The resource contains a helpful introductory section on using music with older adults with chapters titled "Getting Acquainted," "Hello and Good-bye Songs," "Small Groups," "Music Milestones," and more. There is also a section with biographical information about popular musicians such as Irving Berlin, Aaron Copeland, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter - all favorites among older adults!

For some aging humor, you’ll want to show the DVD George Burns: The TV Specials Collection. The 4-disc set contains 9 full-length comedy specials from the 1970s and 1980s. For birthday fun, your group will enjoy these shows, featuring the legendary comedian and a parade of celebrity guests: "George Burns: 100th Birthday Party" with Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Don Rickles; "George Burns: How to Live to Be 100 Special" with Bob Hope, Diahann Carroll, Artie Johnson; "George Burns: 90th Birthday Party" with Ann-Margret, Billy Crystal, Walter Matthau, John Forsythe, and more. Don party hats and celebrate the milestones in the career of the beloved comedian and actor.

If you’re throwing a special theme party (e.g., 1940s), you can play music the birthday celebrants enjoyed as teens. Perhaps they can show off their best dance moves! The 3-CD set Swingin’ to Swing’s Greatest Hits: 36 All-Time Favorites will be a hit with the group. The party will be lively with music from the orchestras of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Les Brown, and more! Invite a dance demo team to swing to favorites such as "Boogie Woogie," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "In the Mood," and "Stomping at the Savoy."

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." ~ -Mark Twain

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The ElderSong online newsletter is written by Sue Hansen.
Copyright © 2007, ElderSong Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

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