JULY 2008

Can you imagine a world without cell phones, DVD players, and the Internet? Most senior adults can! Inventions have a great impact on our everyday lives. From the telephone, to toothpaste, to computers, inventions often make our lives easier and more comfortable. August is National Inventors’ Month - an opportunity to celebrate the world of innovation and the ingenious people who have helped to change our lives with their gadgets, devices, and products. Hats off to their creative minds!

Here are some activities related to inventors/inventions that you can use with your group throughout the month. The emphasis is on the 20th century.

  • Ask participants to name some of the greatest invention in their lifetimes and to tell how they impacted their lives.
  • Brainstorm characteristics or qualities of inventors by asking participants to complete this sentence: Inventors are . . . (e.g., creative, risk-takers, resourceful).
  • Name some inventions to fit each of these descriptions: helpful, unusual, complex, useless, life-changing.
  • 1950s suburban housewives filled their kitchens with the latest inventions and gadgets. Show pictures of vintage advertising for classic kitchen gadgets, e.g., electric skillet, blender, mixer, can opener, juicer, ice crusher, electric ice cream maker, butter curler, waffle maker, egg timer. Ask your group to name some of their favorites.
  • Watch a movie about the life of the great American inventor, Thomas A. Edison. Enjoy the 1940 film, Young Tom Edison, starring Mickey Rooney, or choose Edison, The Man with Spencer Tracy.
  • Discuss the meaning of the proverb "Necessity is the mother of invention."
  • Ask participants to describe life before the invention of disposable diapers, dishwasher, automatic washer and dryer, Perma-press fabrics, fast food, safety razors, etc.
  • Display the following props: frozen TV dinner, TV tray, a copy of TV Guide, and a TV remote control. Ask: What was the first brand of TV set that you owned? When did you buy it? When did you purchase your first color television? How did television change your life? As a parent, did you feel television had a positive or negative influence on your children? (See Journey Through the 20th Century: Activities for Reminiscing and Discussion , listed below, for more ideas related to the advent of television.)
  • Pass around some 20th century toy inventions, e.g., Barbie doll, Lincoln Logs, Slinky, Hula Hoop, Frisbee, Yo-Yo, Tinker Toys, Silly Putty. Ask group members to name their favorite childhood toy.
  • Hold up a useful invention, e.g., Post-it Notes, Velcro, nylon stockings, Gatorade, Teflon skillet, or Wite-Out, and ask participants to tell what need it fulfilled or problem it solved. Ask: What do you think needs to be invented to make life more comfortable for older adults?
  • Invite a professional photographer to talk about technological advances in the field of photography. Reminisce about some favorites among your group: Polaroid camera, Kodak Instamatic camera, disposable flashcubes, etc. Ask: What was the first camera you owned? Did you enjoy taking snapshots? Demonstrate a digital camera.
  • Show photographs of old hand crank, rotary dial, and touch tone phones. Share memories of the following: information operators, long distance operators, rural party telephone lines with friendly town operator, payphones, phone booths. Demonstrate a cellular phone.
  • Challenge your group’s creativity by encouraging them to invent something "new" - a new flavor of ice cream, a new dish, a new game, etc.
  • Generations of children are raised on various forms of media. Ask participants to describe the impact of radio on their childhood. How was it different from their own children, who were raised on television, or their grandchildren who favor computers? Enjoy some old-time radio shows with your group. (See Journey Through the 20th Century: Activities for Reminiscing and Discussion for suggestions.)
  • For participants who grew up on a farm: Discuss how the inventor/entrepreneur John Deere (who founded the John Deere Company) changed American agriculture with the invention of the steel plow and other farming equipment. Ask group members if they ever owned any John Deere lawn and garden equipment. Challenge them to name the company’s trademark symbol and colors. (Leaping deer; green and yellow)

Check out the new summer ElderSong catalog for resources on the theme of inventions. A few products are highlighted below.

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 month’s issue:








CELEBRATE THE WORLD OF INVENTIONS

Senior adults have witnessed hundreds of technological advances and innovations in their lifetime - from air conditioning to power steering to transistors to photocopiers. Jog memories about inventions with some word games and quizzes, 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 various 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: Animal Slang, Doctors, Food Origins, Foreign Phrases, Inventions, Mother Earth News, Shopworn Phrases, Sports, Trademarks, World Capitals. Word games include variations on Hangman, What Was My Line?, Advertisements, Picture Charades, Fast Talk, Shake the Can, Guess the Price, and more.

Sample trivia questions from the quiz titled "Inventions":
What invention lets us see stars in the sky closer?
What invention do we play records on?
What invention lets us cut up paper or fabric?

Name the famous person or character associated with these items. (From the quiz titled "Trademarks")
Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell
Electric light bulb - Thomas Edison
Radium - Marie Curie
Steamboat - Robert Fulton

Senior adults have been the beneficiaries of some incredible technologies and advancements. Members of the older generation invented some of them! Help your participants gain an appreciation for their unique place in history by using Journey Through the 20th Century: Activities for Reminiscing and Discussion . The book features over 200 activities to celebrate 20th century America. The focus is on the 1920s-1960s, which represent years of prime living for your participants. The first section of the book, the "big picture," provides an overview of each decade, using various activities. You’ll find introductory and oral reminiscing activities, small group discussion topics, large group and intergenerational activities, cooking projects, drama and role-playing suggestions, and music activities. Short takes on each decade as well as year-by-year summaries are also provided. Use the information to explore participants’ lives from the perspective of categories such as song hits; music and cultural events; fads, fashions, and trends; and news events. Here’s a sample of the many topics included in the book, these from the section on the 1950s:

Decade Trivia Quiz
Fifties Personalities
TV Talk
Happy Days or Hostile Days?
The Impact of Television
The Cold War
Cars and More Cars
Suburbia
Rock ’n Roll
Child-rearing Philosophies
1950s TV Advertising
Sock Hop Party
Fast Food
I Like Ike

(Note: You’ll find references to new inventions, discoveries, and technological advancements in the year-by-year summaries under "Fads, Fashions, and Trends" and "News Events.")

For an educational and entertaining view of the last 100 years, consider the three-CD collection Great Moments of the 20th Century . Listen to Inventor Marconi talk about sending the first transatlantic radio transmission, inventor Thomas Edison announce the age of electricity, President Eisenhower assure the American public there will be further development of the polio vaccine, or the United States launch its first orbiting satellite, Explorer I. The three compacts disks of Great Moments of the 20th Century include 200 audio clips from the people and events that shaped history from 1900-1999. The CDs combine newsworthy political, social, and economic events with pop-culture developments to provide an overview of the century. The accompanying book includes commentary, essays, historic photos, and a comprehensive time line of each decade.

Volume 1: 1900-1953 - The New Century, The World Wars & Fragile Peace Highlights - Thomas Edison, Survivors of the Titanic, Charles Lindbergh, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, FDR, Joe DiMaggio...

Volume 2: 1953-1969 - The Atomic Era, The Cold War & The ’60s Highlights - Senator Joseph McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, James Dean, Fidel Castro, Allen Ginsberg, Margaret Mead, Kennedy/Nixon, Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong...

Volume 3: 1970-1999 - Equal Rights, Watergate & Glasnost Highlights - Betty Friedan, President Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Barbara Jordan, Elvis Presley, President Carter, Nelson Mandela, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton...

DID YOU KNOW? The U.S. Postal Service released a 42-cent Frank Sinatra commemorative stamp on May 13, in honor of the beloved entertainer’s achievements. Celebrate the talent of Ol’ Blue Eyes with your group. The 3-CD set, Frank Sinatra: Greatest Hits , features many of Sinatra’s recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. Enjoy 36 songs including "Young at Heart," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "Love and Marriage," "Sentimental Journey," "My Funny Valentine," "High Hopes," "Come Fly with Me," and more! Share memories of Sinatra’s recordings, concerts, and films.






INVENTIONS TRIVIA QUIZ

Hare fun with the following trivia quiz about inventors and their inventions and discoveries. (Note: Some trivia questions are taken from the ElderSong book Trivia Treasury: Trivia and Word Games for Older Adults.)

  1. Who invented the Model T car? Henry Ford
  2. This inventor - with over 1,000 patents to his credit - was nicknamed the "The Wizard of Menlo Park." Thomas Edison
  3. This official document grants an inventor the exclusive rights to make and sell his invention for a period of time. Patent
  4. Who invented a system for blind and visually impaired people to read and write? (Hint: Raised dots) Louis Braille
  5. These brothers were the first to fly in a powered plane. Wright Brothers
  6. He discovered electricity with a kite and a key. Ben Franklin
  7. These coin-operated record players were popular in the 1950s. Jukebox
  8. Who introduced the Brownie camera in the early 1900s? Eastman Kodak Company (George Eastman)
  9. Levi Stauss was the creator of this popular clothing item. Levi’s denim jeans
  10. His plastic food storage containers were a big hit at "home parties" in the 1950s. Earl Tupperware





    FEATURED PRODUCTS JULY - 15% off

    Trivia Treasury: Trivia and Word Games for Older Adults - 56-page book. Regularly $11.50 - Sale $9.75

    Journey Through the 20th Century: Activities for Reminiscing and Discussion - 115-page book. Regularly $19.95 - Sale $16.95

    Great Moments of the 20th Century . - 3 CDs + 159-page book. Regularly $49.95 - Sale $42.45

    Frank Sinatra: Greatest Hits , - 3 CDs, 36 songs. Regularly $27.95 - Sale $23.75






    THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

    "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." ~ Thomas A. Edison




    The ElderSong online newsletter is written by Sue Hansen.
    Copyright © 2008, ElderSong Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.