Serve and Have Fun

Not a lot of time? What about multi-tasking? Visiting assisted living centers can be a great way to help others and have fun while doing it. Next time you’re looking for something to do, just check around for the address or phone number of your local assisted living center (aka “Old Folks Home”) and ask if you can come by with a group of people to spend some time with the residents. Activities you might consider are playing board or card games, painting fingernails, reading stories, singing songs, interviewing and recording personal histories, or other ideas that allow you to spend time with some of the residents. Just being with people that are a little more advanced in years can really bring perspective into your own life. Hearing their stories and interacting with them can uncover a treasury of incredible life stories. Provo is a fun place to do this because of the relatively good number of elderly care facilities and a population of younger people who love to serve and to play. Combine them both and you can have an inspiring experience and really feel good about how you spent your time.

Remember the Holidays when you consider visiting facilities. They can be great opportunities for themed activities. Ask the facilities if they have any ideas of what you might do or what’s on their calendar already.

Examples include:

Halloween: Some facilities do trick-or-treating

Thanksgiving: Thankful Turkeys out of toothpicks and gumdrops

Christmas: Christmas carols, Christmas crafts of some kind (gingerbread houses, decorate sugar cookies, etc.)