The summer Olympics are upon us. With the Olympics being in France this year, we are lucky enough on the east coast to have the ability to see them live during the work day.
It just seems regardless of politics and election cycles, everyone roots for our country in the games. It just seems like an easy and automatic conversation starter on a daily basis.
Why not add some Olympic fever into the work we do?
For some therapists and buildings that struggle to plan and incorporate group therapy, why not use the excitement to help guide your own groups.
You can easily add in some “Olympics type ” activity in a group setting to encourage and push your residents to win Gold!
What are some ideas?
So how can you plan some of these activities? All you need is some sense of fun and be creative.
You can incorporate wheelchair propulsion through races, relays, and obstacle courses to create some competition between residents.
You can incorporate siting or standing balance tasks through games like bean bag shot put, and discus throw with frisbees,
You can incorporate some Occupaional Therapy through table top games such as checkers or connect four for range of motion, finger dexterity and dynamic reaching.
You can incorporate strength training through challenging with 1 rep max activities progressing to crown the strongest in the group.
So go ahead and make some history
So grab your construction paper, ribbon, and scissors from the activity department, make some medals, and have fun. Your residents will love it and talk about it for many weeks afterwards.
You might even be able to inspire your colleagues into their own Olympic games. Let’s get back to having fun with what we do. It’s good for our residents, and just maybe even more for us.
