How to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Assisted Living
Last Updated: December 24, 2018
Celebrating the holidays in assisted living communities can be hard for some parents and senior loved ones – if they have their own preferences and traditions for how to spend New Year’s Eve, they may find spending the holiday in their assisted living residence to be a letdown.
Although you can’t supply seniors with the sort of carefree celebration they may have enjoyed in their youth, you can still work to make the day a celebration for everyone. Read our tips on how to help seniors celebrate New Year’s Eve in assisted living.
5 Ways for Seniors to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Assisted Living
Here are a few ways to make New Year’s Eve special for seniors in assisted living this year:
1. Decorate.
Since our parents and senior loved ones are spending much of their time in the same space that an assisted living celebration will be held, it’s important to do something to visually differentiate the space. You don’t want it to feel routine.
Buy party hats, sparkly streamers, table settings and anything else that sets up the space to feel more like a special celebration. You can also enlist the seniors that enjoy crafts to make some DIY decorations to contribute to the space. Some colored paper and glitter can go a long way to changing a recreational area into a special celebratory New Year’s Eve space.
2. Do the countdown together.
There’s a pretty good chance that some partygoers will want to retire before midnight, but consider doing the countdown with parents and senior loved ones when the time comes. Have a beverage, ginger ale or some sparkling grape juice for everyone to toast to ring in the New Year.
3. Have lots of good food.
You will have to consider some dietary requirements, but try to find some recipes and snacks that fall outside of what seniors are usually served at the residence. Ask them to provide recommendations based on some of their favorite traditional recipes for New Year’s Eve.
4. Host a storytime for seniors to share experiences from their past.
Most seniors have some memorable experiences to share. Start by asking them to think back on the past year and anything fun, interesting, or strange that happened they’d like to share. Then open up the discussion to favorite memories and stories from past New Year’s celebrations.
5. Plan some games for seniors to enjoy.
Have some board games and group activities prepared for people to take part in. You want something to keep the night fun and keep everyone engaged for as long as possible.
A New Year’s Eve in assisted living celebration might not look like parties of the past, but it can still be a special night for our parents and senior loved ones if you use these tips.
Kristen Hicks
Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.