With the warm weather quickly approaching, we are all feeling that need to celebrate spring. Whether you are a caregiver for a senior, a senior or a senior’s loved one, there are so many activities that seniors can be involved in to welcome the higher temperatures!
1. Eat Outside. Plan a fun picnic-style menu, even if the picnic is right in your own yard. Get out the picnic basket and a blanket, and fill the basket with festive favorites – sandwiches, slaw and lemonade. Help your seniors get their porch or deck prepared for usage by wiping down the furniture, sweeping off the flooring and making it look inviting to use.
2. Bring home a new plant. Bringing nature inside will bring cheer to seniors who may occasionally feel cooped up at home.
3. Plan an outing to a local farmer’s market. Who doesn’t love smelling the herbs and sampling the goods at a Saturday morning farmer’s market. Some of our favorites include
· Tower Grove Market
· Kirkwood
· Soulard Market
4. Buy a book on birds and do some watching from the porch or deck. We love to look at the National Audubon Society’s Field Guide To Birds – it helps one identify a specific bird from the hundreds of species in our region. Purchasing and filling up a bird feeder are also ways to interact with these flying friends.
5. It may not sound as fun, but spring cleaning can be incredibly therapeutic for seniors. Cleaning out a junk drawer or reorganizing the panty are good places to start. Of course, putting the winter coats away, and bringing out the lighter jackets may be more of the necessary preparations!