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April activities for seniors are here! Use some of these to fill up your activities calendar OR use this list to brainstorm ideas to create your own programming ANY day of the year.
Unlike the special days calendar lists I’ve published in the past, I’ve expanded April’s content to include some monthly and weekly celebrations and a different look and layout.
I’ve also delved further in, by providing you with a variety of ideas that range from my own ideas about possible activities to articles, videos, crafts, recipes and more!
Monthly
International Black Women’s History Month – Look up black woman artists, inventors, musicians, authors, etc., and share one daily with your Seniors. Check out the National Women’s History Museum for several appropriate online exhibits.
National Jazz Appreciation Month – Share a Jazz song daily and/or celebrate International Jazz Day on Apr 30th by having a special Jazz event for your Seniors.
National Card and Letter Writing Month – Find other centers (locally or online) that would like to have card swaps or pen pals. Buy or create your own cards and stationery to send. At this link you will find a little background about the day and some great ideas to celebrate.
And if you need some persuasion, here are 30 reasons to send a letter.
National Humor Month – Have a giggle-a-day sharing jokes, videos, anecdotes and stories this month. (See weekly celebrations for Laugh at Work Week.) For some great laughs, try out Just For Laughs Gags on YouTube.
And for a fun list of humorous ideas to make your seniors laugh, scroll to the bottom of this post.
National Pecan Month – Plan 3 or 4 pecan recipes to share with your Seniors this month. (Remember pecans can be chopped or use pecan meal for those with teeth problems.) Here are a few ideas:
Pecan pie
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Baked French Toast with Pecan Crumble
Brown Butter Blondies with Pecans
National Poetry Month – Do daily poetry readings or celebrate International Haiku Poetry Day on Apr 17th. The Academy of American Poets website gives an overview of the day, a free poster, a list of 30 ways to celebrate the month, and you can even sign up for a Poem-A-Day email list that will deliver a poem to your inbox every day during April.
Stress Awareness Month – Do daily stress relieving exercises or activities. There are 30 of them here.
National Garden Month – Start planting your gardens or pots, put out garden decorations, or just take a walk in the garden with your Seniors. Visit nurseries to see the available plants and take in the aroma of newly growing plants and flowers or invite someone from a local gardening center to come speak with your Seniors and show them different plants that will brighten their spirits. Go on an outing to see a botanical garden.
Weekly
Apr 1-7 – Laugh at Work Week – Plan some humor to share with your Seniors this week.
Apr 2-10 – National Robotics Week – On the website, you can find more about this week as well as ideas to celebrate such as drawing robots, watching robot videos and even having a coding event.
Apr 3-9 – National Library Week – Celebrate your libraries! See if your library provides a bookmobile that could come to your center. If not, and you don’t have your own in-house library, see if you can get book and magazine donations from the community for your Seniors.
Apr 16-24 – National Park Week – Do virtual tours for your Seniors around the country by finding YouTube videos of the National Parks.
Apr 17-23 – National Coin Week – Are any of your Seniors coin collectors (or used to be)? Maybe they have a collection that can be shown to others, or maybe a local collector/shop owner would be willing to come during this week to show off a collection.
Apr 24-30 – Sky Awareness Week – Have your local meteorologist come in and share a presentation with your Seniors. See more about this day on National Day Calendar website.
Daily
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April Fool’s Day – Plan fun pranks and jokes for your Seniors or watch a comedy. Here’s a list of Safe April Fools’ Pranks.
International Fun at Work Day – Here are some unique team building type activities listed to help make it a fun day!
National One Cent Day – 5 different penny games/activities are available at Let Grow.
National Sourdough Bread Day – Make or purchase and serve sourdough bread. And if you’re not sure what to put on it, here are several tasty sounding ideas!
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Hans Christian Andersen Day – Best known for stories like The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and The Pea, take some time to read all of these stories from a book such as The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
National Ferret Day – Ferrets are probably more popular than you think and there are probably several in your area. Put a search out and see if you can arrange for a Ferret or two to come visit.
National DIY Day – Celebrate creativity and the ability to make things by creating a clay jewelry dish on this website. There’s also a free downloadable ebook available that you can sign up to get in your email that has other great looking projects to make.
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day – Serve PBJ tea sandwiches with milk.
US Mint Day – Show a video of how the Mint works or creates Money. Here’s one on the US Quarter Minting Process.
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Pony Express Day – Share a video about the Pony Express days by checking out this museum virtual tour.
National Chocolate Mousse Day – My mother used to make the best chocolate mousse but I’m not sure where she got the recipe. I’ve added it below:
Ingredients
1 16 oz. can of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 12 oz. package of Cream Cheese
1 12 oz. container of Cool-Whip
1 Chocolate bar, grated for garnish
Let cream cheese soften. Then beat the Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup and the cream cheese together in a bowl until mixed and fluffy. Fold in Cool-Whip. Refrigerate for a couple hours, then serve in small dishes that will hold 1/4-1/2 cup. Decorate with a little grated chocolate on top. This stuff is SUPER, SUPER rich, so start out with small servings.
World Party Day – Grab some snacks, turn on the stereo, and have a party with friends! It can be for or about anything! Just have some fun for the fun of it!
World Aquatic Animal Day – Arrange a visit to an aquarium.
Geologists’ Day – Have a local geologist come and show their rock collection. You can contact your local college or university to find geology professors.
Tweed Day – Highlight the fabric by looking up the history of it, wearing tweed, looking up William “Boss” Tweed – a notorious criminal, or consider dressing up and acting like Sherlock Holmes who we picture in our minds eye wearing tweed.
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Maya Angelou Birthday – Look up quotes and sayings of hers and learn 5 things about her life from this article by Time.
Beatles Take Over Music Charts – Share Beatles songs like these top hits.
International Carrot Day – Make Carrot Cake to celebrate or serve carrots in other attractive and appetizing ways.
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National Deep-Dish Pizza Day – Make or serve deep-dish pizza.
National Caramel Day – Have caramel dip with fruit, cookies, and marshmallows or make Salted Caramel Butter Bars from Cookies & Cups.
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National Tartan Day – Invite some Scottish pipe bands, highland dancers and sportsman to come and show off some of their culture.
Twinkies Day – Buy and eat Twinkies or try some of the recipes from this Twinkie recipe book, or you can find a bunch of fun recipes from this site.
World Table Tennis Day – Watch a video about an 8 yr old Table Tennis champion.
National Caramel Popcorn Day – Try this 3 ingredient caramel popcorn from Clean Eating With Kids.
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International Beaver Day – Celebrate beavers by watching this Beaver Lodge Construction brought to you by Attenborough and BBC.
National Beer Day – If you’re lost for ideas for this day, check out some different ideas here from USA Today.
World Health Day – Have a local health professional come and do a presentation.
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National Zoo Lovers Day – Take a trip to the zoo or see if your zoo has a zoo mobile that could come to your center to present some of their animals.
Draw a Picture of a Bird Day – Find out how to draw a very easy bird here.
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National Unicorn Day – Check out 40 interesting unicorn facts to share with your Seniors here.
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Golfer’s Day – If you can’t get out on a Green, how about a little paper golf? Here’s a downloadable and printable page of directions so you don’t miss out on some golfing fun!
International Safety Pin Day – Play a safety pin game like this one. Find safety pin hacks here. Finally see how safety pins are manufactured.
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Barber Shop Quartet Day – Invite a local Barber Shop Quartet to come do a performance for your center.
National Pet Day – Arrange for pets to come visit your Seniors
World Parkinson’s Day – 8 Ways to Raise Awareness for Parkinson’s Disease All Year Long.
National Fondue Day – Find out what the most popular types of fondue are in the world.
National Submarine Day – Watch Modern Marvels: Powerful Nuclear Submarines episode.
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Education and Sharing Day – Did you know that Senior Citizens can get education for free or cheap in all 50 states? Some of your Seniors may be interested in finding out more!
National Licorice Day – Taste different licorice, have licorice tea, try licorice root, and see how red licorice is made. See how Danish licorice is made. And if you want to try making your own licorice, check out this video.
Walk On Your Wild Side Day – Do something unexpected.
National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day – Try different grilled cheeses–and while you’re doing different, how about REALLY different?
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National Scrabble Day – Why not play the game? You can even make it a tournament! Here’s a nice edition of the game that rotates. And here, you can find replacement Scrabble Tiles.
International Day of Pink – Decorate in pink, dress in pink, eat pink food, have a pink party, etc. Listen to songs with “pink” in them: Pink Houses – John Cougar, Pink Cadillac – Bruce Springsteen, Two Pink Lines – Eric Church, Pink Guitar – Reba McEntire, Pink Sunglasses – Miranda Lambert, Pretty Pink Tractor – Tim Hawkins, The Color Pink – Walker McGuire, The Pink Panther Theme Song – Henry Mancini, just to name a few.
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Dictionary Day – If you have some word nerds in your bunch, check out Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 3, and if you’re looking for list 1 & 2, they are listed on the same page.
National Pecan Day – See the recipes listed in the Monthly listings.
National Dolphin Day – Watch dolphins play in the waves here. Also watch Incredible Dolphin Moments | BBC Earth.
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World Art Day – Have a local artist or student artist from a college or university come in to do an art class with your group. Another option might be for the artists to set up a display of their work in your center for folks to look at and enjoy.
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Charlie Chaplin Day – Watch Charlie Chaplin movies, of course! Provide popcorn, other snacks and drinks to enjoy the shows.
National Stress Awareness Day – See Stress Awareness Month at the top of the page for 30 ideas.
National Eggs Benedict Day – Serve the dish and if you’re looking for some variations or what might go well with it, here’s a link with some yummy ideas!
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Easter Sunday – Provide a mix of religious and secular activities for all to enjoy the day.
International Haiku Poetry Day – Haiku is a type of Japanese poem, usually about nature. If you’d like to know more specifics, this link gives you an easy explanation and examples.
National Ford Mustang Day – MotorWeek celebrates this day showing some awesome classics on this video that your Seniors will LOVE!
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National Piñata Day – Find out how to make a Piñata 3 different ways. And some of your Seniors could even make them!
National Animal Crackers Day – There are several types of animal crackers available and you could set up a variety for a tasting party, or just for fun!
World Heritage Day – This is a day that highlights ancient cultures, and monuments and sites of such. Here is a list of 150 famous landmarks of the world.
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National Garlic Day – Experience eating garlic in various dishes and ways, and while you’re doing that, share these fun facts about this smelly but scrumptious edible bulb!
National Administrative Professionals Day – This is a celebration of office personnel who keep all the behind-the-scenes things working. Surprise them with and appreciation event that your Seniors can participate in.
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World Stationery Day – A great day to get your Seniors started with penpals! Purchase some stationery or cards (or make some) and get them writing to at least one friend, relative, or a new penpal. There are many nursing homes and Senior centers that like to participate, so check with your local centers.
National Banana Day – What better way to enjoy this special day then to eat bananas in some form or other! Do a tasting of banana bread, banana cream pie, banana smoothies, or banana pudding!
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National High Five Day – Make your high fives interesting by making ‘secret’ handshake high fives or by creating a little high five dance.
World Creativity and Innovation Day – A day about getting creative wherever you are and in whatever you’re doing!
Thank You Thursday – A great day to show gratitude to someone you care about
National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day – Not everyone likes cashews, but if you do, you LOVE them and would probably love them even more by having them coated with chocolate! If you can’t find them already coated, just get cashews and make your own chocolate coating. Throw a bag of chocolate chips (12 oz) in a microwave safe bowl, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and microwave 15 seconds at a time till chips are melted. Lay your cashews out on a parchment paper covered tray and coat the cashews with the chocolate. They will set up the quickest by putting the tray in refrigeration or a freezer for a few minutes.
National Tea Day – This is a great time to have a special tea party and you’ll find some cute ones at this link.
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Earth Day – There are all kinds of celebrations and activities that can be done, but however you spend the day, try to improve your little part of the world.
National Jelly Bean Day – Your jelly bean lovers will enjoy this day! Make a point to try some of the unusual flavored ones, just to switch things up a bit!
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National Asparagus Day – You either love or hate Asparagus. If you love it, you’ll want to enjoy a few sprigs! The best way I ever had it was grilled. This is not the recipe, but it looks similar and delicious!
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New Kids on The Block Day – This is mostly celebrated in Boston, but some of your Seniors may know this group and enjoy listening to the songs.
Pinhole Photography Day – If you have any former photographers, they will probably enjoy this day by learning (or refreshing their knowledge) about Pinhole photography.
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World Penguin Day – A great day to watch a documentary of the penguins of South Georgia in the South Atlantic.
National Zucchini Bread Day – I LOVE Zucchini bread! This is the recipe that I’ve used the most for years.
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National Pretzel Day – If you love pretzels and want a shortcut to the whole pretzel process, this two ingredient recipe might be worth a try. The blogger says the recipe is very close to regular pretzels–just a little softer–which is probably a benefit to your Seniors.
If you love pretzels and aren’t afraid to work with yeast and the rest of the pretzel-making process, then try this recipe by one of my faves, Alton Brown.
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Babe Ruth Day – Baseball fans in your center? Here’s a documentary by HBO about Babe Ruth.
Morse Code Day – Have fun decoding with this Morse Code Alphabet chart. Use it to create some mystery words, phrases or sentences for your Seniors to decode.
National Tell A Story Day – Give your Seniors a chance to sit around and tell old time stories they want to share.
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National Superhero Day – Why not invite some local ‘Super’ heroes from your town fire department or police department to come and talk about their experiences helping folks. You can thank them and treat them with snacks and drinks.
National Blueberry Pie Day – Who doesn’t like pie, and blueberry at that?!
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International Dance Day – For extremely easy movement for Seniors, check out this video.
National Zipper Day – Ever want to know how zippers are made? Check it out in this short video.
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International Jazz Day – See National Jazz Month above.
National Oatmeal Cookie Day – The best recipe I’ve ever made is the one that comes from the Quaker Oats container.
National Go Birding Day – To have the best birding experience you’ll need a good identification guide. This one is for North America.
National Sense of Smell Day – Do a fun activity like identify the smell of various types of pie. Make 2-4 pies that your Seniors have to identify by aroma. This can be done with other things such as citrus, spices, herbs, or even cookies.