Budgeting activities doesn't have to be a daunting task, and it doesn't have to mean cutting the amount of fun your residents can have. Here are 5 ways you can minimize activity costs and still ensure a happy, healthy, safe environment for your residents.
When seeking outside activities, choose locations that are closer to the residents. Saving a few bucks on gas can go along way when you account for picking up and dropping off at least 3 times per week. Seeking local businesses that are willing to provide discounts on fun activities right in your own backyard, helps small businesses thrive, and allows your residents to get to know their neighbors.
Choose at least 3 weekly activities that remain consistent throughout the year. Having a consistent routine allows you to budget ahead of time, giving you a chance to put aside precise amounts for those specific activities, already chosen for the entire year.
Plan ahead for a big field trip once a month, so that the residents can still get a big surprise outing without spending the budget as often. Planning for a big outing once in a while will encourage excitement and break the daily monotony of the usual routine.
Plan for group celebrations as opposed to singular ones. Instead of celebrating birthdays one at a time, group all birthdays during the 1st half of the month and the last half of the month, so that you end up celebrating only twice a month, but everyone is included in the fun.
Include education classes as part of therapy, especially the arts, as residents tend to favor music, art, and drama over other educational activities. Care workers tend to confuse therapy sessions, like art therapy and music therapy, with art and music education. Residents do enjoy therapy sessions, but they do not get to learn and actually develop a skill, the way they do with art and music education classes. Providing music/art education classes in addition to music/art therapy will pay for itself, as prospecting residents will be more apt to choose the facility when informed of their option to enjoy actually learning to play music and/or create art.
These 5 simple changes to your monthly activity schedule can truly minimize your budget while also increasing retention within your facility, and ensuring for a constant influx of new residents.
Music education classes have become extremely popular, especially in the last few years, and Mr. C's Homeschool Music Academy provides the music education classes our seniors and special needs residents need. Mr. C is a certified music teacher with over 20 years of experience combined, working as a K-12 general music teacher, program coordinator for special needs day habilitation center, and activities director for a medical adult day habilitation center. Our seniors and special needs classes are especially designed to enhance mobility, memory, and reinforce basic skills, while providing enrichment and quality of life for special needs and the senior community, by encouraging learning of piano, drums, ukulele, voice, and guitar at their own pace, printable checklists, with 24/7 access to our online platform, and weekly scheduled zoom meetings with Mr. C himself.
Facilities that provide music education classes will retain their residents and gain residents easily, as the offering for music education, with the flexibility and ease at which they can attend classes, individually or in groups, with a professional music educator, with expertise in the senior community and special needs industry, is not commonplace and will seal the deal amongst undecided family members. There is no competition for you when you provide Mr. C's Homeschool Music Academy music classes and lessons, because you just won't see it anywhere else.
Facilities, please click the button below to purchase your annual music classes and lessons
