Beat the heat with these engaging ideas—plus meet your new favorite assistant for planning activities.
August may signal the tail end of summer, but it’s the perfect time to pack in fun, engaging, and meaningful activities for your senior living community. From outdoor adventures to cultural celebrations, here are 10 activity ideas that are sure to bring joy, spark conversation, and strengthen connections this month.
And if you're looking to make your planning easier, don’t miss the sneak peek of Thread, the new AI Activity Assistant that helps you generate activity ideas, guides, and handouts in minutes.
Cool off with a refreshing watermelon party. Include fun games like watermelon seed spitting (with paper "seeds" indoors), trivia, and a watermelon carving contest. Add a hydration station with cucumber-mint water and lemon spritzers.
Host a creative session for residents to create memory pages of their summer adventures or past vacations. Provide colorful paper, stickers, printed photos, and safe tools for cutting and gluing.
Celebrate the lefties in your community! Organize a fun challenge where everyone tries doing simple tasks left-handed, and share quirky facts about famous left-handers through a trivia game or short presentation.
Set up a mini indoor or outdoor campfire (real or faux) and pass around s’mores kits. Encourage residents to share childhood summer stories or create a collaborative tall tale together.
Invite staff and families to bring in their (well-behaved) dogs for a community parade. Create little awards like “Waggiest Tail” and “Best Trick.” Don’t forget petting stations and plenty of photo ops!
August is a great time to reflect on civic pride. Host a flag-making craft, write postcards to local officials, or hold a "mock vote" on fun community topics like next month's themed party.
Celebrate peak sunflower season with a painting or drawing class focused on this iconic summer bloom. Include a few fresh sunflowers for inspiration—or for those who want to press flowers for crafts.
Bring the tropics to your community with a luau. Think flower leis, ukulele music, tropical smoothies, and hula dancing (seated or standing). Invite residents to dress in their favorite island-themed outfits.
Host a nostalgic session where residents share their favorite school memories. Play old-school games, showcase lunchbox favorites, and even create a classroom setting for fun.
Celebrate all August birthdays with a collective party! Include themed decorations, a group cake-decorating activity, and a highlight slideshow of the honorees through the years.
Meet Thread, your AI Activity Assistant. Thread helps activity directors and life enrichment teams turn sparks of inspiration into fully developed programming, complete with structured guides and printable handouts.
Whether you need:
Thread is here to help—anytime you need it.
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Be among the first to test it out and experience just how easy activity planning can be.
