Written by: The Activity Connection Team
We’ve all been there. We’ve come up with an idea. Planned it out. Put it on the calendar. Gotten all the supplies. Hyped it to residents and staff alike. Gathered everyone for the program. Started it, and…
It’s a bust.
No one is having fun. No one is participating. It’s too challenging for those who were trying to participate and too boring for the rest.
Panic sets in.
What do you do? How can you save this program?
The good news is that an activity going south doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over. By identifying the problem, thinking on the fly, adapting in real time, and preparing for the unexpected in advance, you may be able to get your program, and your participants, back on track.
What Happened?
Before you can fix an activity, you need to figure out what went wrong.
Activities can take an unexpected turn for all kinds of reasons:
- Your Wi-Fi goes down in the middle of your program.
- The trivia questions you printed are too challenging, and everyone is getting frustrated.
- The grounds department schedules a tree to be cut down outside the room you are using for a chapel service. No one can hear the chaplain.
- One resident is dominating the program and repeatedly straying from the topic. Others are beginning to disengage.
- Everyone looks bored, or some may have fallen asleep.
- All your pumpkins for pumpkin bowling explode in the first 10 minutes, and you scheduled the activity for an hour!
The specific situation may be different, but many activity mishaps fall into a few common categories:
Technological difficulties or broken equipment. Power cords go missing or break, things don’t download from the internet, the DVD player eats the disc, the presentation gets erased, and so on.
The program is too challenging. The topic or genre may not be familiar or interesting to participants, or the program may require a higher level of ability than you anticipated. We try to plan appropriately, of course, but surprises happen when you’re trying to keep programming fresh.
Interruptions. Side conversations, environmental distractions, or other unexpected interruptions can quickly change the dynamics of a program.
Not enough people attend. Sometimes the program you planned simply doesn’t work with the number of participants who show up.
Participants are bored or uninterested. The program may be moving too slowly, or it simply isn’t connecting with the group that day.
Once you identify what’s happening, you can decide whether the activity needs a small adjustment or an entirely new direction.
Easy Fixes: Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater
Not every struggling program needs a complete reboot. Sometimes easy fixes can make a program more successful, such as identifying the issue and adapting the program slightly or asking another staff member for help.
Here are a few common activity challenges and ways you might respond:
When Someone Is Frequently Interrupting
First, try addressing the issue through redirection and adaptation.
Give the person a role in the program, such as keeping score or giving hints to help other participants. Often, knowing the individual and what they enjoy can help you determine the best approach.
When Trivia or Discussion Questions Are Too Challenging
Sometimes giving clues is all you need.
When the group is stumped on a difficult question about a famous person, try giving the person’s initials. You can also turn their name into a finish-the-line question by providing the first name and asking participants to supply the last name.
Another option is turning the question into multiple choice. Offer three possibilities and have the group choose the correct answer.
For people with memory challenges, offering two choices and always listing the correct choice last can help them be successful.
When Technology Fails
Sometimes sending another staff member to swap out an item while you stall is all that’s needed. Other times, technical difficulties may require a complete program change at the last minute.
That’s why it helps to have a backup plan.
Sometimes You Gotta Laugh
Humor can also help you move on from an issue. Anytime you must acknowledge that a program isn’t working and you need to switch things up, try doing so with a bit of humor.
When the grounds department started cutting down trees outside a worship service, for example, the chaplain spoke very loudly and used humor to distract members of the congregation. At the same time, another staff member ran outside to request that they stop sawing for at least 30 minutes.
Problem addressed. Program saved.
Play Offense, Not Defense
When you know your group members, everything becomes easier.
Even when trying a new activity, activity professionals can often imagine how the people who regularly attend will participate. Doing so gives you an opportunity to prepare adaptations before you ever need them.
For example:
- For a creative writing or poetry program, have a list of easily rhymable words available to encourage participants to contribute to a group poem.
- Bring a few extra books with games, puzzles, trivia, or other activities you know have been successful in the past.
- Consider incorporating an appropriate essential oil or familiar scent as part of a sensory experience, keeping individual preferences and sensitivities in mind.
- When a more targeted approach is needed, prepare for the individual. For example, encourage a person with aphasia to sit next to you and provide a sheet of paper with “yes,” “no,” and the alphabet so they can point to the words or letters they would like to say and you can acknowledge their efforts.
The more you know about the people participating, the easier it becomes to anticipate potential challenges and adapt accordingly.
You’ve Tried Everything. Now What?
Sometimes you’ve tried the easy fixes and the activity still isn’t working.
That’s when having backup activity ideas becomes extremely helpful.
Whenever possible, try to keep the replacement program the same or similar to what residents were expecting. This helps maintain continuity and interest.
If A–Z Cars isn’t working because your car buffs couldn’t make it, try A–Z Animals, A–Z Women’s or Men’s Names, or A–Z Places.
If balloon volleyball ends early because all the balloons popped and you can’t find replacements, try another physical game such as bowling, mini golf, or bocce ball.
If charades isn’t connecting with the group, try Pictionary. Alternatively, change the rules of charades to include sound effects. It might make the game more successful or, at the very least, make things funnier.
If creative writing has resulted in a room full of writer’s block, try magnetic word poetry or reading poetry or short essays instead.
Before changing to a new program, even a similar one, you may want or need to diffuse the tension first. This can also help with continuity.
Sometimes acknowledging the problem with humor can help, particularly when the challenge is environmental. Avoid using humor when the situation involves an individual’s abilities, communication needs, or behavior.
Depending on the group and what you have available, you can also suggest a few alternatives and let participants’ responses help determine where you go next.
Create a “Did It Work?” Book
Not every lesson has to stay with the person who learned it.
Consider creating a Did It Work? book for your activities team. This can simply be a binder kept in the activity director’s office where staff document successes, challenges, and modifications that can be discussed at future staff meetings.
The book doesn’t need to be filled out after every activity. It is there for those times when a staff member experiences the joy of a successful modification or needs a little advice about what to try next time.
For programs that never recovered, staff can even leave a note anonymously. The situation can then be discussed as a department, giving everyone an opportunity to brainstorm ways to have better luck next time.
Over time, those experiences can become a valuable resource for the entire team.
Put It into Practice
Want to start a Did It Work? book with your own team?
Download our FREE Did It Work? Worksheet to document what happened, how the team responded, whether the adjustment worked, and what you might do differently next time.
Use the completed worksheets during staff meetings to celebrate successful pivots, troubleshoot challenges together, and build a collection of ideas your entire team can learn from. Over time, even the activities that didn’t go as planned can become valuable learning opportunities for your entire department.
A Final Note
Remember, no one is perfect, and we all get stumped sometimes.
Acknowledging this is important, and brainstorming helps us all become better activity professionals.
Do not feel bad if your activity goes south!
When trying to keep programs fresh and interesting, these things are bound to happen. Never let the fear of a program going south stop your creativity and experimentation.
Some of the best programs are flubs where everyone just has a good laugh by the end!
The next time an activity starts heading in the wrong direction, remember:
- Staying calm and thinking on your feet can sometimes yield an easy fix and save an activity.
- Having adaptations ready in advance can revive a lackluster program.
- When you need to change a program entirely, swap it for something similar whenever possible, such as replacing one physical game with another.
- Sharing what worked—and what didn’t—can help your entire activities team become stronger.
And when all else fails? Learn from it, laugh about it, and try again.
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