Connector Tips – Vol. 11

Keeping You Engaged & Informed

•  Earth Day Zinnia Planting: Great News! The Butterfly Garden Committee has arranged for planting the seedlings you are growing in your apartments. What a celebration of the new life created during this pandemic. If you would like to participate, simply bring your seedling to the Butterfly Garden Gazebo, leave it there and contact Ron DeAbreu: 410-314-9624. He will plant the seedlings in the garden.
•  Christmas in July: Start saving those recyclable items, such as the various containers your food comes in, and put your thinking cap on. You are being encouraged to decorate your doors for Christmas in July! Hint: The round plastic containers make great ornaments for a door tree.
•  TRIVIA will replace the SCAVENGER HUNT beginning June 19. Sign up to receive your weekly copy of Trivia! Thank you John Strumsky & Johnny Powell for assisting!
•  Crafty Creations Challenge: Receive a bag of miscellaneous crafty items, see what you can create using them and create the most useful or unique item to win a prize. Call Mary Evans to register, have your bag of items and instructions delivered to your apartment.

To participate in events, please contact:
Stephanie at x: 601-8133 (Tues-Sat) Stephanie.Knowles@Erickson.com or
Mary at x: 601-8558 (Sun – Wed)
Mary.Evans@Erickson.com

Computer Related Activities:

• Marco Polo App: This is a app you put on your smartphone where you can video message back and forth between loved ones, think text message but using video instead of typing. It adds a great personal touch when needing to send a quick thought or message.
• Fall Prevention Education: This link is a good resource and gives ways you can help minimize the chance of falls occurring in and out of your home. The checklist would be a great way to assess your home for risks and make adjustments where needed.
• Where Were They Invented? Find 2 objects a day and use the internet to research and discover where they were invented/originated, who was the inventor/creator, what was the problem the invention solved/the original purpose of the product and what impact has the product had in our world are just a few of the questions you can look for answers for during your research.
• Crafting Inspiration: Explore Michael’s craft maker spotlight page. Crafters take ordinary supplies and create a wide variety of crafts with them. This might spark some ideas for creations of your own!

Non – Computer Related Activities:

• Writing/Journal Topic of the Week: What are three (or more) positive things that have resulted from life’s changes over the past several months?
Feel free to share your responses; email them or send them through inter-community mail.
• Play Mind Games: Stimulate your brain by playing mind games with yourself. When out walking, take a different route, do math problems in your head instead of on paper, count backwards from 100 (spice it up by counting backwards by 7’s or 11’s), when eating try to identify the various ingredients by taste, try using your non dominate hand when writing, and try doing activities that engage as many of your 5 senses as possible such as cooking or gardening.
• Go the Butterfly Garden: Take a walk to the Butterfly Garden to see the newly planted zinnias fellow residents grew from the Earth Day activity.
• Making Connections: Take some time to read through the Community Resources Guidebook. Make note of clubs or groups you would like to be a part of when restrictions are lifted. Look ahead to discover ways you can ignite your passion and join in. If you do not find what you are interested in, consider starting a group/club based on your interest. Now is a great time to start planning, contacting (via phone) people who might join you in your new adventure.
• Make a Time Capsule: COVID-19 will definitely be an event for the history books. Why not make a time capsule collection with items from your experiences the past few months? Gather items you wish to save and place them in a decorative box or envelope. Label the box and save for a future reveal.

Father’s Day Related Ideas:

 • Send a Virtual Service: There are companies for hire to do virtual services such as virtual Singing Telegrams, Magicians, Fortune Tellers, Comedians, etc. This link provides you with a list of 21 services available as well as links to the services websites.
• Personal Playlist: Do you know what kind of music your loved one enjoys? Make them a personalized playlist for anytime listening. You can make them on sites such as Spotify or Amazon unlimited music.
• Celebrate You: Take some time to reflect on your accomplishments in life. Write them down while reflecting on the positive impact your life has had on others. This is not a time for regrets, focus on the positives. Your life and impact deserve to be celebrated on this special day.
• Best/Worst Advice Your Father Gave You: Think about the advice your father gave you, document it and pass it on to your loved ones. Feel free to share the advice with us as well. We need all we can get.
• Dive into the World of Smart Devices: As Sherry Parrish has mentioned several times on Channel 972; now is the time to learn to use a smart device. Give your loved ones the gift of your (virtual) presence, what better gift could there be? Invest in a device, or ask loved ones for one as a Father’s Day gift to you. You can find tablets with video option for as low as $50 on Amazon, connect it to your apartment Wi-FiWi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for wireless networking and allow nearby devices to exchange data by radio waves. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) are widely used in the world to link laptop computers, tablet co... READ MORE and you are set!