No garden, no worries! If you are looking for a special outing with lots of flowers and greenery, look no further. De Young museum in San Francisco offers an event that incorporates art and bouquets called Bouquets to Art , for just one special week, every spring time. This exceptional event allows participators to interpret art pieces in the museum by way of flowers! Stroll through the museum at your leisure with your client, or join a tour assigned to you. Either way, you will witness an artistic gardener’s dream.

Each floral exhibit allows creative ideas, reminiscing of past gardens, and the chance to take pictures of your favorite bouquet. During your time in the museum, enjoy refreshments in the café surrounded by full-length windows. This allows a beautiful scenic view that will enhance your client’s experience at this wonderful event.

For more details, please be sure to contact the De Young.

These Easter treats offer a number of ways to bring quality of life into the holiday!

1. Start with an outing to gather the fun and tasty ingredients. Invite friends and family members.
2. Review the recipe below and break it into sections that your activity partners can successful accomplish. This supports confidence and encourages creativity.
3. To create a nurturing social experience, invite your care partners to share how they enjoyed each task and talk about the colors and textures and tastes of the ingredients.
4. By discussing that tradition of Easter and how your activity partners likes to celebrate the holiday will also support their spiritual life and open opportunities to connect emotionally.

From The Hummingbird Project, we hope you have a beautiful holiday, full of sweetness and joy!

RECIPE:

• 1 10 oz bag of marshmallows
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 6 cups of crisp rice (or rice krispies)
• 1 cup shredded coconut or edible grass
• Jelly Beans or Robins Egg Candies
• Green food coloring

• Melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the marshmallows. Continue stirring until completely melted. Pour the mixture over the crisp rice cereal and stir until well combined.
• Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and shape the nests. Also spray a spoon and use it to help make the indents.
• Place the coconut grass in a small bowl, add a few drops of green food coloring and stir until fully covered. Or break up Edible grass into small pieces and place in a bowl.
• Let the rice krispies cool in the pan, pull them out, and decorate! Use either edible Easter grass or the green coconut shreds, placed it in the nest and fill the nest with the eggs.
• Share and enjoy!

Armchair travel inspires through images of other countries, cultures and ideas.

While discussing the Greek theater during a group presentation, we examined a costume. Adele described it as “regal”, noting the colors used were ones held for wealth. Ben commented that it looked like it was made for a wealthy person. Betty commented that the mask looked like a queen, but not like something she would like to wear.

Having this interactive dialogue strengthens the group’s connection to each other while developing a sense of community and life long learning.

“Patsy was feeling upset on this morning. I kneeled beside her and listened to her concerns. After some time, she accepted my invitation to go out to get crispy chicken tenders. Our outing to McDonald’s and the park eased her anxiety. The change of scenery improved her mood and got her thinking about positive memories. She talked about watching me and my husband dancing together at a party and appreciating the love between us. She talked about Beverly and then her own marriage and appreciating being kissed by her husband. Although the stories were not factually accurate, she put herself into the story and smiled while telling it. When we arrived home, she was happy and looking forward to a rest.”

This is a story of a Hummingbird activity specialist meeting her client right where she was, honoring her process and entering in to her world. That emotional support served as “good medicine” and helped decrease Patsy’s anxiety and heightened her positive mood. And of course, a little comfort food always helps too!

In creating meaningful connections, a Hummingbird activity specialist discovered an interesting program at a church near her client Josephine’s previous home in NYC. The program is a year-long series of events inspired by the work of Dr. MLK Jr. Their activity session focused on listening to a speech by Dr. King and then discussing Josephine’s work with Adam Clayton Powell and how much she missed Dr. King’s presence. She declared that she was emotional listening to the speech and made a note of it so that she could hear it again. Connecting her with this transformative time in her life supported her emotional well-being.

Finding gems of information about our clients opens opportunities to connect them to what matters most, and that nurtures value and meaning and dignity.