For a long time now I have wanted to put together a unit of Football Activities for residents in a memory care facility and I finally completed it. Here is a full unit that you could stretch out 1-2 weeks.

Why a Super Bowl Theme

Listening to football games was a huge part of my childhood. I can remember going to my Grandma’s house for Sunday dinner and on holidays. The Sunday afternoon football games were always playing on the TV so that’s a familiar sound to me.

I don’t have a whole lot of activities in my Etsy store that are male focused. Part of the reason I created this unit was to make it something that the men in a memory care facility might like or at least be able to recall football games.

The Super Bowl has been around now going on 60 years, so I figured it was something most people were familiar with.

My other reasons are that it’s a unit that is familiar, it’s adult appropriate and it covers varying ability levels.

football themed activity bundle contents

There are 10 products in the whole bundle.

The products are game-based, visual and a few are hands-on activities.

The games are designed to be simple, flexible, and can be done while seated.

A few can be used individually but are more suited to small groups and large groups.

They would work especially well for a week-long Super Bowl lead-up theme.

Game-Based Activities

These games should bring about some conversation and engagement.

Roll the Dice with a football theme. Each person takes a turn rolling a die then performing the action associated with the number rolled. These are movements the person can do while seated.

This is a great game for turn taking, group participation and light conversation.

It is easy to adapt by reading the prompts aloud. There are 4 variations of the playing page so you can use whichever page you think is appropriate for each person.

5 Second game with a football theme. Each person has 5 seconds to give 3 responses to a prompt.

Be accepting of all answers whether correct or not! This game should generate some laughter and energy.

You might adapt this one so that a small group of people respond to a prompt.

I also created football related Riddles. This also could be a small or large group game.

Visual Search & Focus Activities

Find the Football pages is basically a scavenger hunt so it’s a visual scanning activity helping with focus and attention. There are 2 variations of the game.

One is to hunt down the different colored footballs (paper cut-outs not actual ones) that you have put somewhere around your memory care facility. The other variation is to find different football related items. Residents go around with their paper looking for the different items.

These activities could be done with 1 person at a time. You may need to cue the person to provide a little help.

The other game is Bingo and that you can do with a small or large group.

The calling cards have both word and picture on them, however, the Bingo card only has a picture. I would make sure you show the picture to the residents as you call out each one.

There is another product that is a good one for visual recognition, fine-motor and recall. It’s a matching activity with jersey colors and the NFL team mascot. It was originally going to be team colors with the team city and mascot but I very quickly changed that after Etsy took my original product down.

Countdown and Anticipation Activities

I created some printer-friendly countdown pages to use to build up excitement for watching the game.

The pages start out 1 week prior to the Super Bowl game announcing the “event”. I would make multiple copies and put them around the facility.

As you count down to game day, you’ll want to change out the pages and talk about it with the residents.

Hands-On and Creative Activities

There are dot marker football pages.

These are the ones that you use the bingo daubers with. If you don’t have those, residents can color in the circles with markers or crayons.

This is a great fine motor activity.

Residents can be a little more creative with the Football Pennants. These are also printer friendly.

This one will need preparation before use. The flags will need to be cut out ready for the residents unless you think the residents can cut them out. Collect some dowel rods or straws. The pennants will need to be taped to the dowel rod.

Let the residents have the freedom to color the flags how they want.

This might be an activity to do before the Super Bowl game itself. Or it could also be done to put up on a bulletin board or something like that.

If you have the residents hold the flags during the game, they might need gentle reminders to waive the flags.

Other Activities

There is an Activity page. Or more commonly known as a placemat page.

Use this one as you see fit. Could be something they can work on before a meal.

Using these activities together

So, how to use all of these activities? You could really go to town with this theme.

I would start with the countdown pages and hype it up. Tell the residents about the big football game coming up. Get the men in your unit involved. Start asking them about football. This would be a good time to get some reminiscing questions in.

You might use the large group activities over several days with one each day.

If your facility has the capacity you can incorporate football game food the day of the game – popcorn, hot dogs, snacks, etc.

You could use a football cookie cutter and make sugar cookies and have the residents decorate the footballs.

Who this unit is for

This is a unit that is designed for memory care residents and even assisted living residents.

It is for the activity directors of those units and family caregivers.

Where to find the full football activity bundle

This unit is available, as a bundle, only in my Etsy store.

You will get 10 products along with 6 bonus products. The bonuses include something that will go along with the activity page if used during meal time, additional group activities, music, and product extensions.

The total value of the 10 products bought individually is over $27. You can get it for $20.99.

You can get the products individually, however, you won’t get the bonuses and I think those add a lot more value to the bundle.

Closing Thoughts

These are all activities you can download and print. There’s not much to have to prepare ahead of time other than the pennants and gathering of supplies such as tape, markers, crayons, etc.

The activities are not complicated.

The whole idea here is to get your residents involved and physically participating in something.

If you’re ready to get a value product that’s worth well over $27 with the bonus products for under $21, then go here or click on the link in the image above.

You might also be interested in these 2 Etsy units – Read more about them here:

Memory Care Seasonal Activities