Holiday Events
Holiday Gift Wrapping Party Hot
This is a great way to create an environment for residents to get to know one another while also helping them adhere to their Christmas budgets. Go buy wrapping paper, bows, to/from stickers, tape, scissors, and a few other miscellaneous wrapping supplies and set it all up in the clubhouse at your complex. Play Christmas music and serve Christmas cookies and hot chocolate while residents come as they please (open house style) and use free supplies to wrap their gifts.
You can also use this time to play simple get to know you games or stimulate conversation by having prepared topics like having residents share their favorite Christmas memories. It would also be fun to have Christmas trivia questions ready to ask aloud for residents to discuss.
You could even get kids around the complex (or kids from a kids club) to volunteer to help residents wrap by giving them simple projects. One kid can carry around a trash can, one can put bows on, one can put name stickers on, etc.
This event requires very little set-up and very little work throughout, so Cares Teams won't be as busy coordinating. You can use the time to get to know your residents.
User reviews
Easy, cheap, love it!
I don't know about everybody else, but I usually wait to the very last moment to wrap, and half the time can't find the tape. This would be perfect! The only question I have is the ease of people bringing in their presents. Maybe put the golf cart to work to shuttle people with their goodies?
We offer wrapping!
I go to Costco every year and buy paper and bows. One of my employees is a wrapping queen and ends up wrapping all the husbands gifts... LOL
I love that someone posted about this.
Holiday Gift Wrapping Party
Love this idea! Will add this to my list for next year. Keep the ideas coming - love this site.
Great amenity to provide ALL year long!
If you live near an IKEA, they have great bows, ribbon and gift wrap at really affordable prices. Also, Costco is a great place to buy gift wrap and such for reasonable prices. I went to IKEA on Dec. 6th this year and they were already cleaned out! So I bought at Costco this year (I usually buy at both). Costco's paper is a heavier quality than IKEA, but you can't go wrong with their modern color palette and designs.
If you have the room, it is a great idea to provide a gift wrapping station year round. Dollar Tree is another great place to stock up on gift bags and tissue to have available for your residents use.
Love the twist on making it a resident party also. I would go!
Love this idea!
Holidays Past...ahhh!
What an inexpensive way to get folks out of their apartment homes and mingling with other residents. I just love the idea of having questions ready beforehand to encourage residents to chat a bit to get to know their neighbor a bit more. This idea neatly ties in the holiday theme, as well as creating an unforgettable bonding experience with their neighbors and the staff at the apartment community they reside at. Because I deal with elderly housing as my specialty, I am always looking for new ways to help engage our residents. This not only brings people out of their homes, but offers the benefit of sharing a bit of their personal holiday experiences to others to create bonds that will last a lifetime. I am a firm believer that through reminiscing, life validation occurs. This can offer a huge benefit to the elderly population we serve. If you add children into the mix, another interesting thing occurs-the generation gap disappears! How amazing is that? What a great idea.
I've hosted several of these Holiday Wrapping parties at properties I have worked at. The residents love it and its so simple to prepare! Glad to see this article.
