Activities and Resources

Commit to Connect this holiday season!

The holidays may be different this year, but there are still many ways we can connect, stay engaged and enjoy the season. For example, the holidays are a great time for a family project, or a group project with friends -- and there are many that can be done virtually. We've pulled together a few ideas and resources.  

Make a Plan

• Your Holiday Connection Plan: This guide from Connect2Affect offers a wealth of information around staying engaged safely this holiday season.

Share Your Story

• PBS American Portrait: Share your stories, experiences, and ideas—all you have to do is fill in the blank when prompted. Give a glimpse into your life and get a peek into others’ perspectives as part of this collective, connective project.
• Record your story for StoryCorps: Since 2003, StoryCorps has been recording interviews with Americans from all walks of life and preserving their stories in the StoryCorps Archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The goal is to help strengthen and build connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters.
  
  
  
  It's easy -- you simply pair up with a family member or a friend, and share a meaningful conversation. This is a great way for older adults to capture their family's history for future generations and for people of all ages to share their experiences. 
  
  
  
  StoryCorps got started with recording sites in several cities, and expanded with a mobile tour. A free mobile app later made it possible for people to record and archive from anywhere, through their mobile devices. 
  
  
  
  This year, StoryCorps Connect makes it possible for people to record their stories using video teleconferencing technology. For the first time, you do not have to be physically in the same place as your conversation partner to record your interview. 
  
  
  
  StoryCorps and Leading Age worked together to create this Participant Packet to help older adults, families and caregivers get started.  They also created this toolkit to help organizations that serve older adults bring this project to more people, but it contains great information that may be helpful to all of our partners in the aging and disability networks. 

Get Creative

• Give the Gift of Connection: Use our ideas to make connections, even when you and your loved ones are physically apart.

• Make a Holiday Care Card: Do you know someone who could use a friendly greeting? This Connect2Affect care card is one way to show you’re thinking of them.

• Stuck at Home (Together) offers tools to encourage creative expression and social connection. Stuck at Home is an initiative of the Foundation for Art & Healing in collaboration with AARP Foundation.

Give Back

• Best Practices for Virtual Volunteers: This AARP Foundation guide offers tips and tricks for giving back at a distance.

• Create the Good connects you with volunteer opportunities to share your life experiences, skills, and passions in your community. 

• VolunteerMatch: Explore hundreds of virtual opportunities to share your talents, skills, and knowledge – from home!

Find More Activity Ideas

• Host a Virtual Family Holiday Party: These specific ideas from the Sunrise Blog can help you plan a safe, virtual gathering around something like sharing stories or songs.

• Feeling Good & Staying Connected Activity Guide: These tips and tricks from the California Department of Aging can help people of any age stay engaged.

• AARP's Connect2Affect is a great resource any time of year, but they have created a special holiday connection guide to help you stay connected and feel festive.

For Families and Caregivers

• Mental Health This Holiday and Beyond: 4 Steps to Combat Loneliness in Seniors – This 2016 NCOA blog post provides actionable ways to help older loved ones combat loneliness and protect their mental health during the holidays.

• Connecting While Social Distancing: Suggestions on caring for the well-being of older adults from the Humanitarian Disaster Institute.