{"id":122,"date":"2017-01-03T15:18:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T15:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/?page_id=122"},"modified":"2017-01-03T15:51:09","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T15:51:09","slug":"sorting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/?page_id=122","title":{"rendered":"Sorting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A great failure-free activity is sorting.\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone likes to create order out of chaos.\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes us human!\u00a0 Occasionally I will be helping the seniors in memory care sort and one of them will ask me why<\/u> they are sorting.\u00a0\u00a0 Good question!\u00a0 Don\u2019t we all want to have a purpose and feel like we\u2019re using our time in a constructive way?\u00a0 To just sort for the sake of sorting seems kind of futile.\u00a0 That made me think – how can I create a way to make sorting an opportunity to give back to the community?\u00a0\u00a0 We can sort and then donate the items to local community groups. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a constructive, social activity that also doubles as a community service project!<\/p>\n

The items you can sort are endless and obviously need to be gauged to the skills of your seniors.\u00a0\u00a0 Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n

Coupons
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort coupons by type and put them in envelopes that are labeled for different areas of the grocery store, such as \u201cDairy Department\u201d or \u201cCanned Goods.\u201d\u00a0 Donate these to a local food closet or to military families. \u00a0\u00a0(You can look online for local charities that accept coupons.)<\/p>\n

Change (coins)
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort and wrap change to donate to the American Red Cross.\u00a0\u00a0 When we did this activity, I brought in change that I had been intending to donate and the seniors helped me sort the change and put it in coin wrappers.\u00a0 I took the wrapped coins to a Coinstar machine and easily pushed the coins into the machine from the wrappers.\u00a0 The bonus was that we had the wrappers to use again another time!<\/p>\n

Colored Pom Poms
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort colored pom poms into snack-sized zipper bags and donate them to a preschool to use in their art program.<\/p>\n

Baby Socks
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort clean, gently used baby socks and donate them to a crisis nursery.<\/p>\n

Buttons
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort buttons by color, put them in a plastic tray with compartments and a lid and they can be used to mend seniors\u2019 clothes.<\/p>\n

Pinecones
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort pinecones by size, put them in dollar store bins with lids and use in a craft project.<\/p>\n

Legos
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sort bags of Legos by color and size to donate to a foster care program.\u00a0\u00a0 (Families will often donate huge bags of Legos that they find at yard sales for a great price.)<\/p>\n

Newsletter Request
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

As you can see, you could sort just about anything.\u00a0 The challenge becomes how to find the items to sort without breaking the bank.\u00a0 That\u2019s where putting an ad in your family newsletter may help a lot!\u00a0 Many families want to contribute to their loved ones\u2019 lives but they just aren\u2019t sure how.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ask for the coupon pages from the newspaper or for collections of stray buttons.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some families will scour yard sales for you and gladly donate entire bags of items (such as baby socks) for your seniors to sort!<\/p>\n

Music to sort by
\n<\/span><\/h1>\n

Put on some nice, soothing music while you sort with the seniors and see if some conversation flows.\u00a0 When the seniors begin to help each other match the items it creates a sense of teamwork and helps you find the joy!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A great failure-free activity is sorting.\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone likes to create order out of chaos.\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes us human!\u00a0 Occasionally I will be helping the seniors in memory care sort and one of them will ask me why they are sorting.\u00a0\u00a0 Good question!\u00a0 Don\u2019t we all want to have a purpose and feel like we\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/122"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129,"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/122\/revisions\/129"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.failurefreeactivities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}