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Don\u2019t you just love hearing a favorite song that you haven\u2019t heard in ages?\u00a0 I always crank the radio when a song comes on that I used to play over and over but had forgotten over the years.\u00a0 Our seniors feel the same way!\u00a0 As we all know, music can evoke a variety of emotions, but most often it makes us happy.<\/p>\n
When we are playing an active game with the seniors in the living room, I will find a playlist on YouTube and put on some old favorites.\u00a0 It\u2019s always heartwarming to hear seniors spontaneously burst into song.\u00a0 Sometimes the song comes with an anecdote from their past which is an added bonus!<\/p>\n
When I talk with my activity director friends, some of them confide that they\u2019re not very familiar with YouTube and they\u2019re unsure how to use it.\u00a0 I get that!\u00a0 And, to be honest, YouTube can have some content that you need to watch out for. \u00a0It is a huge website with over 80 million videos on it.\u00a0 So you\u2019re bound to get some good and bad. \u00a0But, if you just keep an eye on it, YouTube can be a huge benefit to your seniors during activities.\u00a0 \u00a0Most of the playlists for songs that they enjoy will come with fantastic photos of the singers back in the day.\u00a0 We recently were playing old Pat Boone songs and there were photos of him as a teenager.\u00a0 The seniors were thrilled and the photos sparked great memories for them and remarks of, \u201cOh, I had forgotten how young he was!\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Overall, YouTube is a terrific resource for helping seniors relieve memories through music.\u00a0 And it makes my administrator happy because it is essentially free!<\/p>\n
In order to use YouTube, you will need to have either a \u201cSmart TV\u201d or a computer with pretty good speakers in your activity space.\u00a0 The TV or the computer must be connected to the Internet.\u00a0\u00a0 On your Smart TV, push the \u201cSmart\u201d button on the remote and it will launch a screen where you can arrow over to choose from several websites.\u00a0 Select YouTube.\u00a0\u00a0 Once YouTube launches, type a genre of music such as \u201cClassic Country\u201d or \u201cBig Band\u201d in the search bar.\u00a0 Hit enter and let YouTube suggest a playlist for you.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple!\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes the playlists are so long they will play for hours if you want them to.\u00a0 So much better than having to switch CDs!\u00a0\u00a0 YouTube does generate revenue by playing a short commercial now and then, but you can skip commercials too, so keep your remote handy!<\/p>\n
Recently while my seniors were enjoying a game of golf putting, I put on a YouTube playlist of \u201cClassic Country.\u201d\u00a0 You should have heard them belting out the lyrics to Eddy Arnold\u2019s \u201cThe Wayward Wind\u201d and Johnny Horton\u2019s \u201cBattle of New Orleans.\u201d\u00a0 The seniors were happy and began to sing louder and louder.\u00a0\u00a0 Since we often have seniors join us for active games who just want to watch, it provided them with a way to participate too.\u00a0 Singing together is a great activity and an easy way to find the joy!<\/p>\n
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