What's In Your Cupboard?
Whilst many AO's have the luxury of choice between craft items, board games, sensory gadgets, etc., others may be blowing the dust from a 1978 jigsaw puzzle of a farm scene (two pieces missing)...
Stocking the activities area is not a job to be sniffed at. There are only so many replays of "Daniel O'Donnell - on tour" that a healthy mind can take! Good organisation will also mean smooth transitions between AO's if the event arises. Take a little time in the beginning, and save time and money in the long run. Need a plan? Well, true to form, here's one we prepared earlier...(aren't we organised:)
- Order some catalogues from UK Craft and Game Supplies companies.
- Discuss with your AO the types of activities that he/she would like to be able to offer your clients, then have a list drawn up of items required for each category
- Set a realistic budget, and order, taking into account the number of residents who are likely to take part in the activity.
- Have the AO draw up an inventory of all items within each category. Each time something is used up, it should be deleted from the inventory with a signature. This will help the AO to stay on top of what is needed, what is not used so often, and when to re-order items. (This also prevents items going astray)
- Broken or incomplete items should be noted and if irreperable, discarded. (Goodbye 1978 farmyard puzzle).
