Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 ​​(COVID-19) Links

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Donations Needed

As the novel coronavirus continues to grip our communities, we are reaching out to you to help us ensure our members who live independently, with family or in group homes remain happy, healthy, and safe during the days and weeks ahead.

LIFE Mower County is looking for donations of healthy snacks, hygienic supplies, board games, DVDs, craft supplies, coloring books, gift cards to grocery stores & carryout/delivery restaurants, easy to make food items, etc. These items will be delivered to those members in need.
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Please call 507-433-8994 or email info@lifemowercounty.org before dropping items off or to request items to picked up. We want to make sure someone will be present to accept your donation.
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Stay at Home Activities

Some are fun and others are educational. Some are new and others will be familiar. Some you can do by yourself and some you may need help with. Some may be fun with a group. If you don’t live with other people, you can use your phone or the internet to do the activity together.  ENJOY!

Activities of Daily Living
  1. Caregivers: Whether you’re a paid or family caregiver, think about the things you do for your loved one/the person you support and ask, isn’t now the perfect time for me to teach this person how to help me or do this on their own? It doesn’t matter if it’s cleaning, cooking, laundry, or making the bed – this is the perfect time to teach a new skill.
  2. If you live with other people who need some help, what can you do for them? Can you wash their dinner dishes? Can you help fold their laundry? Now’s the perfect time to pitch in.
  3. To what degree are you involved with menu planning, purchasing groceries, and cooking and cleaning up after mealtimes. Now is the perfect time to be more involved with these activities.
  4. Today may be the day to sew that missing button from your clothing.

Art
  1. How are you feeling today? Create a piece of art that reflects your mood today. Use whatever materials you have (paper, pen pencil, markers, crayons, glitter, rubber stamps, twigs, acorns, glue, etc.). Show your art to someone (in your home, call or video). Explain why you created the art, ask if they are feeling the same or different than you.
  2. Make thank you cards for family, staff, nurses, doctors, firefighters, police, letter carriers, restaurant workers. Mail the cards and thank them for working so hard and keeping us safe and healthy.
  3. Take a virtual art tour of a famous museum. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/…/best-cultural-museum-world…/
  4. Put on a fashion show! Pick a theme (Sunday Best, 1960’s Hippies, etc.) create an outfit (complete with hair and makeup), find a space for a runway, select music and strut your stuff. If you don’t live with other people (who will also model and be in the audience), connect with friends and share photos or videos.

Civic Engagement
  1. Is your community looking for volunteers? Do you and the people you live with have something to offer? Go online, watch the TV news or call volunteer organizations to learn about their needs. For example, you may not be able to sew a mask but you may have material you can donate to sewers who are making masks for first responders.
  2. Do you have neighbors that could use a helping hand? Taking their trash cans to the curb? Walking their dog? Pulling weeds from their garden? Helping others makes us feel good. Just be sure to follow CDC guidelines if you leave your home.
  3. Are you registered to vote? Now’s the perfect time to register https://vote.gov/
  4. April is Autism Awareness Month. What are you doing to celebrate? If you are on the spectrum and want to share your story write a poem or create a collage and share it with friends and family.

Cleaning
  1. Wash and vacuum out the vehicle you use (your own vehicle, your family vehicle, the agency vehicle, your staff’s vehicle).
  2. When you’re done, offer to wash and vacuum a neighbor’s vehicle.
  3. Go through your closet, put everything that doesn’t fit, or you don’t like in a bag and donate them when we’re allowed to leave our homes.
  4. Now arrange your closet so it’s easier to find things.
  5. And do the same with your dresser drawers.
  6. Walk/roll around your home, pick up branches and trash and throw them out.

Cooking
  1. Bake something yummy for family, staff, nurses, doctors, firefighters, police, letter carriers, restaurant workers. Mail the package and thank them for working so hard and keeping us safe and healthy.
  2. Pick a theme and plan one meal (or breakfast, lunch, and dinner) around that theme. Whether it’s a cuisine or a country it’s sure to be tasty and fun.
  3. Go through your dishes and glasses, find any that are chipped and throw them away.
  4. Look at your pots and pans and take a few minutes to scrub off the burned-on food.

Games
  1. Do you have any board games at your house? It’s time to find them, open the box and have some fun!
  2. Do you like to play cards? This website has lots of card games and instructions https://vipspades.com/blog/2-players-card-games/
  3. Are you one of those people that love to play games on the computer? If you are, have fun – and why don’t you try a new game today.
  4. Road trips in the car can become boring so lots of people play games. This website has a list of fun games you can play at home – no car needed! https://thoughtcatalog.com/christine-sto…/…/road-trip-games/

Meditation & Relaxation
  1. People that meditate say it helps them reduce stress. This website has meditation activities that may interest you. https://www.heromovement.net/…/free-guided-meditation-reso…/
  2. Do you, family, friends or your caregivers have a photo album or scrapbook? Are there photos on their phones? Take a look and learn about the important things in their life.
  3. Do you like poetry? Write your own poem, listen to a poem written by someone you know and find poems on the internet that you enjoy. And don’t forget that hip hop is probably the most popular type of poetry.
  4. Have you tried audiobooks? These are recordings of books that you can listen to. These website lists websites with audiobooks. Your local public library may have them too. https://bookriot.com/…/11-websites-find-free-audiobooks-on…/

Movement
  1. Set up a scavenger in your backyard or neighborhood. Create a list of items to find. Either purposely place items (think Easter egg hunt) or include natural items (a fire hydrant, a cherry tree, etc.).
  2. Create a workout. Be creative with equipment (use a soup can as a weight). Take turns serving as the exercise leader.
  3. Find a YouTube video that works for you such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTBBVJsksaI Exercise Video for People with Intellectual and Physical Disabilities (PART 1).
  4. Dance, dance, dance! Whether you create a dance party (at night, low lights and candles, refreshments, and a DJ) or use headphones and move to your favorite music you can have fun! Here’s some old school inspiration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lODBVM802H8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL2h59y6dlE
  5. Pick your favorite yoga or Zumba video from the internet and get moving.
  6. Learn a Tik Tok dance.
  7. Set up an obstacle course. The first one that makes it through without knocking things over wins!
Music
  1. Every day pick one type of music you’ve never heard before. Listen to a few songs or artists. Find something new that you like. Here’s a list of different music categories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popular_music_genres
  2. Find a song, listen to the lyrics and talk about what the words mean to you. A lot of internet sites have song lyrics. So do many old albums!
  3. How are you feeling today? Write down some words that reflect your mood and sing them to a favorite tune or make up a new one. Share your song with someone nearby or call/video chat. Explain why you wrote those words, ask if they are feeling the same or different than you.
  4. Memorize the lyrics to your favorite song. Sing it loud and proud!
  5. Hold a music festival. Select your favorite artist or type of music and enjoy it.
  6. The Stay at Home festival brings you live streaming events https://www.stayathomefestival.com/
Safety
  1. Go through your kitchen cabinets and throw away everything with expiration dated that has passed.
  2. Now go through your refrigerator and throw away everything with an expiration date that has passed.
  3. Finally, go through your bathroom cabinets and throw away everything with an expiration date that has passed.
  4. Connect with friends to see who had the oldest items that had to be thrown away.
  5. If you have a fire extinguisher in your home inspect it https://www.allstate.com/…/how-to-maintain-your-home-fire-…/
  6. If you have a fire extinguisher in your home watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmKgfkxGVwI (or another one you find on the internet) and learn how to use it.
  7. Practice an emergency drill (fire, earthquake, etc.). There’s a lot of information on the internet about emergency drills. Here’s one that you may like https://www.redcross.org/…/disaster-safety-for-people-with-…
  8. Make Go Bag https://keepingsafe.westchestergov.com/having-a-go-bag

Sensory Stimulation
  1. Create a playlist of your favorite music. You can do this for your device (phone, iPad, computer) or gather up your favorite albums or CDs or find your favorite music station. Then turn off the TV, find a relaxing chair and enjoy it.
  2. Brush your teeth and floss after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
  3. Use soothing lotion on your hands, arms, legs, and feet.
  4. Place a wet washcloth in the refrigerator and once it’s cold lay down, close your eyes, place the cloth over your eyes and relax. You can also place sliced cucumbers on your eyes too.
  5. Look at a book, magazine or watch a video that makes you smile.
  6. Hold something that makes you feel good (squeeze toy, fidget spinner, bean bag, etc.)
  7. Find a favorite soap, perfume, lotion, scented oil, flowers, etc. and enjoy their smell throughout the day.
  8. Do a puzzle.
  9. Plant a garden or clean up and weed around your house.

Social Media
  1. If you have a social media account find long lost friends and colleagues.
  2. If you don’t have a social media account find one that you like such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Snap Chat.
  3. Love to look at pictures. Pinterest is a great way to find things you like and save them using this internet scrapbook.
  4. When using social media be sure to follow these safety rules http://archive.ncpc.org/…/int…/social-networking-safety.html

Pets
  1. Do you have a dog? How about an extra walk or two today? Don’t forget to wear a face mask and keep 6 feet apart from people.
  2. Do you have a cat? Now is a great time to do a really good job cleaning out their litter box.
  3. Dog and cat owners: It’s the perfect time to give your pet a really good hair brushing.
  4. Pets don’t like to get their teeth brushed. People don’t like to brush their pet’s teeth. Now maybe the perfect time for toothbrushing.
  5. Does your pet have a cage? It’s time for a good spring cleaning!
  6. And how about cleaning your pets’ toys, food bowls, and blankets?
  7. Don’t have a pet but love animals? Search YouTube puppies, kittens, bunnies, hamsters and enjoy the cuteness.

Websites
A lot of websites have stay-at-home ideas, here are a few:
  1. https://themighty.com/20…/…/bored-covid19-social-distancing/
  2. https://www.familyvacationcritic.com/things-to-do-at-hom…/…/
  3. https://www.usatoday.com/…/50-things-you-need-s…/5057159002/
  4. https://www.lifehack.org/…/lifestyle/30-fun-things-home.html