First-Week Survival Kit for New Activity Directors: Five Days of Ready-to-Run Activities, Scripts & Printables

Just started as an activity director — and the calendar is blank?

Print this kit tonight and walk in tomorrow with your first five days planned. The First-Week Survival Kit gives you a morning activity session, afternoon 1:1 visits, and a simple evening option for each of your first five days — every one with a Quick Start page, word-for-word facilitator scripts, and the printable materials included. No inventing activities the night before, no extra boards or scripts to create. About 15 minutes of prep per day, using household and dollar-store supplies.

What's inside (57 pages, US Letter PDF):

• Start Here Tonight — what to print first, what can wait, and the full supply list
• Day 1 — Meet Them: Music & Memories — a 30-minute music-and-reminiscence session with a word-for-word script, 15 facilitator song-prompt cards, 4 large-print resident song cards, a resident-preference form, and a 1:1 visit script
• Day 2 — Get Them Moving — a scripted 30-minute seated movement routine (no equipment, chair-based) plus a ready-to-run large-group game with printable calling cards
• Day 3 — Make Something — one no-mess paper craft in 15-minute and 45-minute versions, with a finished example to copy
• Day 4 — Talk & Remember — a timed conversation-circle script and 20 print-and-cut conversation cards, plus a small-group format for residents who won't join a big group
• Day 5 — Celebrate the Week — 12 large-print music bingo boards with calling cards, a Friday quiz, and a what-worked review sheet
• One-Week Write-In Grid and a Build Next Week's Calendar worksheet
• First-Month Checklist — what to tackle after week one
• What to Say When Residents Won't Come — exact invitation words that work better than "we're having an activity"
• Budget & Supplies Sheet, plus a Ready for Week Two? closing page with your next steps

An honest note: this kit covers a morning session, afternoon 1:1 visits, and a simple evening option each day. It is not an hour-by-hour schedule for a full shift — it's the solid, ready-to-run core of your first five days, so you start confident instead of scrambling.

Details: 57-page digital PDF, US Letter. Instant download after checkout. Print only the pages you need, as often as you need them for your community.

An ADPAD Original — from ADPAD, the marketplace for activity directors.