Decorative Flower Wreaths
Duration: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty Level: Moderate
I found inspiration for this activity during my Level II Fieldwork at a separate Assisted Living Facility. When I was practicing to lead this activity, I didn't have any instructions since I had only seen an example, so it took some trial and error. This was the last activity that I planned for the residents and they were all quite excited to make wreaths for their apartment doors.
Understanding Why
Throughout this project, I've seen the joy that utilizing and working flowers can bring to older adults. Arranging and using flowers provides connection with others, creative expression, and light exercise (Monarch Landing, 2024). This activity is accessible for the older adults and allows them to brighten up their apartment with a new decoration, as well as create something for their neighbors.
Step By Step Process
Pre-activity preparation
For this activity, I was initially going to have the residents wrap yarn around the craft ring, but I as I was practicing the activity, I was having a pretty difficult time myself and knew that I would need to provide significant assistance to help the residents complete that step. So in preparation for this activity, I pre-wrapped the yarn around the craft rings. When doing this, make sure the yarn is very tight in order to keep the flowers in place between the yarn. You will want the yarn to be about two inches in width, but sometimes it can be hard to keep the yarn from sliding down the ring, so I found it helped to use a hot glue gun and put a little dot on either side of the yarn to keep it from moving.
Provide example and explain the activity
I passed around the example that I made and the residents were very enthusiastic about making one of their own. I explained how to weave the flower stems in between the yarn and to try to prevent the yarn from loosening up.
Weave flower stems between yarn
I bought and thrifted artificial flowers for this activity and spread them out on the table. The residents were able to pick and choose which flowers they wanted and then weaved the stems through the yarn. Some of the residents with cognitive deficits required very specific instructions and assistance in order for the flowers to be placed inside the yarn.
(Optional) - Tie yarn loop on top of ring
This step is optional. The wreaths can hang by the top of the ring, or you can tie a loop of yarn to the top to allow for an alternative way to hang the wreath on the door.
Key Benefits of this Activity
Cognition: A study by Chou et al. (2024), found that participating in horticulture activities stimulated cognitive function, as well as, improved quality-of-life in older adults. Choosing the flowers, executing a design, and arranging the flowers all help to maintain cognition and use spatial reasoning skills (Peltonen, 2025). Getting the flower stems to be sufficiently weaved through the yarn requires problem-solving skills and creative thinking as the stem will sometimes get stuck in the yarn.
Physical/Physiological: For older adults activities such as this that incorporate flower arranging can improve dexterity and wrist flexibility when positioning the flowers and working the stems through the yarn (Peltonen, 2025). This can assist in maintaining coordination that is used in daily tasks. Additionally, the residents have to visually identify angles and distancing when manipulating the materials which strengthens hand-eye coordination (Peltonen, 2025).
Sensory: While choosing the flowers, residents have to discriminate between colors and textures while maintaining their visual and tactile perception (Peltonen, 2025).
Psychological/Emotional: For the residents, incorporating flowers generates positive emotions such as joy and calmness (Restorative Blooms, 2017). Arranging flowers can be considered a soothing task that can reduce stress, provide peace and relaxation, and decrease pressures of daily life for improved well-being (McGillivray, 2024).
Social: Utilizing nature can foster socialization through triggering memories that encourage conversations with peers and other participants (Restorative Blooms, 2017). When older adults engage in group activities, they are able to create meaningful connections to reduce feelings of isolation and provide purpose (McGillivray, 2024). Additionally, each resident made a second wreath for another resident in the facility due to extra materials and the residents feeling encouraged to gift something to a neighbor.
Resident comments:
"I love mine! I'll hang it on my bathroom door since I already have one on my front door."
"We should make one for the new resident. It can be a welcome gift."
"That white flower is beautiful!"
Conclusion
I had such a wonderful time with the residents throughout my time leading activities. As I led this last activity, I was able to reflect back on the power of connecting with others and providing meaningful activities through nature. The wreaths looked wonderful and I'm so grateful that I was able to provide activities for the residents every week.
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