May activity ideas, week by week

May gives you flowers at last, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Older Americans Month, and National Skilled Nursing Care Week, with May baskets, tea, and strawberries along the way. Here is each week in turn: a coloring page and its Story Starter, two or three low-cost ideas to go with it, and a seated version of every idea.

Each coloring hour works the same way. Print the drawing in Regular and Bold. Hand out a page or two. Read the Story Starter aloud once, to the whole table, then go back to your own page and wait.

If you only have time for one thing a week, make it the coloring hour. Everything else here is extra, and all of it costs little or nothing.

The month at a glance

The holidays:

• Mother's Day: Sunday, May 9
• Memorial Day: Monday, May 31

Small days that work at a table:

• All month: Older Americans Month, from Saturday, May 1
• All month: National Strawberry Month
• May 1: May Day
• May 5: Cinco de Mayo
• National Skilled Nursing Care Week, from Sunday, May 9
• May 15: International Day of Families
• May 18: International Museum Day
• May 20: World Bee Day
• International Tea Day: Friday, May 21

Everything for Mother's Day is on the Mother's Day page.

Week by week

Week 1: May baskets and a little music

May Day is May 1. Color Lily of the valley. Its Story Starter: "Did you ever leave a surprise on a neighbor's step, or find one?" The follow-ups: "What's a kind thing a neighbor did for you?" and "What did you like to share with the people next door?"

• May baskets. In parts of the country, May baskets of flowers or treats get left on a doorstep. Fold paper cones, add a few silk flowers, and tape on a handle. Walkers can deliver them along the hall and knock. Seated: give each basket to a tablemate, or let staff deliver them.
• Maracas for Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is May 5. Fill small plastic bottles with dried beans, seal the caps with tape, and play a few lively songs. Anyone who likes can dance. Seated: shake the maracas from your chair and keep the beat.
• Advice cards for Older Americans Month. Ask each person for one piece of advice for someone starting out: a first job, a first home, a first baby. Write each one on a card. Walkers can pin their own card to a board by the front door, for visitors to read. Seated: say it, and staff writes it and pins it up.

Week 2: Mother's Day and the nursing team

Swallowtail on hydrangea is the drawing pair at the top of this page. Print it in Regular and Bold and let each person choose. Bold has thicker lines and fewer tiny details, easier to see and easier to finish. Its Story Starter: "Where do flowers look best: a fancy vase or an old watering can?" The follow-ups: "Where in your house did fresh flowers usually sit?" and "Did you cut them from the yard, or did someone bring them?"

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9, and the day can be tender, so offer the page and the question and don't push.

• A flower bar. Set out a bucket of fresh flowers, a vase, a jug, and an empty watering can. Let each person choose a stem and where it goes. Do it standing at a counter, like a flower shop. Seated: bring the bucket to the table and pass the stems around.
• Thank-you cards for the nursing team. National Skilled Nursing Care Week starts Sunday, May 9. Make simple cards with a colored page folded inside. Walk them to the nurses' station together. Seated: sign the cards at the table, and let one person carry the stack.
• A family photo frame. International Day of Families is May 15. Cut the middle out of a big piece of poster board to make a giant picture frame, and decorate the edges with flowers. When families visit this week, they can stand behind it for a photo together. Seated: hold the frame up from your chair, and let the family gather around it.

Week 3: Bees, tea, and a gallery

World Bee Day is May 20, and International Tea Day comes the next day, Friday, May 21. Color Honey jar. Its Story Starter: "Do you have a sweet tooth, or would you rather have something salty?" The follow-ups: "What treat did you buy with your own pocket money?" and "Where did you buy it: a corner store or a five-and-dime?" Pass around a clean wooden honey dipper.

• A tea party. Set a table with a cloth, the good cups, and a pot of tea. Let people walk up and pour their own, the way you would at a garden party. Seated: serve at each place, and pass the sugar and lemon. Check diets first.
• A honey tasting. Set out two or three kinds of honey on small crackers, and vote on the best. Walkers can stop at the tasting table. Seated: carry the tray around the table. Check diets first.
• A hallway gallery. International Museum Day is May 18. Tape the month's finished pages along a hallway at eye level, with each artist's name and the date. Then walk the gallery together. Seated: hold each page up at the table, one at a time, and let the artist say a word about it.

Week 4: Strawberries and Memorial Day

May is National Strawberry Month. Color Strawberries on the fence. Its Story Starter: "Strawberries: on shortcake, with cream, or straight off the plant?" The follow-ups: "Did you ever pick berries, in a garden or for pay?" and "What was the first job that put money in your pocket?" Carry a bowl of fresh strawberries around the table for each person to smell.

• A shortcake social. Set out biscuits, sliced strawberries, and whipped cream, and let people walk up and build their own. Seated: build them at the table, or let staff build one to order at each place. Check diets first.
• A quiet Memorial Day. Memorial Day is Monday, May 31. Keep it simple and respectful. Set a small flag on each table, and leave a few minutes of quiet for anyone who wants to say a name aloud. Some at the table may have served, or lost someone who did. Let them lead, and follow. If there's a flag ceremony outdoors, walkers can go out to it. Seated: bring chairs to the doorway or a window, so everyone can see it from a seat.

Ten questions for the month

Ask about, not whether. Each of these has an answer that can't be wrong. Use one a day, at lunch or at the coloring table. Read it once and give it time. Most stories start after a pause.

1. What flowers grew by your front door?
2. Who taught you to cook something you still love?
3. Who lived next door when you were growing up?
4. What did Sunday dinner look like in spring?
5. Tell me about someone who looked after you when you were small.
6. What advice would you give someone starting a first job?
7. What went in the picnic basket at your house?
8. Where did you go to see something beautiful?
9. How did you take your tea, or was it coffee all the way?
10. What was the first sign of summer at your house?

New in the library this month

Sunday Blooms is the May pack: big flowers, drawn close. Hibiscus and Butterfly on a lily are in it too, each with its own Story Starter. See the whole set on the Sunday Blooms pack page.