September activity ideas, week by week
Labor Day, Grandparents Day, honey, music, apples, and the first day of fall, one week at a time.
September gives you Labor Day, Grandparents Day, National Assisted Living Week, a month for honey, and the first day of fall. Here is a plan for each week of September: one coloring page with its Story Starter, plus two or three low-cost ideas, each with a seated version.
It's a full month for visitors, too. Grandparents Day brings families in, so the second week is built for coloring side by side. Every idea below costs little or nothing, and every one has a version that works from a chair.
The month at a glance
- Labor Day: Monday, September 6
- International Literacy Day: September 8
- Grandparents Day: Sunday, September 12
- National Assisted Living Week: starts Sunday, September 12 and runs seven days
- National Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15
- First day of fall: September 22 or 23, depending on the year
- Johnny Appleseed Day: September 26, the birthday of John Chapman, the nurseryman behind the legend
- National Honey Month: all of September
The holiday dates above are always this year's, so the list can go on the bulletin board and stay there.
Week by week
Week 1: Labor Day and a reading circle
Labor Day opens the month, so start with work: the jobs people did, the tools they used, and the places they liked to fix things.
Color the Garden shed and tools: a garden shed with a watering can and tools. Print it in Regular and Bold. Bold has thicker lines and fewer tiny details, easier to see and easier to finish. Hand out a page or two, and read the Story Starter once, aloud: "Was there a shed, garage, or workbench where you liked to putter?" Then go back to your own page and wait.
Also this week:
- A tool table. Gather a few old hand tools: a hand drill, a tape measure, a wooden ruler, a darning egg. Set them on a table by the door and let people stop and pick them up on the way in. Seated version: pass the tools around the table on a tray and guess what each one was for.
- A reading circle. International Literacy Day follows on the 8th, so end the week with a story. Pick a short story or a page of old newspaper columns and take turns reading a paragraph each. Seated version: the page travels around the table instead of the reader going to the front, and anyone can pass.
Week 2: Grandparents Day and Assisted Living Week
Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day. National Assisted Living Week starts Sunday, September 12, so this is the week to have visitors in and to thank the staff.
Color the Tree swing, from The Harvest Pack: a swing hung from a big tree, with daisies and hills behind it. Its Story Starter is "Whose gate did you walk through most as a child?" A grandmother's gate, a best friend's, the schoolyard's: any answer works.
When families visit, print the same drawing twice: Regular for the visitor, Bold for the person they came to see. Let them color side by side, and read the question to both of them.
Also this week:
- A thank-you board. For Assisted Living Week, write or dictate one line of thanks to someone on the staff: the cook, the aide who sings, the driver. Walk the board to the staff room together on Friday. Seated version: pass the board around the table, and anyone who'd rather not write can tell a staff member what to put down.
- A photo afternoon. Ask visiting families to bring one photo from their own childhood. Set them out on a table and let everyone walk by and guess who's who. Seated version: pass the photos around the table, one at a time.
Week 3: Honey and a music hour
September is National Honey Month, and National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on the 15th.
Color the Honey jar, from Home Sweet Home: a jar of honey with a dipper and a bee. Its Story Starter is "Do you have a sweet tooth, or would you rather have something salty?" It's an easy question for any table, and almost everyone has an answer ready.
Also this week:
- A honey tasting. Buy two or three kinds of honey, such as clover and wildflower, and set them out with crackers or apple slices. Let people come up to the tasting table and pick a favorite. Check diet lists with the kitchen first. Seated version: carry the tasting tray from chair to chair.
- A music hour. Play songs from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and South America: a mariachi band, a mambo, a bolero. Dance if you like. Seated version: make shakers from two paper cups taped together with dry beans inside, and keep time from your chair.
Week 4: The first day of fall, and apples
Fall begins this week, and Johnny Appleseed Day follows on the 26th.
Color the Apple tree and basket, from The Harvest Pack and Pumpkin Patch. Its Story Starter settles nothing and starts everything: "Crisp and tart, or soft and sweet: how do you like apples?" Follow it to pies, cider, caramel apples, and whoever had the best tree.
Also this week:
- An apple tasting. Slice three kinds of apples, a red, a green, and a yellow, and let everyone vote for the best. Seated version: bring the plate around, and vote with a show of hands.
- A cider toast. Warm a pot of apple cider and carry the mugs out to the patio for a toast to the first day of fall. Seated version: pour it at the table, pass the cinnamon sticks, and make the toast from your chairs.
- Leaf rubbings. Take a short walk outside and gather a few fallen leaves. Lay them under thin paper and rub over them with the side of a crayon. Seated version: bring a basket of leaves to the table and do the rubbings there.
Ten questions for the month
Read one at a time, to the whole table, and wait. None of them has a wrong answer, and each one asks about a story or a preference, never about whether someone remembers.
- What was the first job you were paid for?
- Who taught you to use a hammer, a needle, or a mixing spoon?
- Who in your family told the best stories?
- Who was a grandparent to you, by blood or not, and what did you do together?
- Which song makes you want to get up and dance?
- Honey on toast, in tea, or on a biscuit: where does it belong?
- What's the best apple pie you ever ate, and who made it?
- What did fall look like from your kitchen window?
- What did you get new for the first day of school?
- What's a book or a story you'd read again tomorrow?
New in the library this month
New pages arrive on the 1st of each month, in time for next month's calendar, and that morning's email lists what's new. Already in the library for September:
- The Harvest Pack, with baskets, pumpkins, and the last of the garden: Tree swing, Autumn tree, leaves falling, Rain and umbrella, Tree with a little door, Horn of plenty, Apple tree and basket, Hedgehog on the stump, and Squirrel and acorns.
- Home Sweet Home, for Grandparents Day: Clothesline, Honey jar, and Garden shed and tools.
Every drawing comes in Regular and Bold, with a Story Starter on the page. See the whole Harvest Pack, and the Grandparents Day page for a coloring hour with visitors.
If you'd like to try it first, the First Pack is six drawings with a Story Starter on each, free, with your organization's name on the cover.
Free coloring pages for your activity calendar: tablewellpages.com/free