Plan a year of lifestyle activities in layers. Fix the sessions that run every week, then add an outing and a guest each month. Last, place the year's big days on the seasons, which start with summer in December.
This guide is for lifestyle coordinators and village managers in residential aged care homes and retirement villages in Australia and New Zealand.
What this post covers:
- Setting up the year
- Activities by season
- Finding out what residents want
- Getting residents to run activities
- Planning for different abilities and dementia
- Involving families
- Sharing the program with residents and families
Setting up the year
Start with the weekly lifestyle program. These are the sessions residents plan their week around, such as morning exercise, the bus to the shops, bingo and happy hour.
Run each one at the same time and in the same room every week. Spread them across the day and into the weekend, so residents who sleep late or have weekday visitors still get a turn.
Mix short sessions of 15 to 30 minutes with longer ones of one to two hours. A stretch class fits the first group. A painting workshop fits the second.
Next comes the monthly layer. Each month, add an outing and a guest speaker or performer. Hold one party for everyone with a birthday that month.
Then place the seasonal events. Plan the next three months in detail and the rest of the year in outline. Book December performers and bus hire by the end of winter.
Check each month for religious observances before you fix dates. A lunchtime barbecue in Ramadan or a sausage sizzle on Good Friday leaves some residents out.
Leave one open slot each week. Use it to trial an idea a resident suggested before it joins the weekly program. Record how many residents come to each session, too. You will need those numbers when you review the program each quarter.
Residential aged care providers in Australia work under the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, in effect since 1 November 2025. Outcome 7.1, Daily living, sits in Standard 7, The Residential Community, and covers support for residents to take part in lifestyle activities.
Activities by season
The seasons below run from December, when summer starts in Australia and New Zealand. Each one names the days and events to plan around, then gives activity ideas that suit the weather.
Summer: December to February
Summer brings Christmas, New Year and the Australia Day public holiday, with Waitangi Day in New Zealand. Lunar New Year falls in January or February. The Boxing Day Test and the Australian Open give sports fans a reason to watch together.
Run outdoor sessions early in the morning and move afternoon sessions inside. Put a jug of water out at every session.
- Christmas card making in early December, so residents can post cards to family in time.
- Carols with a local choir in the lead-up to Christmas.
- An outdoor cinema night once the evening cools down.
- A Lunar New Year cooking class, with the dishes served for lunch.
- A teddy bears' picnic or a grandparent and grandchild games day in the January school holidays.
Autumn: March to May
Autumn brings Harmony Week, St Patrick's Day, Easter and Anzac Day. Mother's Day is in May in both countries. Australia's Biggest Morning Tea and National Volunteer Week fall in May, and National Reconciliation Week starts at the end of the month.
The milder weather suits day trips, and the footy season starts.
- A farmers market visit or a day trip to the botanic gardens.
- A cultural exchange day in Harmony Week, with food and music from the countries residents were born in.
- Easter egg decorating, then an egg hunt for visiting grandchildren.
- Anzac biscuit baking the week before Anzac Day, and a morning where residents share their family's service stories.
- A footy tipping competition, run by a resident.
- A Mother's Day high tea with families.
- A Biggest Morning Tea, baked by residents.
Winter: June to August
Matariki is a public holiday in New Zealand in June or July. NAIDOC Week is in July in Australia. State of Origin is mostly played in June and July. Christmas in July gives you a reason for a roast lunch.
The days are short, so run outings in the middle of the day. Put more indoor sessions into the cold months.
- Knitting or crocheting blankets and scarves for a local charity.
- Documentary screenings, with a cup of tea and a talk afterwards.
- A genealogy workshop, where residents trace their family history.
- A marmalade making class with winter citrus.
- A shared meal for Matariki.
- A local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander speaker or artist during NAIDOC Week, booked early and paid for their time.
- A State of Origin night in team colours, for homes and villages in New South Wales and Queensland.
Spring: September to November
Father's Day is in September in both countries. Dementia Action Week runs in September in Australia, and Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week, runs in September in New Zealand. The AFL and NRL grand finals fall in late September and early October.
International Day of Older Persons is in October. Seniors festival dates vary by state. Queensland holds Seniors Month in October, and the NSW Seniors Festival comes earlier in the year.
Diwali falls in October or November. November brings the Melbourne Cup and Remembrance Day, which New Zealand calls Armistice Day. Australia also hosts the men's Rugby World Cup in spring 2027, with matches in seven cities.
- Spring planting, including a sensory garden with fragrant plants and textured leaves.
- A trip to a local nursery to choose the plants.
- A suitcase rummage, where residents bring a suitcase of clothes to swap or sell.
- A Father's Day barbecue with families.
- Grand final day in team colours, with pies at lunch.
- A session on everyday Māori words and phrases, led by a fluent speaker.
- A Diwali afternoon with lights and Indian sweets.
- A Melbourne Cup sweep and a hat parade.
- A minute's silence at 11am on Remembrance Day.
Easter, Lunar New Year, Matariki and Diwali move from year to year. Our free calendar has month by month dates for Australia and New Zealand with activity ideas for each month. You can download the 2027 lifestyle activity calendar from our activities post.
For more ideas to fill each season, see our 100 activity ideas for retirement villages.
Finding out what residents want
Ask each new resident about their old job, their hobbies, the clubs they belonged to and the music they grew up with. In residential aged care, family members can fill the gaps when a resident can no longer tell you.
Once or twice a year, run a short survey. List the activities you run and a few you could add, with a box to tick beside each. Leave space for residents to write their own ideas.
Write down what residents mention over morning tea, such as a hobby they dropped when they moved in.
In a retirement village, set up a residents' activities committee to plan with you. In an aged care home, make activities a standing item at the residents' meeting.
At each quarterly review, put the survey results beside your attendance numbers. Try a quiet session at a new time before you drop it.
Look out for residents with a skill to share, such as a retired chef or a former art teacher. Ask them to lead a session, as the next section sets out.
Getting residents to run activities
Start with a resident who already has the skill or the interest, and ask them to run one session. If it goes well, agree with them how often the group meets and what it needs.
A book club needs enough copies of each book. A gardening club needs tools, seeds and a garden bed.
Give the group a regular slot in the program and promote it like any other activity. Check in with the leader once a month.
Groups a resident could lead:
- A walking group that sets its own route and pace
- A book club or a writers' group
- A village choir or a ukulele group
- Footy tipping or a lawn bowls competition
- A men's shed or woodwork group
- Justice of the Peace sessions, run by a resident who is a JP
In residential aged care, give residents smaller roles. A resident can say grace before lunch, read the paper aloud at morning tea, water the courtyard plants or welcome new residents.
Our guide to starting resident-led clubs has a to-do list for each step.
Planning for different abilities and dementia
Write a seated version of every physical session into the program. Chair yoga, seated tai chi, balloon volleyball and seated bowling all work from a chair.
Ask the care team which residents need a seated version, a smaller group or a one-on-one visit. Ask them too when each resident is most settled in the day, and place their sessions then.
For residents living with dementia, use the 15 to 30 minute slots and keep groups small. Use familiar things, such as music from their teens and twenties, family photo albums and a memory box of objects from their working life.
Offer everyday tasks as activities, such as folding towels, setting tables or potting succulents.
For residents who no longer join group games, try a sensory bag of fabrics and pinecones, or a hand massage with scented cream.
Some residents stay in their rooms. Put one-on-one visits for them on the program as sessions in their own right, with reading aloud or a favourite playlist.
Print the program and song sheets in large type. Before you book an outing, check that the bus has wheelchair access.
Involving families
Put family events on weekends and in school holidays, when grandchildren can come. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter and Christmas each suit a family morning tea or barbecue.
Give families something to do on an ordinary visit. Keep a lending shelf of board games and jigsaws they can borrow for an hour. Suggest they bring a photo album, or build a playlist of the resident's favourite songs.
Ask families to help as well. A grandchild could run a phone skills session. A daughter could cook a family recipe with residents on a family cooking day.
Our post on 100 activities families can do with residents suggests sharing two ideas a week with families. At that rate, the list lasts about a year.
Sharing the program with residents and families
In Pluss, the program sits in the events calendar of your own branded app. Residents book activities from their phone instead of the noticeboard, and say yes to an event to save their spot.
Post each month's program as a news post. News posts carry photos, video and files, and staff can schedule them ahead. Pluss shows who has read each post.
After an outing, post the photos. Families use the app too, so they see the news and events you post. There is no charge for family users.
Across 21 communities, a median of 79.6% of residents are active in the app every month.
See how it works for residential aged care and retirement villages, or book a demo.
