This week Hill House celebrated the roaring 1920’s with a fabulous week of activities and events; underground inspired casino games, a 1920’s party with live singer and an Orient express inspired experience. The week offered so much for so many and everyone found themselves absorbed in the fun and excitement.
Monday morning, we welcomed Wallie in of a sensory pet therapy session.
Arts and crafts club met to make stunning 1920 inspired head dresses, using beads, ribbons and tassels we crafted our master pieces ready to wear throughout the week.
We played a thrilling game of floor darts in the lounge after a spot of tea and social chats with friends.
That afternoon we played balloon and ball games as part of our varied exercise programme – movement to music.
Participating in recreational activities helps improve physical well-being, emotional health, and cognitive functioning. It also offers opportunities to socialize with peers.
The music in the class always inspires us to get up and dance and brings us such happiness.
The bead making head bands continues into the afternoon, using wires and ribbons to fasten beaded patterns before adding the 1920’s iconic feather.
Tuesday morning a spot of mini golf was being played in our garden view lounge, a game that is easily adapted for those who wish to play from a seated precision, it gets everyone excited and works on hand eye coordination at the same time.
We spent the morning painting 1920’s inspired art deco pictures and completing a 1920’s word search brain training game.
Painting stimulates both sides of the brain simultaneously. This helps creativity and increases cognitive function.
Inspired the by the Great Gatsby movie of America in the 1920’s we joined together for an afternoon of excitement with an underground inspired casino afternoon. With a sherry in hand, we tried our luck at roulette and black jack.
Just as with the banning of alcohol in 1920s America, the prohibition of gambling resulted in an underground world of back-room poker games, crap tables and roulette wheels.
In the garden view lounges board games were played. Ludo was the gamed picked and we spent the afternoon racing our way around the board.
Others opted to chat with friends talking about their families and sharing pictures with one and other. Followed by some relaxation and knitting and a loving visit from Daisy Dog.
Our keyworkers work hard and ensuring we have everything we need in our day to day lives and spend time with us one to one. After a chat about home and our heritage, we watched a video about Switzerland and its stunning landscapes with traditional music playing it brought a smile to both of our faces.
Wednesday morning, we hosted our monthly residents meeting with Sarah and Bryony hosting this time, with chats about new starters, the new winter menus, trips & activities and welcoming our new residents to the home all while sipping on a hot drink and eating warm freshly baked cakes.
Others opted to continue with activities such as therapeutic colouring and reading the daily newspapers.
Wednesday afternoon there was a fantastic section of activities on offer across the home to choose from.
Famous faces game was played as a group in the lounge, trying to guess the celebrity / famous person before sharing facts about that person with one another and hearing their history facts read out. Its amazing how many famous people we have met collectively, and the stories we have.
Others spent the afternoon at our mobile casino, still inspired by the 1920s and the American film the great Gatsby, the casino visited rooms and offered everyone the opportunity to have flutter (for fun of course).
A sensational experience for all the senses as a small group of residents took part in our Orient Express Experience. We were personally invited to join for tea onboard our stationary virtual tour of the orient express.
Welcomed by our train conductor Bryony for the afternoon we were seated for high tea, Champagne and wine served as welcome drinks, followed by teas & coffees and a fantastic selection of cakes. We watched a short video on the history of orient express and after discussed our own stories of trips on the Orient Express and other steam trains.
The drinks flowed as well as the conversation it was a huge success, we cannot wait to see what adventures our activities team take us on next!!
Thursday morning, we spent time playing dominoes and enjoying skype calls with family.
Our activities team spent time with a special lady to celebrate her 100th birthday they decorated her room with her guidance ready for her afternoon celebrations with family.
After lunch we got dressed up ready for our 1920’s party, with our handcrafted head bands on and our pearls we were ready! The drinks cart offered sherry, wine, gin and beers as well as a selection of soft drinks.
We welcomed the fantastic Jimmy to sing for our 1920’s party, and with his lovely voice it was hard to sit still we Charlestoned in our chairs as we danced our way through the decades.
Everybody had big smiles on their faces and it was a fanciful afternoon, the dresses worn by the activities team brightened the room and brought the themed to life along with all the handmade decorations.
A very special lady celebrated her birthday and everyone helped sing her a very happy birthday as she blew out the candles on her cake.
Friday morning, we met up on garden view lounge to arrange this week’s stunning floral arrangements.
Floor bowls is still enjoyed across the home, and its easy to see why.
Bowls is easy to learn and is a great social activity to meet new friends and have a laugh.
That afternoon we took walks outside and up to feed the fish in the fish pond.
We have such beautiful outside space and we love to explore the outdoors now the leaves are turning and winter flowers are starting to bloom.
Others joined the Gin tasting activity as we sampled a small selection of flavours and traditional Gin’s.
Facts about each Gin were read before we sampled each gin with tonic, chatting out the flavours we could taste and discussing how drinks and drinking habits have changed over the years.
Saturday morning started with a fun game of floor skittles, and tailed into conversations about Farnham and the local lions’ clubs over a hot drink and biscuits. That afternoon we enjoyed our weekend movie club and visits with family and friends.
Sunday morning church services were hosted across the home and that afternoon we enjoyed autumn reminiscing and photos of the local area now autumn has really set in with leaves and trees in Farnham Park bright oranges and reds and local farmers field harvesting crops.
This week’s brain training game was the giant cross word and a group of us gathered to complete these tricky puzzles together. In addition to the fun, studies have shown that brain exercises can keep seniors sharper for up to 10 years longer. And, games like crosswords may even help older adults prevent brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Sunday evening, we found time in this busy week for a little Tea dance after supper as one of our favourite songs played in the lounge.