Residents at Hill House spent the week exploring all things linked with our capital city London. They hand crafted paper icons, had a Ritz inspired High Tea, sung cockney songs while dancing and the London Underground Bingo proved very popular and a great source for reminiscing.
Monday morning as part of our arts and crafts club we crafted stunning paper models of famous London icons. This sparked long conversations about trips to London visiting famous landmarks and living in London.
Our garden view lounges we spent the morning playing memory games and completed jigsaw puzzles while listening to 1950’s music.
That afternoon in our day lounge we played knock out skittles, our skittle games always draw a good crowd. Bowling is a great way to get your heart pumping and your arms and legs in motion in a focused, low-impact, challenging manner.
We made another wish come true at Hill House this week. All he desired was a photo album with all his memorable moments so far at Hill House. He was so overcome with joy that he shed more than one happy tear, saying how thoughtful we had been to do this especially for him.
Others spent the afternoon reading their daily newspapers or in our garden view lounges an afternoon of singing and dancing to Cockney songs; ‘my old man’s a dustman and any old iron’.
Tuesday morning, we gathered in the day lounge for a morning of quizzes and general knowledge as we named as many London underground stations as we could. As well as a picture quiz of famous landmark before learning a little about their history and fun facts. We also took part in therapeutic colouring.
In the afternoon we explored our Daily Sparkle magazines. The articles are designed to trigger happy and precious memories of earlier life and importantly, promotes engagement, talking and interaction.
Helping each other with brain training activities in our garden view lounge we completed word searches and played games of dominoes in small groups.
Wednesday morning, we gathered as Vicar Tara visited to hold a church service and communion, she played piano and we sung hymn together before taking time for reflection and pray.
London is famous for high tea at places like the Ritz, and our super activities team hosted high tea in the day lounge with lace table clothes and our finest China.
With such talented staff we had a live guitar singalong halfway through before enjoying more cakes and pastries.
Enjoying the tradition of High Tea together with a group helps to reconnect memories of great times, things experienced as a child or young adult, it also encourages social interaction which is important for everyone’s general well-being.
Thursday morning our floristry Club met in the day lounge to arrange this week’s stunning flowers. Flower arranging is a great activity for seniors with dementia. It engages the senses, provides cognitive and sensory stimulation, improves motor skills and instils a sense of independence and accomplishment. It is an excellent way to preserve quality of life for a population that may struggle with finding such.
Afternoon we spent time painting on our Aqua art boards and got prepared for Easter helping cut out decorations and games ready for next week.
Friday, we took walks in the garden and enjoyed a morning of pampering with manicures and polishes. Our London landmark picture pairs was popular in our garden view lounge as it sparked group reminiscing.
An afternoon of singing and drinking tea at our London tea party, everyone came together for the afternoon.
Singing provides many benefits for the elderly. Ongoing research has shown that regular singing can lift your spirits, increase your immunity and provide a workout for your brain and your lungs.
Saturday morning, we read our daily papers and took on a new jigsaw puzzle. Others had loved ones visiting or spent time sharing stories with one and other.
Our garden view lounge we played domines laughed with friends and listened to music from the 1960’s rock n roll.
The afternoon we updated our photo display boards picking our favourite photos from the last month to display in the lounges.
Sunday morning was filled with time for reflection, as we live streamed Church services across the home for those that wished. Playing musical instruments along to the church service hymns.
That afternoon we played London underground bingo in our garden view lounge, a great game as we shared stories of landmarks that were close to the tube stations and our memories of visiting the big ben or watching cricket at the oval.
In our day lounge our cooking club met to prepare a London classic of bread-and-butter pudding.
First buttering slices of bread before whisking the eggs and milk and layering the pudding up.
