This week residents at Hill House have been busy immersing themselves in all things Christmas, they have welcomed so many children into the home for carols and it has been lovely having so many families visiting.
We made traditional paper chains in our gardenview lounge on Monday morning.
Flower garlands have been made since Roman times, and tinsel garlands in Germany from about 1610, but another form of decoration, paper chains, were first seen in the UK in the 1850s, when they were used on Christmas trees. This was a time when many of our festive traditions came to England from Germany in Victorian times.
That afternoon Gareth was back to entertain us with his stunning voice, he never fails to get us and the staff up dancing. It was the perfect Monday afternoon.
For aging adults who have age-related memory issues—such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or Parkinson’s disease—music has the power to bring back memories, slow age-related cognitive decline and improve cognitive processing speed.
Tuesday morning, after our resident naughty elf had been up to no good again, we gathered in the lounge to look through the photos of his naughtiness and help with new ideas and pranks. We decided he needed a holiday so gave him the rest of the week off, where we took turns keeping an eye on him in our rooms.
A fabulous morning, this Christmas season in the day lounge we used ink stamps as we designed stunning gift bags.
Making art and even viewing art causes the brain to continue to adapt, restructure, and reshape, this leads to an increase in the potential to increase brain capacity. Studies have shown that creative activities can slow down memory disorder development and the onset of conditions such as Dementia.
As our Fete themed week continued, we played knock down the nutcracker in our gardenview lounges. This game was great fun and got us up and exercising as the giant snowballs rolled around the floor after knocking down the nutcrackers.
That afternoon, our Hill House choir practiced in the dining room ahead of next week’s performance for the home. With special guests on piano, flute and trumpet as well as our incredible band of singing family, who were delighted to sing our solo as well as come together as a group.
Throughout the week we have shared stories of Christmas markets, fetes, and events we have hosted or attended and the fond memories always tied into a mince pie, mulled wine, or a hot chocolate on those cold winter night. Inspired by this, our hot chocolate cart rolled around the home serving this festive treat.
Wednesday morning, these fabulous ladies engaged through the power of music using our Omi projection system.
For aging adults who have age-related memory issues—such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or Parkinson’s disease—music has the power to actually bring back memories, slow age-related cognitive decline and improve cognitive processing speed.
We worked as a team in our gardenview lounge making the lucky dip fete game ahead of our Christmas fete at Farnham Mill. Keeping the brain stimulated and actively engaging the mind can help slow cognitive decline and increase the overall wellbeing of these individuals.
Wednesday afternoon we welcomed the extremely talented children from St Nicholas School orchestra to perform Christmas carols and songs.
Afterwards we were enlightened by the children’s stories of how long they have been playing for and their best Christmas traditions.
Thursday morning spa morning in the lounges on gardenview lead us to a relaxing morning of hand massages and stunning festive nail art.
Our flower arranging club, gathered in the day lounge to create stunning floral displays for the home.
Thursday afternoon across the home we played a variety of games, our gentleman gathered for a game of chess. A group of ladies enjoyed making activity coordinator Bryony collect 12 cards by laying 3 pickup 4 cards on top of one another in our game of UNO.
Others took time to paint stunning water colour pictures while listening to Christmas carols on our Alexia.
Followed by Christmas Tombola wrapping as part of Activities of Daily Life.
Studies show that older adults who participate in activities they find meaningful, such as volunteering with jobs of daily life or being physically active, say they feel happier and healthier.
Friday morning, brain training games in our gardenview lounge, saw us take on word puzzles and picture pairs.
Happy birthday to our amazing lady in Hill House who celebrated this special day with family over a special afternoon tea. Staff then gathered round to sing her a happy birthday
.Friday afternoon we were delighted to be invited to Farnham Mill for a joint Christmas Fete event, with fun fete themed games. It was amazing to meet up with old friends from all 4 homes, make new friends and plans for the new year to all get together.
