This week residents across Hill House have loved making and creating crafts for the upcoming Easter celebrations as well as enjoying the more traditional part of the Holy week of Easter. Residents loved our chocolatey interactive Cadbury experience as well as an Easter bonnet parade.
Monday morning in our garden view lounge we spent the morning engaging in sensory memory games, our normal rummage bag game had new and exciting items inside, adding Easter themed items kept us on our toes guessing the hidden item we could feel.
Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may start rummaging or searching through cabinets, drawers, closets, the fridge and other places where things are stored, by creating fun rummage games you can provide sensory stimulation which can help calm and relax those living with the disease promoting overall wellbeing.
In our day lounge we challenged ourselves by taking on digital Easter themed quiz games and word puzzles.
That afternoon it was time to make our Easter bonnets ahead of the Easter bonnet parade later in the week, across the home we rolled up our sleeves and got creative.
An old tradition is to wear new clothes at Easter, and the Easter bonnet became a part of this in the 19th Century when women – who all wore a kind of hat called a bonnet – would get a fancy new bonnet, or spruce up their old bonnets with ribbon, flowers and lace, all in time for the Easter parade.
We did all this while listening to live piano playing in the background.
Tuesday morning marked the start of our Cadbury themed day, with a game of Cadbury chocolate bar bingo.
Everyone was invited to attend our Cadbury experience in the day lounge that morning.
Our activities team are so creative and offer us the opportunities to explore the whole world from the comfort of our home, this week we took virtual trip to the Cadbury factory and learnt about the history of the factory, the chocolate and of course at this time of year how they produce over 90 million chocolate Easter eggs during the annual spring holiday.
We were amazed as we watched lots of fun Cadbury adverts and listened to music linked with the company. But no Cadbury experience would be complete without sampling as much Cadbury’s chocolate as possible, so everyone tucked into our sensational chocolate fountain and variety of Cadbury bars, mousse, and buttons.
That afternoon Hill House were delighted to welcome back our friends from across the homes as our dementia choir gathered for afternoon practice.
We finalised songs in the last practice before our first live upcoming performance.
Woodlands & Hillbrow Dementia Choir will be singing at Woodlands on Tuesday 18th April, everyone is very excited.
Tuesday afternoon our stunning flowers were arranged into vases ready for displaying around the home, with bright roses bringing back memories of the gardens we have visited like Wisely and Chelsea flower show over the years.
With the sun shining we took part in fun and energetic exercises in the courtyard garden of garden view.
Wednesday morning, we assembled in the day lounge for our monthly residents meeting, this is also when staff are given sunflower awards nominated by us and their fellow co-workers for going above and beyond their job.
Followed by Tinker time with PAT dog Tinkerbell.
We made a spectacular balloon display for Easter, this lovely lady was delighted to help out, a perfect example of activities of daily living that we are proud to promote across the home.
Thursday morning our egg themed target game was a great hit, seated exercise games are great way of incorporating fun daily exercises into our daily life.
Sensory puzzles are a great way for us to increase levels of concentration and the ability focus. The opportunity to recall past experiences and happy memories. Improved mood, self-esteem, and overall well-being.
That afternoon, Easter celebrations were in full swing with our Easter bonnet competition. We welcomed staff and family to all take part. Taking it in turns to parade up to the judges table wearing our bonnets.
Prizes were won for the most imaginative, prettiest, minimalists and there was an overall winner. Well done to everyone for working hard on your hats and thank you to the judges.
Good Friday, we played an Easter egg board game in our garden view lounge, this sparked many conversations about Easter traditions and of course chocolate.
The day lounge enjoyed many families visiting throughout the morning with lots of tea, coffee and cakes with loved ones, we were delighted when one family played piano for the lounge it filled the home with much joy.
Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten over the Easter religious Christian holiday to symbolise the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday on the cross. We loved our interactive Hot Cross Bun cart with baker Julie and tradtional songs playing as the cart rolled around the home offering these delights to everyone.
Easter bunny boot camp was in full swing on Saturday morning, starting with an Easter crafts table we painted eggs, a fun traditional pastime that brought back happy memories as well as cross stained glass window crafts, while listening to Easter poetry.
Others opted for a morning of Easter themed sensory games and activities on our Interactive Omi system. With the sound of chicks chirping and themed objects moving we could splat or swipe them away using our hands and feet.
Everyone across the home was invited to join our gardening club in the day lounge, we planted pots with brightly coloured plants, these will be the centre pieces for our “Easter Bunny Tea Party.”
Gardening helps keep the elderly’s general health in a better state by strengthening bones, muscles, and joints.
Sunday morning our Easter services were held across the home, streamed digitally from local churches on the TV as well as on the iPad.
Followed by a scrumptious Easter Sunday lunch.
What an incredible afternoon that afternoon, as we welcomed friends and families of the home in for a traditional Easter egg hunt. Children running round the garden collecting eggs it was lovely to see them stop and help residents find their coloured eggs too. The whole event brought much joy and excitement to everyone ….
At the end of the egg hunt everyone was greeted by the Easter bunny who magically turned their plastic eggs into chocolate ones.
One lucky little girl found the golden egg and was able to exchange it for a super Easter hamper.
The Easter bunny and home manager Shabana visited our much-loved residents spreading Easter cheer with chocolate eggs and treats for everyone.
Hopping along and busting out dance moves the Easter bunny brought big smiles and a lot of laughter to everyone’s face.
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You will find invites to all our Big Home invites and Photographs of the daily actvities within the home.