This week was “Back to School Week”, and as such the residents enjoyed a variety of activities meant to remind them of their childhood memories and experiences of school.
On Monday in the garden view lounge, we played noughts and crosses as well as other whiteboard games. It reminded us of the childhood games we used to play at lunch time and after school.
In the main lounge, we received a visit from Wally and Tinkerbell after a period of school days reminiscing.
In the afternoon, those of us in the garden view lounge reminisced about our time at school and our childhood in general. We used photographs of school classrooms from the 40s to jog our memories.
When we had finished telling each other stories from our childhoods, we relaxed with some lovely drawing and colouring.
In the main lounge, we spent the afternoon playing a school-themed round of bingo. Those of us with a competitive spirit were quite excited by the competition.
On Tuesday morning in the main lounge, Steve arrived to guide us through this week’s instalment of cooking club.
This week, we worked hard to produce a delicious chicken tikka masala from scratch. We were blown away by the depth of flavour!
Meanwhile, in the garden view lounge, we spent the morning doing some DIY.
The hands-on task was a brilliant problem-solving exercise, and we rose to the challenge.
In the afternoon, flower arranging was the primary activity in the main lounge. The colours and smells were lovely to be around, and it was satisfying to put together our own arrangements.
Afterwards, we got our bodies moving with physiotherapy. We participated in a variety of exercises, testing our coordination, endurance, and strength.
In the garden view lounge on Wednesday morning we expressed our creativity with some flower arranging. The flowers were beautiful and the bouquets were perfect for decorating our living areas.
In the main lounge, we spent the morning playing a back-to-school themed game of word scramble. While it was challenging at times, we felt a great sense of achievement when we had finished.
Meanwhile, some of us went out for a lovely slice of cake and cup of tea at Chalk in the Park Café. The country park outside was bustling with activity on the hot summer day, and while it made for pleasant viewing from the comfort of the café window, we were pleased to be sheltered from the heat.
In the garden view lounge, we spent our afternoon enjoying some music therapy. We played our instruments and sang along to the comforting and uplifting tunes.
Meanwhile, Tinkerbell the therapy dog was making the rounds. She put a smile on our faces with her calm and friendly personality.
On Thursday morning in the garden view lounge, we got crafty with our knit and natter club. Some of us threw ourselves into our knitting projects, while others stayed for the company. It was very pleasant and relaxing.
In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to be visited by Vic, who sang for us and played his trumpet. He had lots of fascinating stories to share with us from his long and impressive career, and we very much enjoyed hearing about it.
On Friday morning in the main lounge, we remembered our time at school with some chalkboard art. We used giant chalk, small chalk, and chalkboard pens to draw pictures and pretty patterns.
In the garden view lounge, we created some homemade playdough from scratch with flour, water, and oil. We enjoyed the sensory stimulation of the smooth malleable playdough.
In the afternoon, cooking club commenced in the main lounge. Our recipe was a school-lunch classic: bread and butter pudding! The process prompted some of us to share memories of eating the dessert as children after the war.
On Saturday morning in the garden view lounge, we played a game of back-to-school bingo. It was a fun group activity, that sparked our competitive spirit!
Meanwhile, some of us got our muscles moving with an exhilarating game of ten-pin bowling.
In the afternoon, we exercised our brains with a supersized crossword puzzle. We worked as a team to gradually fill in all of the words.
Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with some celebratory ice cream.
On Sunday morning in the garden view lounge we all did some puzzling together. Some of us preferred smaller puzzles, while others preferred larger puzzles. It was a lot of fun!
We then came together for our regular dementia-friendly church service, guided by Caroline.
