Hill house spent the week taking virtual tours to London zoo and other safari parks around the country, they played board games that brought back fond memories of loved ones, and spent time in the garden on the hottest day of 2020 so far.

Monday mornings quiz group met to answer questions linked with this week’s theme animals, we used images and clue to try and guess the animals and their habitats. Maintaining our independence promotes a sense of achievement that for many generates a great sense of self-worth and well-being, and is at the core of our care here at Hill House we are always encouraged.

The afternoon was full of energy as we played indoor balloon tennis, passing the balloon back and forth trying not to be the team that lets the balloon drop to the floor.

Tuesday morning, after an energetic exercise programme we played a giant floor game of snakes and ladders working as a team to be the first to reach 100, avoiding snakes and climbing ladders as we went. In garden view lounge we added pictures of our activities to our scrapbooks.

That afternoon with the sun shinning we arranged bouquets of flowers in the garden ready to be displayed around the home, in the lounge we laughed a lot as we played animal sounds Bingo.

Wednesday morning, we played board games together and completed jigsaw puzzles. Board games enhance our memory formation and help exercise cognitive skills. A lot of games also tend to be low stress and can be calming, helping lower our blood pressure. In the garden view lounge, we took on a game on animal picture pairs, this led to a great conversation about visiting zoo’s and wildlife parks over the years and what our favourite animal to see is.

Wednesday afternoon the home was buzzing with activity, we watched a live stream from London zoo, penguins, lions and giant elephants. Others played games on the interactive activity centre, these games help us exercise by move our arms and legs and improving our mussel memory.
A service of remembrance was held in the garden, due to the covid-19 a resident has chosen not to attend his wife funeral so staff went above and beyond to make sure the day was marked and she was celebrated with laughter and love, just what she would have wanted. was attended by residents who wished to join and our manager Kim, Elizabeth and Sarah.

Thursday morning, we went back to the 90’s and dusted off the Ludo board, this brought back amazing memories for us as we played this with our grandchildren and god children. alternatively we took part in therapeutic arts and crafts by decorating or colouring summer flowers or enjoyed a game of picture pairs testing our memory.

With such a beautiful summers day we made the most of it and enjoyed garden games under the parasols in the garden, stopping to indulge in Mr Whippy ice creams with sauce and wafers. It was too hot for some outside so we spent time in doors starting a new 250-piece jigsaw puzzle or playing the famous faces quiz game.

Friday morning in the garden view lounge we enjoyed a lively exercise class using exercise recommended by the NHS. We also added in exercises of our own. The lounge a quiz game inspired by ‘ who wants to be a millionaire’ we took it in turns to answer questions moving up the prize board as we went we used our lifelines, and could phone a friend (ask a carer) or we could draw a 50/50 and eliminate half the answers, it was a great start to a Friday morning.

On the hottest day of the year so far, we made the most of the air conditioning and enjoyed a wide range of activities on offer, we played a nail-biting game of Jenga, relaxed with therapeutic water colour painting of zoo animals. And met family in the garden as part of our social distancing visits.

Saturday morning we sat in the garden and enjoyed card games and our favourite the yes no game, alternatively we danced along to singing in the rain that played through the interactive activity centre.

Saturday afternoon our very talented carer Daisy performed a hymn sing along session, she provided us with song sheets and played her guitar and sang along with us. On garden view lounge we took on brain training exercises with crosswords and word searches as well as riddles.

Sunday morning, we played a knock out skittles tournament, the winner received a bag of yummy chocolates. Others partook in a painting session here we used water colours and painted summer flowers.

Sunday afternoons movie club was very popular as we watched ‘the Zoo Keeper’ enjoying tasty treats from the movie cart; sweets and drinks and refreshing Mr Whippy ice-creams. We similarly enjoyed refreshing treats in the garden playing games and adding pictures to our scrapbooks as part of our individualised activity sessions.