Jean

Is it going to become a regular feature? I would love to use it at 10AM teatime each day but do appreciate that it is a lot of work.

Thank You for this, we can afford to do a trip every month.

We will also make good use of this activity over morning coffee, Thank you

Hi Pam, I'm not sure if this will help you at all but I will share my program with you. AM we do a group session of armchair exercise (different people attend each day so social distancing not a problem). PM, straight after lunch, in the lounge tea coffee chat, 2PM group activity Monday Memory Club (Reminiscing), Tue Bingo, Wed craft/gardening, Thur Musical Bingo, Friday Movie/DVD in our pub area. From 4- 5:30 i'm in the lounge and may have a few people playing dominoes, listening to music or watching you tube (with tablets & headsets) doing jigsaw puzzles, knitting or winding/tidying wool etc, rummage baskets, sorting laundry, pairing socks etc, looking at magazines etc. As it is all taking place in the lounge I can keep them going with the support of 1 or 2 carers.

Hi Margo, I have had a lot of success with a sing along that we frequently have. I used the internet to get the lyrics of the residents favourite songs and we sing them supported by Alexa. It is quite a bit of work as you need to ensure that the lyrics you have, correspond with the version of the song on Alexa. I have about 25 songs and it has been worth doing. My residents enjoy it when Alexa 'talks' back to me and tells me she is having trouble understanding me right now etc.

Enjoy the new job, if you use this site you cant go wrong.

Indian food is so tasty and the colour and texture of the traditional clothing is really lovely. I think it will be a day that many of your residents will enjoy.

Thanks Natalie, I am going to try the library in a town near here and see what they have.
It turned out that one of my ladies met her late husband through a pen pal scheme.
Another lady remembered going to the post office every week to collect some money 'without that trip to the post office I would have not been able to feed my children' she recalled.
They all recalled lessons at school where they were taught the format of a letter etc.
We spoke about writing to a family member and telling them we were expecting a new baby, then I gave them a parcel to open that contained a new babies knitted jacket, bootees, bonnet and mittens. It was quite an emotional but enjoyable session.

I started a new multi sensory reminiscence activity called 'Memory Club'. It is a group activity where we talk about a particular topic, I show them pictures, or related items. We listen to related songs/music , have something to eat and show a short you tube clip. The activity that lasts for approx 2 hours, bearing in mind we have a break with a cup of tea and something to eat, has gone down very well with the residents. I used the Queens official birthday and the trooping of the colours as a topic and I am now preparing a session about the Post Office & stamps. We will have a short chat about the history of the post office and stamps. Did anyone in the group ever collect stamps? It is going to be amazing reminiscing about the excitement of receiving a parcel in the post, a long awaited letter from distant family member/loved one. The anxiety of having to wait for exam results that had been put in the post etc. I will have them opening envelopes that have cards in them: Birthday, Get Well, Your New Home, New Baby etc. Do you remember the days when you bought your Christmas cards and sat down with a cup of tea, the address book and a list of names of people you were sending cards to? I think that as long as I can find topics that my residents can relate to that this is going to continue to be a successful activity.

I made a song book that is supported by Alexa. I chose the song titles, looked up the words
on the internet and asked Alexa to play them. It was quite a bit of work some songs have several versions and you need to make sure your words, in the book correspond with the version Alexa is going to play. so I ask for it by giving the singers name. I use a second CD & songbook at times that was designed to be an exercise CD. I think your resources will be different from mine though as we work in different countries.