Jill

I want to provide feedback regarding the war time songs, complete from the first line quiz.
Our residents gathered for Remembrance and placed poppies in honour of former residents and relatives who served their country.
I followed this with the song quiz and the residents were so uplifted. Thank you it was a great success.

Hello Bernard,
I am also a retired teacher and still feel I have a lot to give!
I am an Activities Coordinator in a Care Home in Cheshire, England. I am happy to send some of the activities I have done with the residents.
One thing that we have been able to do which is great is join in with an After School Club at a local Primary School.

The Golden Carers resources have been invaluable for our activities and our residents all get involved.
What has worked for me this year is that I have researched an area, found poems , fact files, readings and combined them with GC resources to make an entertaining morning or afternoon. The feed back I am getting is wonderful.
The singalong sheets were brilliant. The carers and the nurses were so impressed and moved at seeing the residents enjoy themselves so much. Thank you.

Is anyone planning activities for Red Nose Day?

I hope that all of you are having a lovely Christmas time with the residents.
I just wanted to share something with your all that worked very well for me this Christmas.
I challenged myself to put together a show for our care home. I wanted it to be fully inclusive, so the residents did some lovely Christmas readings for the first half of our afternoon. We had great fun rehearsing in the weeks leading up to Christmas and we included 3 carols. I called it 'At the Heart of Christmas' as our residents are at the heart of the home.
The second half I did 'Twas the night before Christmas' with some of our staff team. My colleague and I did the narrating and the team acted out the story in their outfits. Only one or two lines to learn.
We added some little songs with the Elves in between - 'Rocking around the Christmas Tree.'
At the end all the staff danced and sang to Shakin Stevens - 'Merry Christmas Everyone.'
Father Christmas handed out small gifts to the participants.
It was a great moral booster for the team. My manager absolutely loved it and the residents had and excellent afternoon. It was a simple idea but worked!
Wishing you all the very Best for 2022.
Jill

Due to current restrictions I am running a Fellowship group for some of our residents. We are waiting for the go ahead to start church services again.
Does anyone use resources for worship in the home?
I would be really grateful for any titles of books people use.
Thank you.

I have used some starter kits and the residents have enjoyed the mini green house from B and M bargains. It was a really good afternoon constructing it - it is very simple and effective.

We are working on an outside area - I am creating a sensory garden. Our maintenance manager constructed raised beds and we are growing herbs and veg.

I am also transferring roses from my own garden to the beds at the back of the house to try to recreate the Victorian feel to the garden.

Hi Kirsty,
So sorry you are feeling burn out. Don't feel under pressure to be the big entertainer.
I do a lot of 1 to 1s currently. Manicures, reflexology, foot spas, I devise starter sheets for the morning, quizzes etc. The residents love the programme 'Lingo' which I have adapted for the lounges.
We have craft sessions where I sit and assist the group members. They help to create wall displays.
Hope you can make use of this info.

I had a good activities morning with our residents. I typed out different poems for winter,in larger font, a mix of traditional, new and comical.
We had a 'read around' of each poem and a short commentary on each.
I then introduced the word SNOW and asked the residents to use the five senses to devise their own short poems or words based on the letters. I used a white board and marker to note down ideas.
It suited all abilities and was non threatening but challenging to residents who wanted to have a go.
They loved the poetry of Spike Milligan.
It was a brilliant morning and equally beneficial as I had an observation too today, with excellent feedback.

Our residents (long term) are two metres apart.
Our nursing manager designed they layout of the room.
Do you have the same Gigi?