And how our activity calendar is keeping us well as we head into Spring

We love this time of year as, not only does the weather begin to improve, but there are also lots of different things to celebrate. From St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day to Easter, there are plenty of festivities to keep us busy. Not to mention the birthdays and anniversaries of our residents that we celebrate too!

We’re looking forward to some Spring warmth arriving as we will be able to start using our lovely back garden again. Even if it’s just to enjoy a cup of tea with a blanket. Some of our residents enjoy making use of our Summerhouse as they can enjoy the garden space while keeping extra warm. 

While we’ve been staying indoors over the last few weeks, our craft lady, Marina, has been getting residents involved in making things for the various special days we celebrate. Craft activities have included sticking and glueing, painting and making decorations. These have all been great fun and allowed residents to get creative and strengthen their hand-eye coordination. The results from the sessions have also provided us with colourful decorations that we’ve placed throughout Heaton House.

Drumming Down Dementia remains a firm favourite

Although there are always a variety of activities on our calendar, we make sure that some are a more frequent occurrence if they’re a firm favourite. Like our Drum Down Dementia Sessions which have been the last two years. We have been inviting the children from Little Elms Day Nursery to some of these sessions too which has brought even more joy to residents as they love spending time with the children. 

The drum sessions allow residents to not only use their motor skills when hitting the drums, but to get active too as they dance in their seats. Sometimes they get more exercise from dancing in their chairs during these sessions than they do from the armchair exercise sessions! Watch the fun that goes on in the sessions below:

Easter poetry reading brings back memories

Poetry reading is something we’ve been doing for many years at Heaton House and is always enjoyed. Recently, we had an Easter poetry session. Group reading is great for socialising and we find that the topics in the poems can spark conversation and help residents to recall memories.

Once one resident starts reminiscing, usually someone else follows and it’s lovely to have a flowing conversation between residents. Poetry is also creative and can spark residents who used to write to start again. 

As we said, poetry readings are something that we’ve been doing for years as they have good benefits for residents. You can read more about how poetry helps to engage people with Dementia on The Guardian’s website.

We welcome you to visit us

We understand that choosing the right care home for yourself or a loved one is difficult. With different options to choose from and deciding on whether a home is the right fit, it can be overwhelming. This is why we always allow visits at any time to take a look around and get a feel for our home. Maybe you’d like to sit in during one of our activities?

Even if you’re not looking for care just yet, it’s always best to start gathering information early to help make decision-making easier when the time comes. Give us a call on 01903 700251 to speak to our registered owner, Sally or our registered manager, Sue. They’ll be happy to arrange a visit with you. 
If you’re not quite at the stage of needing a care home yet, we’ve got a blog post on our website about knowing when the right time might be and the benefits of moving into a care home.