18 Mar 2019
This week at Young At Heart ULO we had some very busy sessions that required both physical and cognitive engagement.
At St John’s Church, on Monday morning, we had a very busy session, with almost all of our registered group members attending to take part in our categorising objects session. We started the session with the orientation exercises before moving swiftly on to our themed activities. To start the session, I gave the group a choice of four different categories and asked them to create an A-Z list for each category, e.g. an A-Z list of alcoholic drinks. After this, we moved on to a category card game. Participants were required to choose a card and roll a dice to determine how many things of a category they needed to name. For example, if they rolled a number 3 and chose the card to name things that live in the sea, the person would be required to name 3 things that live in the sea.
On Monday afternoon, at St Cuthbert’s Church Hall, the group enjoyed another circus skills session with DZ Circus School and welcomed 2 new members into the group. The group are continuing to develop their motor skills and coordination, as well as team work and partnerships. A particular highlight of the session was watching the group attempt to pass a spinning plate along a line made up of all in attendance. Although we didn’t quite make it the whole length in either attempt, it gives the group something to work towards in future sessions. The session ended with another activity to develop teamwork – the parachute. The group had to work together to get the ball through the hole in the middle of the parachute.
Our session at the LiveWell Hub on Tuesday afternoon was also on the theme of categorising objects. After the orientation exercises and opening song, we had the group work together to name as many things in different categories as they could in 90 seconds. For example, the group were given 90 seconds to name as many things as they could that people wear. Throughout the different categories, the group consistently scored between 17 and 25 objects.At the end of the session, we had a little time to spare so we asked the group to complete an A-Z of colours. Thankfully, we have a team member who is an artist and was able to provide some more obscure colours based on her paint palette, otherwise we would have really struggled with some of the letters.
Nobody attended our group at Grays Road Institute on Wednesday. The group meets every Wednesday from 12:30pm until 2pm. The session is followed by Stepping Out Social, so those who attend are welcome to stay until 4pm to take part in exercise and indulge in cakes and biscuits.
On Friday morning, we held our final Young At Heart ULO session in Ingleby Barwick. We took the decision to close the group due to very low attendance over the last 6 months.
Next week sees the launch of our new activity – Musical Memories Singing Circle. This group will meet at the LiveWell Dementia Hub on Friday morning from 10:30am. Please pop along to see what this new group can offer to people living with dementia and their carers.
