Memory Garden May Look Back
May has been a busy month for our Memory Garden residents. With the weather getting warmer everybody’s been looking forward to getting outdoors for some fresh air and fun. The golf carts are up and running and we’ve been getting our folks out for rides around Louis Ferreri Memorial Park every chance we get. Our walkers have been enjoying the beautiful scenery in the park as well, always practicing social distancing , of course. It’s been great relaxing out in the courtyard while watching a pair of cardinals flying in and out of the trees and bushes. We’ve added some bird feeders to our outdoor areas in hopes to attract more bird visitors. We were also able to put our pumpkin plants that we germinated last month into the raised bed out in Rosewood’s courtyard. With any luck we’ll have a happy, healthy pumpkin patch!
Despite the COVID restrictions, we found a way to keep Mother’s Day special. All of our ladies received a vase of gorgeous flowers along with a bag of chocolates. We celebrated with a Mother’s Day Tea, where the residents devoured cupcakes with their tea. Best of all was the car parade tribute to all of our mother’s! The parade started in the Zion Covenant Church parking lot and slowly worked its way around the Memory Garden and Tanglewood facilities. The residents all gathered around the windows with the best views and enjoyed the show. Many thanks to everyone who decorated their vehicles and joined us for the parade!
We had a chocolate parfait social on National Chocolate Parfait Day, enjoying music and each others company along with the delicious parfaits.
On National Bird Day the residents tested their bird knowledge with bird related puzzles and trivia. We had a great time on National Paper Airplane Day, making and flying paper airplanes, seeing whose plane could fly the farthest.
The monthly birthday party was a big hit as usual. You just can’t go wrong when cake and ice cream are involved!
For National Pizza Party Day we ordered some pizza from “Honest John’s” and had a fun filled pizza party with pizza themed games and puzzles to go with it. We were able to have a couple of ice cream socials this month, one of them being out in the courtyard. Ice cream sundaes and sunshine make for an afternoon full of smiles!
Our bakers came together and baked some chocolate chip cookies, drawing everybody into the kitchen for coffee and fresh baked cookies.
We enjoyed Memorial Day, with a picnic in Louis Ferreri Memorial Park. We were lucky to nice weather and the residents enjoyed burgers, salads and watermelon.
Every Friday Mary Schmidt joins us for fun music related activities that our residents always love. Patrick Walsh leads the residents in sessions of chair yoga on Thursdays, keeping our folks active and fit. Tuesday afternoons we make our rounds with the library cart, giving everyone a chance to borrow a book of their choice. Wednesday mornings are reserved for coffee house with cookies and stories or trivia. Sing alongs are always a big hit. We sang along to country classics, favorite 50 hits as well as our Sunday sing along, “Songs for the Soul”.
Our resident’s competitive side came out for a rousing game of Summer Jeopardy, answering summer themed questions for varied point values. We had a great time playing Kazoo Name that Tune. The residents had to either name the song being hummed on the kazoo or sing the next line.
We brought out many of our favorite games, such as balloon volley ball (Great exercise trying to keep all the balloons in the air by hitting them back and forth to each other.), kickball (kicking the ball to each other while sitting in a circle), cornhole (beanbag toss), ring toss, penny toss and bowling. We also played many summer time games including: Putt-putt, horse shoes, bocce ball (lawn bowling) and frisbee golf (try to throw the frisbee into the basket).
The residents had a great time target shooting with our Nerf gun. We’ve got some real sharp shooters! They are also pretty good at shooting hoops for the basket ball toss. In addition, we had fun with shuffle board, Giant Kerplunk and Beanbag Twister. “What’s Next?” is always well received. After being given the first part of a phrase, song or nursery rhyme, the residents try to remember what comes next. “Fact or Fiction” is a great game for getting to know each other. The resident picks a card reading the statement aloud. Everyone has to guess if that statement is true about that resident. Of course we brought out the bingo game a couple of times as well as the 7-Up card game, giving everyone a chance to win candy.
We also played some of our favorite games on the white board including: Pictionary, Rhyme Time (How many words rhyme with the word written in the board) and the word-in-word game (how many smaller words can you find in the one big word written on the board).
Painting with watercolors is a very relaxing activity done to classical or quiet soothing music.
While we’re all still dealing with this new world the pandemic has put us in, the warmer weather has enabled us to get outside more and has lifted everyone’s spirits. Let’s all hope that June brings us closer to a COVID solution. Stay positive everybody, live safe and stay healthy! If you have any questions or comments for upcoming activities, please contact Margaret Wright, Memory Garden Activities Coordinator at (716)488-9434 ext 2226, or email at MWright@tanglewoodmanor.com.
