Activities at Kirkburn Court Care Home

Kirkburn Court’s Gardener, Shona, recently decided to add some fun and cheer to the resident’s day by dressing up as a Highland Cow while she was tending to the gardens. It was a great topic of discussion as resident’s spotted her outside the window, and Shona went round all the resident’s rooms to wave and have a chat through the window. It really gave the whole home a boost and was the source of great hilarity throughout the day. Shona said “I had the outfit at home and just thought it would bring a bit of fun and laughter to everyone – although I must admit it is very warm wearing it whilst cutting the grass!”

Here at Kirkburn Court, we have decided to add an extra dimension to our video calls. Recently we hosted a week of virtual afternoon teas whereby we arranged that during our video calls, both parties would have a cup of tea/coffee and a piece of cake ready so that it could be enjoyed together. We sent out invitations to our relatives/friends and then dusted off the antique tea set! Our chef produced a special selection of home-bakes and many of our relatives were even inspired to bake too! Great fun was had by all involved.

Activities Coordinator, Claire Burden, said “Many of our residents and families were missing the act of simply having their tea together – so we tried to recreate that feeling. It really was a brilliant week filled with chat, laughter, reminiscing and even some virtual singing in the form of duets!

One resident has even nicknamed our iPad the ‘magic slate’ as she says it looks like the slates she did her school work on – but that it is magic as you can talk to people on it!

Residents had great fun using the parachute to keep a ball up and to give their arms some exercise. This was followed by some singing to well- known Scottish tunes and trying to play the maracas in time to the music. The group decided they needed more practice to improve their rhythm but that they would have great fun trying!

Claire Burden, Activities Coordinator said “The residents really enjoy these sessions and we try to vary our types of movement and props to keep things interesting!”  

Kirkburn Court recently transformed the homes conservatory into a vintage café called CC’s and brought out the old fashioned china tea sets to make it a special occasion and take a step back in time. As residents came along to sit at café style tables and selected their delicious home-made cakes from our cake stands the sound of chatter could be heard throughout the home.

Residents enjoyed chatting to those who were sitting at their tables and an impromptu sing along was enjoyed by all. One resident said “Your tea always tastes better out of a china cup!”

Resident’s at Kirkburn Court, Peterhead recently joined in with the community rainbow initiative and spent the afternoon colouring in pictures to be displayed on the home’s windows.The residents were keen to make them as bright and cheery as possible and they were delighted with the results. After all their hard work an afternoon tea with home bakes was greatly enjoyed by all!

One resident said “I find colouring in very relaxing and we hope people walking passed will admire our creations”

The residents of Kirkburn Court, Peterhead have been very lucky to receive lots of lovely mail from children from the local community. The children have taken great care in drawing pictures and writing letters in order to bring some cheer to the residents. The residents have thoroughly enjoyed reading through the mail and have spent time creating personalised thank you cards – complete with a picture of Barchy Bear reading the letter! A display has been created in the home to showcase all the letters and pictures.

Activities Coordinator, Claire Burden said – “The response from the local community has been amazing and the residents have been delighted to spend time reading through the letters. The bright colourful pictures have certainly brought some positivity and smiles to Kirkburn”