Activities at Orchard House Care Home

Residents of Orchard House had a wonderful time taking a wheelchair trip to Mexico. For Mexican Independence Day, residents 'travelled' to Mexico, where they sipped on Mexican shandy and tequila. They watched a fascinating virtual tour and decided that they would like to travel there for real, as it has so much to offer. They love the little touches, such as getting a stamp in their 'passports' on arrival.

After the tour, they made Mayan masks, learned about Mexican painters and admired their work, took part in a quiz all about Mexico, and learned some interesting facts.

The kitchen joined in the fun by creating a delicious spicy bean soup, followed by a not too hot chilli for the residents' lunch.

The activities team dressed up in Mexican style outfits to help create the right atmosphere.

Residents enjoyed a wonderfully chilled out day for National Relaxation Day. The activities team turned the Lounge into a salon with the use of beautiful lights and tranquil music.

Residents enjoyed facials, hand and arm massages and some deep breathing techniques to unwind and relax.

Staff and residents got up close and personal with some furry friends when they celebrated all the wonderful things about man’s best friend on National Dog Day.

National Dog Day is an annual event to raise awareness of the number of dogs in rescue centres and to encourage people to adopt dogs from shelters and dog homes.

Our residents had a brilliant time listening to a talk from Steve representing the charity, Isle of Wight Ability Dogs. They found out which dog breeds are used, what characteristics they need, and how they are trained. They loved being able to meet Pippa and Digby, 2 beautiful Labradors, who are being trained as ability dogs. They learned how important these dogs are in the lives of the people they live with and how they help them.

This was followed by a talk and demonstration from All Canines Great and Small, who are the Island's tracker dogs.  Residents watched different breeds of dogs demonstrate their skill as trackers, and really enjoyed getting up close and personal with the dogs, who were all gorgeous.

Being able to interact with them really made the residents' day.

Residents from Orchard House were very excited to receive an amazing Knitted Aquarium, kindly donated by the charity, Embracing Age, coordinated by Rebecca Savage.

This is the first aquarium that the charity has created and at, Orchard House, we are thrilled to be the chosen recipients. As the name suggests, everything in it has been knitted by many volunteers for the charity from as far away as Australia.

There are also things that are not in the aquarium for the residents to engage with physically as well as visually to provide a more sensory experience for our Memory lane residents.

Residents were very excited to take part in their wheelchair travel day to Hawaii.

Activities team, Debbie Webb and Keely Heald, dressed up in bright colours and wore grass skirts to help transport residents to Hawaii. Residents were welcomed with a traditional lei on 'arrival'. They then learned some interesting facts about Hawaii, such as, 320,000 tons of pineapples are grown each year. They watched a virtual tour of Hawaii and sipped drinks with tropical flavours, such as pineapple, coconut, lime and, of course, rum!

The kitchen joined in with the fun and created some Hawaiian pizzas, and Malibu flavoured mousses. Later that day, residents joined in with some hula dancing, not with their hips, as some might imagine, but by using their hands to tell a story.

On 'leaving' Hawaii, residents remarked that their day had been very exciting and they couldn’t wait until their next trip 'abroad'.

Residents at Orchard House Care enjoyed an afternoon of delights with a live music performance that took place at the home. Local female vocalist, Annie Daffern, performed a selection of classic hits.

After some worrisome weather reports, the afternoon was clear and sunny, allowing the outside performance to take place.  Residents joined in with the singing, clapped along and even had a wiggle in their wheelchairs as Annie performed.