Activities at Thistle Hill Care Home

Thistle Hill Care Home in Knaresborough has recently brought a bit of magic to residents by providing a new ‘Magic Table 360 and the Happiness Programme’ as a way to improve residents’ quality of life.

Designed and manufactured in the UK, the Magic Table 360 uses interactive games to connect residents with staff and with each other, and research shows it improves the wellbeing of people living with dementia. Using interactive light projections, the Magic Table 360, which can be played independently or in a group, stimulates movement by inviting participants to take part in all sorts of different fun activities such as popping bubbles, playing the piano, colouring in pictures, sweeping leaves or interacting playfully with fish. Games are rich in colour, movement and detail, and allow people of all ages to play in a safe and comfortable environment.

The Magic Table 360 is portable so it can be used wherever residents feel most comfortable, it can be projected onto the floor, ceiling, walls, a whiteboard or even the bed. The Happiness Programme allows for a range of games that change seasonally and have country-specific versions covering 14 different categories, so there will always be something new for residents to try.

Residents and staff at the Thistle Hill care home were thrilled and delighted to receive our first Covid vaccination dose.    Staff and resident see this as our first step to being reunited with loved ones again.

We would like to thank the healthcare professionals who provided a seamless service, vaccinating over 150 people in under two hours, which was remarkable.   In the afternoon our residents took part in a vaccination party, with fun, laughter, food and drink we showed coved what we thought of it by beating it with a stick!

Our Covid piñata didn’t last long before it was rightfully destroyed by our residents.

At the Thistle Hill care centre we have created a nursery themed environment for our residents to enjoy and relax in using therapy dolls, pushchairs and Moses basket.

The environment and dolls help our residents to reminisce and brings back happy memories of early parenthood and eases any feelings of isolation and sadness.

Our residents had a lovely afternoon, chatting amongst themselves whilst cradling their therapy dolls.

Like an episode of James Martin on ITV our residents got stuck into a morning of good old fashioned baking fun, creating some beautiful and tasty cheese, tomato and sesame flavoured bread rolls, whilst enjoying hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. The rolls went down a treat over Lunchtime alongside the fresh soup provided by our talented team in the kitchen.

"The cinema has no boundary; it is a ribbon of dream" - Orson Welles Our residents had an afternoon of movie magic, enthralled by Disney and Pixar's latest movie "Soul" Via our projector and big screen, our residents were captivated by the colours and sounds of this wonderful movie.

At our weekly coffee mornings there is always a warm welcome and plenty of hearty chatter. Whilst the home is surrounded in a winter wonderland, our residents were warm and cosy with plenty of hot drinks and tasty treats.