On Saturday, January 14, we had the first day of our winter Kindness Club at Billingswood Manor Seniors Residence.
We made beautiful heart shaped crafts with cardboard and yarn and love-filled drawings with markers and stickers to give to our friends at Billingswood.
We sang a “Good Afternoon” song, led by our friend Barbara. Cool story, Barbara was a music teacher and her last teaching job was at Vincent Massey. Another woman came in on this Saturday to visit her mom and it turns out that this woman was a student of Barbara’s at Vincent Massey. What a small world!
We read books to the residents.
We had a surprise visit from a seven week old puppy named Carly – the cuteness was almost too much to bear! Two of the kids got to hold this adorable puppy.
We brought a great train set to play with and the kids built some awesome train tracks. I love how the four women in the corner are leaning in to watch the kids play.
And the best part of Kindness Club was that I could not get the kids to leave. I booked Kindness Club from 1:00 – 2:00 … but I could not get any of the kids out of there until 2:30. They love it!
I am so proud of this initiative. The kids have really become super comfortable at the retirement home and the residents now know to expect us on Saturdays. We know most of the residents names – at least the ones who are regularly in the living room on Saturdays. We are building true friendships between the children and the residents.
Imagine how these awesome World-Changing Kids will look at issues to do with ageing and elder care when they are the decision makers and leaders of the future if they have actually grown up spending time in retirement homes. They will know that isolation, loneliness, disconnectedness and under stimulation are real issues facing our seniors. And they will have some great experience with ways that each of us can help decrease these factors for our elders. I know that we will be in good hands when we are the elders and they are the adults taking care of us!
Here is more information on Kindness Club in case you are interested in joining us ….
Day and Time: Saturdays, 1:00 – 2:00
Dates: January 14 – March 4
Location: Billingswood Manor, 1370 Bank St.
Ages: Children 0 – 10 years and their Adults
Price: We are offering a family membership at $10 per day for the remaining weeks of the session and a drop in family rate of $15 to attend individual days (if space is available). To register, you can email me at worldchangingkids@gmail.com.