At Aliwal Manor Care Home, there are exciting activities to engage the residents on a daily basis. Some of the residents like to get involved in all of the activities, whilst others prefer to watch from the side as they enjoy seeing their friends interact.
Nostalgic games are a very popular activity at the care home and take place regularly, as everyone enjoys these familiar games that bring back memories from the past. One of the traditional activities they like to play is noughts and crosses.
Usually played in pairs using a pen and paper, it’s a simple activity to enjoy over a cup of tea, especially on a rainy day. However, the home recently received a new version of the game, which encouraged the residents to get up on their feet and allowed those who were less mobile, to watch from the side.
This larger version of the game included 9 foam floor tiles and large ‘X’ and ‘O’ shapes to place of the board. The meant noughts and crosses could be enjoyed in a different way and opened up opportunities for the residents to spectate games and cheer on their friends.
After the team put it together, some of the people living at the home were eager to try it out.
Throughout the games, people were saying how much more enjoyable this version was. Other people seated around the room liked being able to watch the action unfold too!
The game soon developed to another activity, where residents would choose a square on the large floor mat and aim to land one of the shapes on their chosen area.
Everyone had a go and had a lot of fun doing so, with moments of laughter coming from missed throws or when their shapes were knocked out of place by other players.
Rita, who lives at Aliwal Manor, added more comedy to the session when she picked up the shapes and tried to balance them on her head. She then did a lap of the room, trying not to let any fall off and for this, all of her friends gave her a round of applause.
This new noughts and crosses game not only made the traditional game more active and enjoyable but created opportunities for other fun activities too.