Wednesday 23rd July - Our Last Day

Today was a very special day for everyone at the care village. It was our final trip for our Wednesday group. The children were very excited to visit their older friends and the whole day was spent working together reading stories, drawing, making cards, threading and building using our construction materials. As the day came to an end, we sang our very special song, ‘You are my sunshine’. Everyone joined in and it was a great way to end the day.

As we left and said our goodbyes, there were lots of tears but these tears were not tears of sadness but of love. Our older friends will miss this group of children immensely as connections and relationships have formed. This has been a very special year to be part of this amazing project and everyone is looking forward to our new groups of children who will begin visits in September.

Monday 14th July

This week the children were so excited as our celebration day at the care village gets closer and closer. We continued to create some decorations for our event which everyone joined in with. The children and their older friends created some masterpieces which we plan on hanging from the ceiling. The purpose of our project was always to bring the old and young together and create reciprocal relationships. For some children, these connections happened quickly and they found one special person to spend their time with, for some they enjoyed the company of different friends throughout the year and others enjoyed watching on and observing, choosing to work with both their nursery friends and older friends. However, even as we head into the last weeks of our 2025 project, we observe children making more connections.

The project has developed children’s confidence, language and listening skills as well as developing their curiosity about the world and the people who live in it. The children have developed an understanding of how to be play around our older friends which they often reiterate, “walking feet”, “kind hands” etc. The children are supportive of their older friends, moving tables and equipment to ensure they can join in with whatever is happening. This has not been ‘taught’ by the adults and instead children have been observant, they have been kind and caring and recognised that these older adults want to ‘play’ but need a little support to do it. These moments make us realise the impact this project has had on everyone. To observe the kindness and compassion from three- and four-year-olds is something really special as well as the joy and awe we see in the older adults faces when they spend time with our children. This really has been a wonderful intergenerational year!

Wednesday 9th July

This week the children were very excited to visit their older friends and there were hugs all round. As our celebration day is coming up, the children and adults worked together to make decorations. We have decided to create some beautiful bunting which we will hang from the ceiling. Everyone got involved creating their own designs on their piece of bunting. We strung them all together and we can’t wait to showcase the result. What a true collaborative piece of art work!

Monday 30th June

Even at this point in the project, we see new friendships blossoming. The children are so comfortable in the space with their older friends. Activities and resources are available which support both generations. Stories and drawing seem to be a favourite and this is something both age ranges gravitate towards. These activities create partnerships where adults and children can work together to create something special.

As we approach the end of our 2024-2025 project, we reflect on our year. We have made so many observations of quality interactions between the young and old. The older adults have the time and patience to get to know the children well. They often form a strong bond with a child who has a similar personality or interests to them which leads to a deeper connection. The children and adults are looking forward to their upcoming celebration day where all the residents, children and their families come together for one special day. Finally names can be put to faces and parents get a chance to meet the wonderful residents who have had such a big impact on their children’s year.

Wednesday 25th June

This week we took two new items with us to the care village. One was a bean bag toss game which went down very well. The game was loved by both the children and the residents. The children took it in turns with their older friends to throw the beanbag and see who could get the highest score.

We also took with us some photographs of old Blaydon and Winlaton which the residents really enjoyed looking at. They reminisced on days gone by and chatted about their childhoods. They shared their tales with the children.

Monday 16th June

This week, the children thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the care village. This group of children had yet to engage with our new resources so they were very excited to get involved. Their older friends were keen to show how to use the resources as they were now professionals at how they work. The hoopla was a very popular activity, so much so that we had to get out the spare hoopla. The children and residents enjoyed competing against one another to see who could get the highest score.

Our maze game and sensory balls have also been a big hit. The children and adults have enjoyed squashing the balls between their fingers, giggling as they did so. The maze has developed the children’s understanding of team work and compromise.

Wednesday 11th June

This week we introduced the children and residents to some new resources. We purchased some magnifying screens to support with reading however the children and residents found a much better and much more fun way to use them - to make their faces look really funny! This was a great source of fun for the day. We also took some new puzzle games which were a huge hit!

Hoopla was another fun activity which the older adults and children could play together however we were not prepared for how competitive everyone was! Our dolls were also a hit. The adults enjoyed giving them cuddles and changing nappies. One of the children drew a list of things we would need for next week. This included bottles, dummies and nappies to keep our dolls happy.

Monday 2nd June

This week we visited our older friends at the care village. The children got busy immediately engaging in stories, drawing, building and threading. In the afternoon, we all engaged in a yoga session which everyone enjoyed. The children and adults really enjoy listening to the calming music as they completed their yoga moves.

Wednesday 28th May

The children were as enthusiastic as ever to arrive at the care village. We raced into the lounge to meet our friends… to our disappointment the residents didn’t know we were coming to play! It was time to take matters into our own hands and venture off into the corridors and knock on all our friends’ doors. We were greeted with smiles, cuddles and reassurance that everyone was eager to join our exploration. Once united in our communal space, one of the children were keen to show off her mask which she had brought all the way from Venice.

 The children and residents were excited to create their own masks. Using our craft resources we worked with our friends to decorate the most extravagant masquerade masks. After a spot of lunch, the residents joined us in a yoga session. To finish off the day the children and residents performed some action songs with one another. To our surprise one of the residents brought his harmonica to play each song. It was really a magical experience for all the staff, residents, nursery grown-ups and children. 

Wednesday 21st May

This week, the children were so excited to visit their older friends and we had a lot of things to get through. This week we focused on food activities and the plan was to make our own smoothies. We took strawberries and bananas which everyone worked together to chop into small pieces. We then added milk and a blender and voila, yummy smoothies all round. All of the children (and their older friends) had a try and it was delicious!

 As it was World Meditation Day, we decided to try our hand at yoga. We were amazed by everyone’s yoga skills. One of the residents is a yoga expert and showed us some extra moves. We are hoping to continue our yoga sessions each week so watch this space! After yoga, everyone had a healthy snack of melon. What a very healthy and productive day!

Monday 12th May

This week the children visited their older friends as usual and they were keen to explore some new equipment and activities. One of the areas we would like to focus on more is ICT so this week we took our large laminator with us. The children and adults were each provided with a laminating pouch and asked if they could fill the pouch with some coloured cellophane. They were then supported by the adults to place it through the laminator before punching a hole through and tying with string. The children and adults then held these up to the light and watched in amazement as the light peered through the cellophane, creating beautiful, coloured light around the room.

The children and adults were also provided with large Duplo blocks which they worked with together to create a whole host of different creations. Duplo has become a firm favourite of the children and residents as it provides endless open-ended opportunities.

Wednesday 7th May

Today the children were very excited about visiting their older friends at the care village. We chatted on the minibus about who we would spend our time with and what sort of activities we would like to engage in. On arrival, we quickly took off our shoes and jumpers, collected our resources and headed into the communal lounge. Some of the children immediately greeted their older friends whilst others began to play.

 One of the children had brought some family photos to share with their special friend. Their friend loves to hear about the child’s life and will often ask how his Mum, Dad and brother are. The two share a wonderful bond. As the child enters the room, his older friend beams and they chat together, read together and engage in drawing and jigsaws together. This bond becomes stronger every visit!

The children have established firm friendships with the residents and are becoming more and more confident in the space. The children love nothing more than teaching their friends new skills which is often reciprocated by the adults. On this occasion, the child asked the resident if she would like to play a game. The resident replied, “yes, but I don’t know how to play". The child then said “I’ll show you the game. You can have the red ones and I’ll have the green ones. You need to put yours on the white squares and I’ll put mine on the blue squares”. She continued to explain the rules of her game and the two played happily together. The older adult praised and encouraged the child, telling her she had really enjoyed her game! The huge smiles of achievement were clear to see.

Wednesday 23rd April

This week we continued the Easter celebrations with our friends. Festivals bring everyone together and as usual our Wednesday group were feeling rather creative! The children worked with their friends to create some Easter bonnets, engage in Easter egg decorating, Easter crown making and even made some Chocolate Crispy cakes. Several groups worked on the crispies but one group ate more crispies than went into the cupcake cases! We spotted you!

Since beginning our trips in September, we have observed children developing strong bonds with their older friends. Their friends are always waiting for them to arrive and eager to engage in activities. One child and resident who have recently become friends, have enjoyed spending the day together creating some amazingly creative things. Not only have they made a huge cardboard aeroplane together but this week worked on an Easter bonnet. The child is happy to ask his friend for support and chat about what he is doing. His friend listens intently, offering words of wisdom about how to get the hat to stick together. They have begun to learn about each other’s lives and as practitioners we observe these wonderful interactions and what we hope is the start of a beautiful friendship.

 After lunch the children decided they all wanted to become animals of different sorts. This required a tail for each child. Some children enjoyed making their own tail whilst others asked for a little adult support. Before we knew it, we had lots of different animals prowling the area. We even had one of our oldest residents decide she would like to join in and a tail was made and attached to her walking aide. Imaginative play isn’t just for children! A dragon was eventually thrown into the mix and hey presto, a creative, imaginative group of children and adults enjoying their time together.

Monday 14th April

This week the children were excited as always to see their friends and were thrilled to see them waiting in the lounge. There was a vast selection of craft resources available, and the children began making different types of hats and crowns. Craft materials is a favourite activity for all, and we see the children and older friends working together to create things. It allows for wonderful discussions where they share their experiences together.

It did not take long for the grown-ups to join in and together they created some amazing designs! The older grown-ups enjoyed colouring, and the foam egg shapes were really popular. One of our friends said to one of the children “you have taught us how to colour in again, I forgot how much fun it is!”

The highlight of the day was making our easter crispy cakes! This was a special moment as several of our older friends talked about their memories of making chocolate crispy cakes with their children and how exciting it was. We saved the cakes until after lunch and all enjoyed them together. We had some very messy faces!

Age Friendly Award 2025

Over the last two years we have been working alongside Honey and Apple Nightingales and Generations for all on a ‘Creating Intergenerational Communities’ toolkit which they hope will develop potential indicators of good practice. This week we have learned that the lead co-ordinator of the toolkit has put us forward for a prestigious award of Intergenerational Dream Team.

We are very excited to have been nominated so please wish us luck!

Wednesday 9th April

This week the children continued to develop their friendships with their older friends. As the children spend more and more time at the care village, we are observing the close bonds forming. The children will plan their day around their interest and their special friend. When the children see their friend heading into the community space, the often run to them to say good morning or wait patiently for them to reach their seat before explain what they will do that do.

Some children have remained with their special friend since the beginning of our project whilst others are finding someone special to work with now. The residents are happy to share their skills and support the children in learning new ones.

Wednesday 31st March

As usual, the children were excited to visit their older friends. They skipped into the care village ready to start their day. The children helped to set out their resources before choosing an adult to work with. The children are very creative and before we knew it there were lollipop creations, ribbon pictures and lots of drawings. As the day progressed, the children began to create their own games. One of the children enjoyed playing a game of peek-a-boo with a resident which made them both giggle with delight (see picture above).

Wednesday 26th March

This week the children were feeling very creative and enjoyed using some new resources with their older friends. We opened our new makedo sets and chatted about tool safety. The children and residents then had a demonstration as to how to use the tools to cut the cardboard into shapes and attach them with the fixings provided. Everyone got straight to work and we had some wonderfully imaginative objects created. One child worked with a new resident to create an aeroplane. They supported one another with the saw and screwdriver. What a team!

The children enjoyed working with their older friends on a range of activities. Books always draw the children and adults together as well as a shared love of drawing. We have been surprised by everyone’s creativity especially with the make resources. We saw high levels of engagement and team work throughout the day, showing the true collaborative spirit of our project.

Monday 17th March

Some may ask, what is it that you do in the care village or what do the children and residents get out of working together. We can not begin to describe the amount of learning which takes place and how the interactions between old and young create such a magical atmosphere, but we will try!

Being together provides opportunities for children to learn about personal space as well as learning from knowledgeable, older adults. It is not only the adults who teach the children but the children are able to teach their older friends many new skills. We often hear, “yes you can do it” or “team work makes the dream work” from these three and four year olds as they encourage their friends to ‘give things a go’. Our friends are often surprised by some of the activities and reminisce on their younger years, smiling and laughing as they tell their own life stories, much to the children’s delight.

Literacy, language and communication play a huge part within our day. The children are keen to share stories with their older friends and in turn their friends provide them with something special, time. They have all the time in the world for their little friends and love to engage in story time. They enjoy ‘putting on voices’ to add to the characters and asking questions of the children and if they attempt to change the story, even slightly, the children know! The children are also able to read some of the more familiar stories back to the adults. They love nothing more than sharing an information book together, developing their understanding of a new subject and gathering new knowledge. We often hear comments such as, “did you hear that? I didn’t know that” from the older adults as they engage in the information books together.

The children are kind and considerate, thinking about their friends, old and young, as well as themselves. Today, one of the children was ensuring all of his friends had a ‘healthy green’ temperature with the thermometer whilst another child used the handheld hoover to clean up after lunch. The photo above shows a practitioner sharing a baby scan photo with a child. The practitioner wanted to take the scan photo in to share with the residents because as the bond between the children and their older friends have deepened so have the friendships between the residents and practitioners. They are all definitely part of our ‘Childsplay Family’.

The children and residents are also masters of singing and dancing. Here is a sneak peek of us working on something special ready for our celebration day later in the year.

Wednesday 12th March

This week we had a very special visitor come to meet us. The mayoress of Gateshead came to see what our project is all about and meet the children and residents. She was amazed by the children and their older friends interactions and could see the value of our project. The children showed her what they have been up to and what they do when visiting.

We have been observing the interactions between the children and their friends as friendships continue to grow. Some of the children have found a special friend to spend their time with and others enjoy moving around activities and spending time with several residents. One child in particular has enjoyed spending time with a new resident. They have a very similar personality and enjoy sharing stories and drawing together. We can see this blossoming into a very special friendship.

This week the children enjoyed exploring the theme of Spring. We created spring bracelets, rainbows (we have seen several rainbows when on our minibus) as well as making flowers. Some of the children used the paper to make paper planes, screwdrivers and fans. How very creative!