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.