Connecting 4017’s Young And Old

M embers of the community have been taking part in an intergenerational program, which sees the young interacting with the young at heart.

Amici House at Bracken Ridge, a community hub run by Co.As.It Community Services has been bringing together older people in the community with a group of four-year-old children from a neighbouring early learning centre.

Amici House’s facility coordinator Barry Egan said the program was all about intergenerational fun.

“We have the Goodstart Early Learning right next door to us, so we approached them about it.” Barry said. “They got an amazing, positive response with the parents wanting the kids to do it.”

Every few weeks, the children visit Amici House and do activities with the centre’s clients, including painting, dancing, games, and blowing bubbles. A session called Through My Eyes involved the children and clients drawing portraits of each other.

“My plan is to do different activities based on the time of the year,” Barry said. “We will do something for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Anzac Day. The theme around that will be for the kids to talk to the clients about what happened during the war, giving the kids some background.”

Co.As.It Community Services have been running intergenerational programs for many years, with the program commencing at Amici House last year. It has proven to be a great success, with many friendships being formed.

“One of the lovely things that’s happened is that the kids naturally gravitate towards certain people and when they arrive, they automatically go to that person,” Barry said.

“The kids will go up to the client and ask why they have a walker. And that’s lovely, because the clients talk to them and say, ‘the walker helps me walk around because my legs are a bit slow’. Then you see the kids slow down, and be aware of them.

“There’s lots of joy in the room when the kids are here. The clients love to see the kids’ energy and they just enjoy being around the young people. When they leave, the clients are saying ‘when are they coming back?’”

Amici House also runs activities for seniors including art, dance and excercise classes.