Building connections with our local Aged Care Home
In 2025, the ELC Preschool Rooms proudly mark their third year participating in the Intergenerational Program alongside residents of Kapara Residential Care Home.
This initiative, inspired by the ABC documentary series Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds, was launched by St Peter’s Woodlands Early Learning Centre in collaboration with Kapara Glenelg Residential Care Home and wellbeing coach Annie Harvey. The program fosters meaningful relationships between young children and older adults through weekly shared activities, promoting joy, connection, and mutual learning across generations
Students become the teacher
In Term 1 the students in Colley Room had the pleasure of teaching Brenda, Robyn, Rose, Brian, Yvonne and Philip lots of activities, including how to play the ‘Giggle Game’, where the focus is on breathing and laughing in different ways based on a picture card. Mr Irvine lead a movement session where everyone began with a warmup song that had them moving all parts of their face – poking out their tongues, raising their eyebrows, blowing up their cheeks, chattering their teeth and wriggling their noses. They danced with scarves and had the residents doing the ‘twist’ and moving the scarf all around their bodies! The smiles on everyone’s faces were delightful.
Art across the ages
Each week the students share with the residents their favourite parts of the program – enjoying sensory experiences at the playdough table, painting at the easel, doing the residents hair at the Hairdressing Salon, construction with Lego, reading big books together, and a particular favourite, the drawing table. Resident Brian used to be a teacher, and he is an incredible drawer. Each week he brings in artwork to show the children and spends time showing the children how to draw, always leaving artwork to decorate Colley Room.
Celebrating Harmony Day
Harmony Day was celebrated with the residents, where outlines of hands were coloured in by the students and residents and two tree artwork pieces were created with the hands becoming the leaves on each tree. The residents took one of the tree artworks back to Kapara and the other tree is on display in Colley Room.
Virtual Reality
Taylor, a Senior Team Leader with the ACH Group, came along to one of our sessions and shared NeuronsVR virtual reality therapy technology with us. The experience sparked lively conversation about travel and favourite animals, adding a new layer of connection between generations as part of the Intergenerational Program.
Spreading Easter joy
In the April School holiday program all rooms decorated Easter cards for all the Kapara residents. Michelle Williams, the Lifestyle Coordinator at Kapara said the joy on the faces of the residents when they received their Easter card from the ELC children was just beautiful to witness.
The fun continues in Term 2
Hastings Room will be hosting the residents during Term 2 where the plan is for the children and residents to spend time getting to know each other in the first session. The second session Miss Bowyer has planned a ‘Dough Disco’ where all the children and residents will have a small ball of playdough and they will squeeze, roll and pinch the playdough to various dance moves. They will then spend time creating with the playdough. In the third session Miss Bowyer will read the book, ‘The Cat Truck’, and they will be given a tutorial on how to draw a cat. This is in the lead up to the National Simultaneous Storytime which will be held the next day. The fourth and final session will focus on creating an Autumn artwork made by both the children and residents.
The Moseley Room children are eagerly waiting for their time with the residents in Term 3.
