Christmas Cookie Party at WindChimes Memory Care

Saturday, December 21st 2024

By: Charlotte Hendrey

Today at Windchimes Memory Care, I organized and hosted another cookie decorating party! I brought in all the materials, including cookies, icing, sprinkles, plates, napkins, and spreading sticks.

I did not post this activity on the Hearts&Hands website, because at this specific facility, I needed experienced volunteers who know how to interact and help the guests who have severe dementia. I had a responsible volunteer assist in today's activity, and she was helpful and caring towards the guests. She even brought her own additional cookies.

As I wrote in my "Friday Night Prep" blog post, I like to personalize my activities based on the residents' capabilities. At this particular facility, the residents have severe dementia, so I kept that in mind when preparing my supplies. I know that they have difficulties following direction and often get extremely confused. So, instead of being controlling, I instead prepared accordingly.

I knew that the residents would want to lick all the frosting off of the piping bags which would be messy and unsanitary. So instead of having them share frosting, I portioned the frosting into individual cups for each resident. I also gave them their own spreading stick. This way, when they double dipped and licked the frosting from their cups, I wouldn't have to worry about sanitary issues! We also gave the guests gloves to further ensure safeness when handling the food.

The residents all have their own set of personal capabilities. Some are high functioning, while others need extra help. Bob, one of the low-functioning guests, needed some extra care, so I sat by his side and helped him decorate his cookie, and broke it into little pieces which he was able to eat. Linda, one of the high-functioning guests, happily decorated five cookies (left) and had lots of artistic fun.

A kind lady (middle) talked to me about how she went to college to study art for four years. She was very artistic when decorating her Christmas tree-shaped cookie, and swirled the red and green frosting to create a beautiful ombre effect. We talked for a while about her grandchildren, and how she used to bake pies when she was younger. We found that we shared many things in common, like how we are both older sisters to younger brothers and how we both love to bake. I enjoyed talking to all the guests and helping them decorate their cookies.

Overall, today was a fun day for the guests. Regardless of their functioning levels and capabilities, all of them were able to enjoy the activity and have a tasty treat.