At The Lawn, our Alton-based residential care home, the residents have spent a day with some cheeky and naughty elves to celebrate this year’s jolly, holly National Elf Day.
“There was plenty of Christmas singing, joviality and fun throughout the day as in true ‘Elf’ style, the residents all agreed that the best way to have a cheery National Elf Day and to spread lots of Christmas Cheer was to sing loud for all to hear,” said Emma Cranstone, the Activities Coordinator at The Lawn.
“We tried to follow the Three Point Elf Code,” continued Emma. “To make sure we stuck to the first rule of Treat Every Day Like Christmas, the care team magically transformed into The Lawn’s very own Elves for the day which the residents thought was great and got everyone in a merry festive mood.”
The residents’ first Christmas Elfin activity was Naughty Elf’s Christmas Exercise Class, which was totally Yuletide themed, complete with new and traditional Christmas tunes playing.
“Rule Two is to make sure there is room for everyone on Santa’s Nice List. We achieved this over a delicious Elf Lunch, when the residents reminisced about past Christmases – the happy memories they have of their children and grandchildren during the festive season – and how they used to tell them of Santa’s Naughty and Nice List,” added Alina Gutu, the Registered Manager at The Lawn. “The residents agreed that most of their children were on the Nice List, especially when the left out a nice Brandy and biscuits for Santa on Christmas Eve.”
After lunch, the residents and Care Elves got creative. “We ‘Elf’ed ourselves,” explained Emma. “We had photographs of the residents’ faces stuck to different cartoon elf bodies. The residents then relaxed and enjoyed colouring in and decorating their very own Elf Self. I’m actually ‘elf-ing’ everyone to put them up on their bedroom doors, so Santa knows where to find them on Christmas Eve. The residents loved this activity and are all proud of the look-a-like Elf creations.”
“The rumor is that all Elves love sweets, and it happens to be 100% true. However, what’s not common knowledge is that the sweets Elves eat are unique and only contain ingredients from the North Pole, sprinkled with a dash of Christmas Magic. So, the residents enjoyed tasty mince pies whilst finishing National Elf Day watching the Christmas classic movie ‘Elf’ starring Will Ferrell. Everyone said they had a wonderful day and really ‘sleighed’ all the festive activities,” concluded Emma.
Find out more about The Lawn care home by calling 01420 84162 or emailing enquiries@fote.org.uk.