Every week, residents at Lionsbrae Aged Care in Ringwood East look forward to the smiles and antics of little children who attend an interactive musical playgroup at the facility, organised by New Community Church Ringwood (NCR).

The free playgroup joins with the elderly and the residents with a disability to sing songs and nursery rhymes and enjoy a morning tea provided by Lionsbrae.

NCR Community Engagement Pastor Bronwyn Arnott said the playgroup members sit in a circle while the residents sit in chairs around the outside, as the children sing and dance, using percussion instruments and props as part of the fun.

“Everyone starts interacting as we sing our songs in each session – we might do a song with scarves, and we’ll encourage the children to pick up one for yourself and one for the resident near you, and then after the song we tell them to make sure they collect the scarves from the residents. They just love watching the kids play. During morning tea, parents who have a baby will often sit near a resident allowing them to see their baby, and the parents and grandparents make a real effort to chat to the people around them.”
Staff at Lionsbrae told Bronwyn the event was a highlight of the week for many residents.

“It has been a huge success – the residents, families and our team love it. They’ve watched babies grow up as we’ve had about four babies in the group and some of them are just now starting to walk, so they get to see the beautiful growth of children in the group.”
Bronwyn said Lionsbrae staff were very keen to welcome the playgroup into the facility as a fun way for residents to interact with people of all ages.

“On our first week, we were due to start at 9.30am and by 9.20am, the Lionsbrae staff had about 25 residents that had been showered, dressed, breakfasted and medicated and were sitting in the open area ready for us to start! We have built up a lovely relationship with the staff. Anyone who walks past dances and sings, joining in enthusiastically. The centre and staff are incredibly supportive and often say it’s the highlight of the week seeing littlies and the joy they bring to the residents.”

Bronwyn said it would be wonderful to see many church playgroups “adopting” an aged-care facility to encourage residents, keep them connected and ward off loneliness.

“It’s surprisingly easy to do, if any churches are in a position to host a playgroup. It’s so much easier and cheaper than hiring a hall – for example with the staff kindly providing all the morning tea for us we don’t need to do any of that setup and cleanup. And at the same time, it has been the most delightful opportunity to get to know the residents and to enjoy music together. It ticks a lot of boxes in the amazing things that we can be part of within our community. We’ve had the privilege of being asked to pray with someone during their last days; we’ve also been able to go to a couple of funerals and shown photos of someone’s loved-one enjoying the playgroup, to let them know it was wonderful to get to know their relative.”

The playgroup celebrates special events like Easter and Christmas, sharing the hope of Jesus and the reason for these celebrations. New Community also runs a regular church service for residents who are no longer physically able to attend church.

“These people have all the time in the world to sit and chat, and it is a joy to spend time with them and also to share with them about Jesus. In our playgroup, most of our songs are secular but we also sing a few Jesus songs. We explain that we come from a local church (many know us from the church service we run in their centre), we come in as friends of Jesus, and everyone is welcome.”

Bronwyn would love to provide information for anyone wanting to set up a similar playgroup – for details email bronwyn@ncr.org.au