One of our Day Services activities focused around mind stimulation activities to help patients get the minds ticking.
Their first activity was a warm-up game of word association.

Word Association is a common word game involving an exchange of words that are associated together. Everyone got involved, staff, volunteers and patients. Everyone sat around the table and started off with car – vehicle – van –ice cream. After six times around the group, we moved on to a creative writing activity which is an activity to get imaginative.

Five bits of laminated card with random words on them were placed in front of patients, and they were then asked to come up with a sentence or short paragraph containing all five words in them – can you come up with a sentence or paragraph using the words in the picture? Leave your answers in the comment section below.
After listening to everyone’s weird and wonderful creative answers we moved on to our next activity. Cubes! Two cubes were placed in front of each patients, one whole and one was dismantled into 5 sections. Using the whole cube patients had to try and put the other back together, using the colours and numbers as guidance. The aim of this activity is to help with hand and eye coordination. It is a helpful task to gain problem solving skills and thought process.
Mind stimulation activity number three…riddles!

This was one the get the brains thinking, the staff and volunteers were also stumped at a few.
“Give me food and I will live; give me water, and I will die…what am I?”
FIRE
“They travel all over the world, but end up in the corner…what are they?”
STAMPS

Just before lunch patients were given one last mind stimulation task, recall and retain.
Angela one of our Day Services Clinical Support Workers read a passage and asked patients to listen carefully as they were going to be questioned after she had finished.
Activities that provide cognitive stimulation ideally target both mental and social functioning.
We can’t wait to see what activities are in store next week!