Date of Workshop: 5 October 2019
Address: The Red Box, 113 Somerset Rd, Singapore 238165
Senior Savvy 2019 organised by the Eldercare cluster was full of engaging activities and workshops held by various industry partners. Through the activities, our participants were able to hone their skills on all things seniors and be inspired by volunteer groups from all corners of the community.
Extract by Youth Corps Singapore
The Event
We arrived at The Red Box at 12.15 pm for a quick lunch and to set up our room for our workshop at 1.30 pm. There were already quite many people at the event, probably there for the morning activities. We took the time to set up the layout of the room, our presentation slides, and also the videography equipment.
Our Workshop
Introduction
As the participants started to stream in, we gave them a survey (online version here) to fill in while we waited for the rest of them to arrive. The survey, for the most part, queried on their relationships with their older family members. When everyone arrived, we moved on to a short introduction to share about our initiative to the participants.
Survey Results:
9 participants (17-30)
Relationship Satisfaction
- Father: 6.4
- Mother: 7.4
- Grandfather: 5.0
- Grandmother: 6.8
Intention to Improve Relationship with
- Father: 50% (yes), 37.5% (maybe), 12.5% (no)
- Mother: 55.6% (yes), 44.4% (maybe)
- Grandfather: 66.7% (yes), 33.3% (maybe)
- Grandmother: 75% (yes), 25% (maybe)
Warm-Up Activity
After the short introduction, we proceeded to our warm-up activity. This was a simple and brief ice-breaker game and it gave everyone a chance to introduce themselves and also a little more about their family background.
Instructions:
- Everyone starts with both their hands clenched
- Each participant takes turns to share 1 activity they have done with their parents/grandparents
- Participants who had done the same activity would lift 1 finger
- The game ends when everyone has all their fingers opened
Activity 1: SIMI Game
This was the first time testing our card game with a public audience. Previously, we had tested among ourselves and with our circle of friends. The game started off pretty smoothly as the game mechanics were relatively simple and easy to follow.
Instructions:
- Players will take turn to draw a card from the card pile
- The player will spin the bottle and whoever the bottle points to will be the partner for the round
- The player will start by flipping the 30 second sand timer
- The partner will have to act out the answer to the question on the card and the player would have to guess the answer within 30 seconds
- If the answer is correct, both the player and the partner would choose an art stationery from the basket as a reward
After about 20 minutes of gameplay, we did a short reflection session and we asked how did the participants feel and what are their thoughts. Generally, the comments were that they found it interesting to hear about each other’s stories with their families and also the activities they did together. Some mentioned that the game gave them more ideas on what they could do with their family. After hearing everyone speak, I felt that the most impacting part of the game was that it brought back nostalgic memories from the past and made them appreciate their family members more.
Activity 2: An Invitation to Bond
Finally, we reveal to them that the art stationery they worked so hard to collect during the SIMI Game was for this last activity. Since all of these activity ideas were still fresh in their minds, the participants could hand-make an invitation card for their parents or grandparents to do something together. These invitation cards would be mailed out for them.
Instructions:
- The stationery from the previous game would be used in this activity to create a simple hand-made card to invite their parent(s)/grandparent(s) to do an activity together (can be something that they had never done together before)
- Participants will seal the cards into an envelope and we will mail it out for them
Feedback
Thoughts from the participants:
Qualitative feedback from survey:
Although general feedback from the participants were generally positive and from their responses it seem our objectives for the workshop were met. However, there are still some points we can improve in. During our debrief discussion, we thought perhaps we could have phrased certain questions better to avoid sensitive topics. Another issue was that one of our participant was with special needs so we had a bit of difficulty of handling the situation at the start. Perhaps, from this experience, we would be able to improve our facilitation the next time.