Intergenerational learning during COVID-19: an initiative from Dublin

The children and staff of Mellow Spring Childcare Development Centre, Finglas, Dublin had been regular visitors to Odin’s Wood Day Care Centre for two years prior to lockdown. We visited once a week and had recently changed our day to Thursday to allow the Thursday group to have an opportunity to enjoy spending time with the children as well as allowing the children meet new “Granny’s and Granddads”.

Last year we had been very lucky to be awarded funding to take two trips out with Odinswood to The Marine hotel in Sutton and to The Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne. Both day trips were amazing with live bands, bingo games, walks on the beach and delicious dinner followed by dancing. This year was to be bigger and better with additional funding being awarded.

Unfortunately, as a result of COVID-19 our well laid plans looked like they were foiled, however Dublin North West Partnership (DNWAP) who provided the funding allowed us to make some changes to the application. The manager of Odin’s Wood and myself had a number of conversations about how we could make this work. As a result, we have decided to provide some outdoor yoga/ exercise classes in the grounds of Odinswood. We intend to hold the classes in August facilitated by Siel Blue who have previously worked with Odin’s Wood. The difference now is that we will be using an intergenerational approach. We plan to record the classes and provide the service users with a copy that they can watch again at home or in Odin’s Wood. This will provide an opportunity to exercise again but will also provide a visual reminder of the children from Mellow Spring. We also intend to buy additional sports equipment for our regular intergenerational sports days, which always provide the best laughter and bonding opportunities.

Let’s hope we can all get back to spending quality time together in the very near future.

Written by Rachael Duff