Stockhoff Nursing unwraps children’s space
The new children’s area at Stockhoff Nursing Home features a library and television and chairs for children to enjoy themselves so parents can spend more time with their visits.
When books from retiring teachers were being recycled, Stockhoff Nursing Home Activity Aid Kaye Mauzy saw an opportunity and found some furniture to go with it.
And then it all came together — a library became a kid’s corner in the Stockhoff Nursing Home. The new area is not just a great play area for children, but could help keep parents to stick around longer when their kids are restless.
“A lot of time kids run around and they’re bored and they don’t know what to do and drive their parents crazy,” Stockhoff Activity Director Laura Chorn said. “And their parents don’t really get to visit because they’re asking to go home.”
The rounded leather chairs and table sit under a television monitor in the family room, which is now dressed in garland and snow for the Christmas season. A staff member’s dad bought the table and chairs and Mauzy found a carpet. She used scrabble letters to cover the frayed edges of the bookshelf.
Mauzy said the new area had already seen some success with its first customers.
“There was a girl that came with her kids, filling in some papers,” Mauzy said. “And the kids were over there yelling, screaming, and her dad was grabbing them. And then she filled her page out calmly while the kids were all in the room.”
The library has books for younger children featuring characters like Nemo, or Paw Patrol. Some of the residents even enjoy them, Mauzy said. But they can also act as a bridge between the two.
Grandparents, or great grandparents can read to children, Stockhoff Technician Alex Hyatt said. They even invited some of the schools. But teenagers may just want some space and to watch television.
“We love kids, but some parents don’t see that,” Mauzy said. “They feel embarrassed, or stressed that their kids are pulling and yelling.”
“It’s just a family area and a play area for the kids to come and enjoy time,” Chorn said.
“All the donations came together so fast,” she said. She said there was a phrase for it: “Sometimes you have to sit in a little chair to realize how big God is.”
The sitting room at Stockhoff Nursing Home is for families to host parties or dinners and is currently decorated as as the “Winter Wonderland.”Laura Chorn, Submitted Photo
