Seniors and kids come together through love of board games

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on April 28, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre and Family Centre have teamed up to bring seniors and kids together to play and create connections through Intergenerational Board Game afternoons.
Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre program coordinator Ashley Kern said they have been offering the activity for a few months usually on Wednesdays once a month.
“A lot of seniors haven’t seen their grandkids for over two years because of COVID so this is kind of a nice opportunity to gain some more relationships with younger children,” said Kern.
She said participants have ranged from kids four to 14 years old and seniors from 55 to 90 years old.
“There’s a lot of variations of ages which is awesome and basically they just come in and play board games and active games together for an hour,” said Kern.
She said it is a drop-in event and anyone 55 years old or older can join and children can participate by having their parents register them through Family Centre.
A Lethbridge resident, Stephanie Dergousoff, who learned about the activity through Family Centre last month said her kids Emily and Nathan Dergousoff enjoyed it so much, they came back this month to play again.
“We were interested in attending because we don’t have grandparents in the city, so it would be nice to adopt them to play games with. We have family in British Columbia and in Saskatchewan so eight to 12 hours away from us,” said Dergousoff.
Senior Vibeke Lindhardt, who was a Lethbridge resident taking part in the event playing with Emily and Nathan, said sometimes even if seniors have multiple grandchildren and even great grandchildren they do not get the opportunity to see them often enough.
“I feel like maybe I’ve always enjoyed interacting with kids so I think it is beneficial for both sides,” said Lindhardt.
Kern said the event usually takes place on Wednesdays from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
“We’re trying to do it a once a month, so the community gets used to us hosting these kind of events,” said Kern.
The next couple of Intergenerational Board Game afternoons will take place May 25 and June 22.

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