SIL Project: Grapes, Not Raisins

Description of Project

The project aims to reduce loneliness amongst elderly citizens above the age of 65 living alone in Singapore.
To tackle this issue, we aim to increase their engagement in their communities and promote new friendships
so that their lives will be enriched. It will be held weekly at Active Aging Centres in different districts,
specifically Yishun. We will collaborate with CareCorner to organise the events every week. Each session lasts
2 hours or more. We would also require about 10-15 student volunteers to facilitate the activities.

Service Objectives:

Engage Elderly Individuals in Recreational Games:

Introduce a variety of recreational games to elderly individuals to enhance their overall well-being. Foster a
sense of joy and fulfilment through participation in recreational activities.

Promote Social Interaction and Connection:

Facilitate opportunities for elderly participants to build social connections and alleviate loneliness. Cultivate
an environment that encourages open communication and camaraderie among the elderly.

Learning Objectives:

Develop Effective Communication Skills:

Learn how to communicate and engage effectively with elderly individuals. Acquire skills in tailoring communication to
suit the needs and preferences of older participants.

Develop Organisational Skills:

Learn how to plan and organise a large scale event and work with other organisations.

Cultivate Empathy Towards the Elderly:

Gain insight into the lives of lonely elderly individuals and develop empathy toward their experiences. Foster an
understanding of the challenges faced by older adults, encouraging a compassionate approach.

Organising Committee

Role Name Contact

CEO Tan Jun Wei 91197773
CFO Scott 87257953
COO Javelle Lim 96333479
96582313

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Collaborator: CareCorner
Activity 1: Arts And Crafts (Cognitive/Social/Creative)

Objectives Overall:
● Therapeutic Engagement: It offers a creative outlet, promoting relaxation
and reducing stress.
● Cognitive Stimulation: It encourages focus, memory recall, and
problem-solving.
● Social Interaction: Group sessions foster social connections and a sense of
community among the elderly.
● Creative/ Emotional Expression: Allows them to express their creativity and
emotions through art.
Collage making:
● Challenge participants to think creatively and outside the box while
selecting and arranging collage materials.
● Promote cognitive flexibility by encouraging them to consider multiple
perspectives when creating their collages.
● Discuss the symbolism or stories behind their chosen images, fostering
cognitive exploration.

Description Collage Making:

Get participants into groups of 3 to 4 (2 volunteers per group).

Total: 6 groups 2 tables each (12 table total)

Distribute supplies (10 newspapers/magazines, 20 pictures of older singapore, 1

piece of drawing block per person, 2 scissors, 2 tapes per group)

Guide participants to cut out images or shapes that resonate with them.

Encourage the creation of a personalised collage reflecting memories or interests.

Assist those who may need help with cutting or pasting.

Volunteers may ask elderly questions related to the pictures they have chosen (get
them to share their experiences).

Those who finish early may choose to decorate the other side of the drawing

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block.

Theme: 80s & 90s (Black and white vibes)

Template (final product):

Examples of pictures that will be provided:

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Timeline
Duration Activity

10 minutes Introduction to activity

50 minutes Collage Making

Total Duration: 60 minutes

*keep origami as a backup activity

Logistics Collage making :

1. 20 Newspapers / Magazines (SP*)
2. 200 pictures of singapore in the past (SP*)
3. 10 Scissors (OP*)
4. 10 Glues (OP*)
5. 10 Rolls of Scotch Tape (SP*)
6. 25 pieces of A3 drawing block (SP*)

*Self Provided (SP)

*Organisation Provided (OP)

Venue Active Ageing Centre @ Yishun

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Activity 2: Arts And Crafts (Creative)

Objectives Overall:
Clay Sculpting:
● Spatial Awareness and Fine Motor Skills:
● Engage participants in three-dimensional thinking by working with clay to
create sculptures.
● Enhance spatial awareness by encouraging the manipulation of the clay
into different shapes and forms.
● Develop fine motor skills through the precise handling of the clay and
shaping it into specific designs.
● Creative/ Emotional Expression: Allows them to express their creativity and
emotions through art.

Description Clay Sculpting:

Group the elderly into groups of 4 ( 2 volunteers per group )

Total: 5 groups 2 tables each (10 table total)

Distribute supplies. Each elderly receives 1 sculpting knife and glove. Each group
receives 1 (600g) tin of clay. Each group receives 1 set of paint (details in
logistics)
Elderly may choose to colour their clay using paint (Mix in).
Elderlies may choose whatever sculpture they want to craft. Volunteers to assist.

Sample ideas:

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Timeline
Duration Activity

10 minutes Briefing on the details of the Arts And Crafts activity.

30 minutes Clay Sculpting

5 minutes Break

10 minutes Clay painting (volunteers can interact with elderlies)

5 minutes Debrief

Total Duration: 60 minutes

Logistics Clay Sculpting:

1. 20 Sculpting Knives (SP*)
2. 5 Tins of white air dry clay (OP*)
3. 5 set of paint (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black) (OP*)
4. 20 pairs of Glove plastic (SP*)
5. Hairdryer (SP*)

*Self Provided (SP)

*Organisation Provided (OP)

Venue Active Ageing Centre @ Yishun

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Activity 3: Physical activities (Physical/Creative)

Objectives Dance:
● Improve balance, coordination, and flexibility.
● Enhance cardiovascular health.
● Boost mood through movement.
● Social engagement and community involvement through group dance
classes.

Description Dance (National day songs):

● A dance YouTube tutorial will be played on the projector.
● The volunteers will be standing at the front, and the elderly will then have to
replicate the dance moves in the video. It will be a mass dance session.
● Volunteers will follow along and encourage the elderly.
● The dance session will be separated into Dance 1 and Dance 2, each round
separated by a short 4 minute break.
● Each round lasts 8 minutes.
● The dance moves will be themed with National Day Songs
Suggestion: physical + some other type of activity (stamina issue)
centre should have projector and speakers

Activity add-on:
Origami
- Form groups of 5, distribute the supplies (2 origami paper per person, 2
scissors per group)
- Ask if the elderly know how to fold origami and are willing to teach.
- If not, get the volunteers to fold along origami that they will have to learn
beforehand. (Dinosaur, Crane, Frog)
- Assist those who may need help folding.

Timeline
Duration Activity

10 minutes Briefing on the details of the Physical activities

8 minutes Dance 1

4 minutes Short break

8 minutes Dance 2

10 min Rest

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 5 min Origami 2 briefing

15 min Origami 2

5 min debrief

Total Duration: 60 minutes

Logistics Speaker x1 (OP*)

Venue Active Ageing Centre @ Yishun

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Activity 4: Recreational games (social)

Objectives ● Cognitive Stimulation: It encourages focus, memory recall, and

decision-making.
● Social Interaction: Group sessions foster social connections and a sense of
community among the elderly.
● Reduce stress and improve mental clarity.

Description Set up
● One Giant Mahjong Session, where volunteer befrienders (VB) can play
with the elderly
● 20 elderly, 1 VB will play with 3 elderly. 3 x 6 (1 VB to 3 elderly) + 2 x 1 (2 VB
to 2 elderly) Total: 7 groups
● Accounting for those who have not played mahjong before, we could have a
beginners table. (qty of beginner tables to be determined on day itself)
● Try to get VB that know how to play the game well and are willing to join
(asked around in NYJC many are able and willing to teach and play)

Activities
● Refrain from movement as it may be confusing for elderly. Maybe after
each round, VB will rotate so that they can meet new elderly??

Timeline
5 mins Briefing + finding out who know how to play

10 mins Sorting into groups

1 hour Mahjong

15 mins Pack up

5 min Debrief

Total time: 1 hour 35 mins

Logistics - 7 mahjong sets (not sure how to provide)

- 7 tables

Venue Active Ageing Centre @ Yishun

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Activity 5 : Digital awareness (digital)

Objectives ● To raise awareness about digicams for the elderly.

● To ensure that the elderly have a greater understanding of how to
protect themselves from online threats.
● To ensure that the elderly know more about how to set up security
systems for their online applications.

Description Digital enrichment

- In this activity, we will educate the elderly more on how they can
protect themselves from online scams.
- Accounting for the fact that some elderly may not have devices, we
will be conducting this through small groups of 5 elderly per group.
VB will show them examples on the laptop.

- This includes educating them how to react when contacted by an

unknown number, which we can seek to raise awareness that they
should promptly report and block the contact.

- We can also let them learn more about security on certain e

transaction platforms like carousell, in which they shouldn’t click on
links that requires them to transact outside the platform

- Additionally, we can educate them more on how to enhance their

security on their mobile applications such as dbs paynow, which
includes the setting up of the newly implemented digital security
code.

- Furthermore, scams sent through phone messages are more

prevalent than ever, thus we could gamify the learning experience by
trying to get them to spot the scam.

Timeline
5 minutes Briefing on the activities

20 minutes Teaching how to protect themselves online

20 minutes Letting the participants experiment with mobile devices

10 minutes Clarification time

5 minutes Debrief

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 Logistics Mobile phones x20 (SP* each volunteer can bring their phones)

Activity 6: Exercise (Physical)

Objectives Tai Chi:

● Enhance balance, stability, and muscle strength.
● Reduce stress and improve mental clarity.
● Aid in managing chronic pain.
● Encourage mindfulness and relaxation techniques.

Description Exercise (Taichi):

● It will be held within the centre.
● A Taichi YouTube video will be played on the projector for the elderly to
view.
● The volunteers will be standing at the front, and the elderly will then have to
replicate the tai chi moves in the video. It will be a mass taichi session.
● Volunteers to follow along and hype up the elderly
● The Taichi session will be separated into Taichi 1 and Taichi 2, each round
separated by a short 4 minute break.
● Each round lasts 8 minutes.

Activity add-on (Card Games):

● The elderly can be briefed about the card game of Uno.
● We split the elderlies up into two groups, each group of 10 elderlies.
● The elderlies will then gather in a circle, and we will engage in a few
rounds of Uno until the end of the session.

Timeline
10 minutes Briefing on the details of the Physical activities

8 minutes Taichi 1

4 minutes Short break

8 minutes Taichi 2

10 min Rest

5 min UNO briefing

15min UNO

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 5 min debrief

Total duration: 60mins

Logistics Speaker x1 (OP*)

Venue Active Ageing Centre @ Yishun

Logistics & Budget

Item Quantity Purpose Cost Remark Obtained?

News 20 Activity 1 0.00
paper

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1. Reflection
Group Reflection Questions:
1. How did you feel while conducting/participating in this project?

2. What are some of the challenges faced in the execution of this project? How did you overcome them?

3. What is one difference you have made to the community?

2. Photos (at least 10 ‘in-action’ picture)

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