#PlayMonday (29/02/2016)

Seventh Play Monday!

Another Play Monday! And this time it was special because we had the participation of Nurse Coordinator Gabi and missionary group of students from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, who are running across Portugal thanks to “Missão País 2016”, so, there were many people who wanted to play!

Our Plays during this day were: the “fan and feather” game. With the help of the fan we had to make the feathers fly without touching the floor and we also played the “Shell game”*.

We organized the clients in two groups (a group for each game) and we started to distribute the fans and the cups between the clients and we invited them to play. Mr J. grabbed the fan with a huge enthusiasm and there was no feather who could escape him. Mr A. grabbed the fan with

some mistrust and reluctance, but first he only watched the game. Ms. M and Ms. J were mastering the fan technique, but they were having some communication trouble with the feathers. They are too light and sometimes they fall too quickly. But this time we had the precious help of three missionaries that helped keeping the feathers in the air. And after many tries, our players made the room being full of colourful feathers that were flying through the air. What seemed hard turned into something so easy.

After a talk with Mr. A, he told me that he preferred to switch plays because the “Shell game” seemed funnier.

And so it was, with three cups and a ball, the clients played with each other’s and with Joana and Raquel. A game that requires a good memory and concentration… And now “In which cup is the hidden ball?” Joana asked to Mr. A, that pointed to one of the cups, after thinking for a moment. Right in front of them Mr. J is playing with Raquel and at their side Mr. J.E that never missed one!

Apart from finding the ball, we wanted that the clients also “mixed” the cups and asked “Where is the ball?”. That way, things got funnier and interesting for them. After that, Raquel presented the game to Ms. M.A and although she couldn’t “mix” the cups, she always found the hidden ball. It was Ms. M.A’s first Play Monday and it was such a joy that she liked it.

Then the clients switched games, so everyone could try both games. In the end, everyone had their favourite and each one spent more time playing the game that each one liked the most.

And these were our PlayMonday minutes where we transformed moments. Thank you to my co-workers and to the missionaries that, even without knowing us, they participated in this Play during this day.

[PORTUGUÊS]

*Translator note: This game can also be known as Thimblerig, Three shells and a pea or the old army game