Bensonhurst Senior Center Blog 7 3/31/22 Flowers & Family Tree

 

Bensonhurst Senior Center

Blog  7  3/31/22

Flowers & Family Tree

Greetings from rainy Sydney! It’s early morning here but the weather is brightened by the smiling faces of our students, all eager to meet for another creative session. Eye strain can be caused by too much computer use so we started our class with some eye exercises which can be incorporated into our seniors’ daily routines. Blinking slowly and deliberately helps lubricate the surface of the eye as well as strengthening and releasing tension in the eye muscles. We focused on an object in our field of vision, tracing its outline. This is great for strengthening eye muscles. Tracking near and far is another eye strengthening exercise. We did this by stretching one arm out directly in front and making the thumbs up sign. Seniors focused on their thumb while slowly bringing it toward their face, staying focused and reversing the action. Tracking side to side supports peripheral vision. Seniors took a pen in one hand and held it 18” from their face at eye level then slowly moved it from right to left and back again, tracking it with their eyes while keeping their head still. Near and far focusing helps relieve eye strain. They held their hand about a foot away from their face and focused on it then looked up and focused on an object about 30’ away. Finally, they gently rubbed the orbital eye socket and then between the eyes giving themselves a calming and revitalizing eye massage.

Julisa was back with us after her holiday in Spain, which she said was very relaxing. It was great to have her back in class. 

We checked in on the flowers made last week, which are beautiful and colorful. To complete the flower, they folded and cut paper in the shape of leaves and glued it into place. Spica demonstrated how they could hot glue their flowers to their Family Tree. So Sim taught herself to crochet beautiful mini flowers from watching a YouTube video and Hui Fen used a florist's wire to add stems to her flowers which she placed in a vase she’d made. 

Examining the work of famous artists can help inspire our students as well as giving them the opportunity to share ideas about what they see in the works. Vincent Willem Van Gogh was well known for his magnificent paintings of sunflowers, so we screen shared “Sunflowers” and “Sunflower Field”. Students remarked on his vibrant use of color and intense brush strokes. Diego Rivera is another artist who uses flowers as a motif in his paintings. We looked at “Flower Vendor” and “Girl with Lilies”. Lao Yu remarked the paintings reminded her of Chongqing in southwestern China, where the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers converge. Laborers had to move produce by hand as the port was too steep to allow for carts or animals. Sook Fong said the paintings reminded her of Chinese carrying heavy loads on their backs supported by a wooden pole. Ru Ping told us she visited the port city many years ago and saw the laborers; however, more recently she read an article explaining that vehicles now have access. 

Students made paper sunflowers by folding, cutting, and gluing colored paper. They are such quick studies, that even though Spica had not demonstrated the final steps, some students had already finished. We're excited to see their colorful displays on WeChat.