Our residents enjoyed getting creative by making bird feeders and hanging them outside for our feathered friends to enjoy! Everyone had the opportunity to participate in creating something special while spending time together and connecting with nature. Now we can look forward to watching the birds visit our feeders and seeing which feathered friends stop by. This activity was a wonderful way to encourage creativity, purposeful engagement, and appreciation for the nature around us!

Our residents enjoyed getting creative by making bird feeders and hanging them outside for our feathered friends to enjoy! Everyone had the opportunity to participate in creating something special while spending time together and connecting with nature. Now we can look forward to watching the birds visit our feeders and seeing which feathered friends stop by. This activity was a wonderful way to encourage creativity, purposeful engagement, and appreciation for the nature around us!

Our residents spent some time bringing a little extra beauty to our dining room by creating their own flower arrangements! With a variety of colorful flowers to choose from, residents selected their favorites, experimented with different combinations, and carefully placed each stem to create a unique centerpiece. Once finished, the arrangements were placed on our dining tables for everyone to enjoy. Activities like this are a wonderful example of our Montessori approach in action. Residents have the opportunity to make their own choices, use familiar everyday skills, and take an active role in making our branch feel like home. Taking pride in our shared spaces helps create a welcoming environment, and we love seeing our residents’ creativity become part of our everyday surroundings!

The Beyond The Bell program invited us to read at different elementary schools. This next quarter.Yesterday we read to second grade students at Bryant Elementary School. This was a heartwarming and purposeful activity for our residents to participate in. They took great joy in seeing the children excited to hear them, read stories about pumpkins!

Bickford of Sioux City Achieves Bronze Level Certification as a Montessori Inspired Lifestyle® Community Bickford of Sioux City Mary B’s joins an exclusive group of credentialed senior living communities that have implemented a revolutionary Montessori-based approach to memory care. The team at Bickford is devoted to building a Montessori Inspired Lifestyle® (MIL) for their community, earning them a Bronze Level credential. The MIL program was created by the Center for Applied Research in Dementia (CARD) after one of its founders, Dr. Cameron Camp, adapted Dr. Maria Montessori’s principles for older adults with dementia. Guided by CARD, staff learned how to implement the Montessori principles of equality, dignity, and respect into their community. Staff were trained to empower residents with memory impairment to be as independent as possible. This is achieved through tapping into each resident’s remaining strengths, designing environments they can thrive in, and helping them find purposeful activities and meaningful roles within their community. Communities effectively using Montessori principles benefit from healthier and happier residents, fewer drugs, fewer responsive behaviors, more satisfied families, and better staffing and census (Witt-Hoblit, Miller, & Camp, 2016). Bronze Level organizations have resident-led committees, multidisciplinary Learning Circles, effective signage and environmental cues, and a system for residents to volunteer for purposeful community services activities, among many other milestones. We are thrilled to bring this experience to our memory care and excel in not only the implementation but also the expansion of the Montessori Inspired Lifestyle for our residents.~Jill Colling, Executive Director About Bickford of Sioux City’s Mary B’s (Memory Care) If you are searching for a community that centers on resident care, choice and dignity come visit us and see the Montessori principles in action, daily! Contact Abbie Susie, Family Advocate, at 712-301-8165 or stop by 4022 Indian Hills Dr, Sioux City. #memorycare #bickfordofsiouxcity #cen4ard

We have teamed up with our friends to celebrate National Happy Hour day-we would love to have you join us! Save the date-November 12th @ 3pm! #assistedliving #HigherPath #nationalhappyhour #montessori #memorycare

We had a busy week ! We celebrated Family History Day and enjoyed a wonderful photo display created by our residents and staff . We also enjoyed crafting with our friends at the Siouxland Senior Center , creating beautiful fall centerpieces. On Saturday, our Family Council came together for an afternoon of music and a family supper.What a wonderful way to end the week. Great Times at Bickford!

Our residents spent some time bringing a little extra beauty to our dining room by creating their own flower arrangements! With a variety of colorful flowers to choose from, residents selected their favorites, experimented with different combinations, and carefully placed each stem to create a unique centerpiece. Once finished, the arrangements were placed on our dining tables for everyone to enjoy. Activities like this are a wonderful example of our Montessori approach in action. Residents have the opportunity to make their own choices, use familiar everyday skills, and take an active role in making our branch feel like home. Taking pride in our shared spaces helps create a welcoming environment, and we love seeing our residents’ creativity become part of our everyday surroundings!

Our residents had a wonderful time participating in a fun and engaging drumming activity! Everyone had the opportunity to tap along to the beat, explore different rhythms, and enjoy making music together. Drumming encouraged movement, coordination, creativity, and self-expression while bringing plenty of smiles and laughter to the room. Activities like these reflect our Montessori approach by encouraging residents to participate at their own pace, make choices, and enjoy meaningful experiences together. We loved seeing everyone join in and make some noise!

We had a couple of visitors. Helen's dear friend from California came to visit her and the two enjoyed a wonderful evening out reminiscing as they were formally teachers together. And then to our surprise Booford the friendly Bickford ghost appeared in our sunroom! We just never know who's going to drop in!