Interesting times necessitate interesting behavior. With mandated quarantines and social distancing measures in place around the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, collective humanity has to figure out ways to stay busy and entertained.
Self-isolation is voluntary or instructed physical separation from others, generally as a means of mitigating or altogether preventing pathogen spread to peers. If done incorrectly, quarantine and self-isolation can be pretty… isolating.
A group of self-isolating residents at the Bryn Celyn Care Home in Maesteg, Wales currently find themselves in a boring self-isolating confinement. To stave off the boredom blues, the nursing home has been housing games of Hungry Hungry Hippos, except with a twist – these are life-sized.
For those that don’t know, Hungry Hungry Hippos is a beloved tabletop board game for up to four players. Each player controls a colored hippopotamus that’s used to scoop up (or eat) colorful balls from the center of the board. The player that ingests the most balls wins the game.
In the Bryn Celyn Care Home, a sizable collection of colored balls are placed among a handful of competing residents.
The colored balls look typical to a child’s ball pit, something everyone’s seen at a fast food restaurant or theme park. Ironically, ball pits are incredibly unsanitary and should be avoided by all means during the coronavirus pandemic.
The initiating signal is given and the participants rush towards the balls with their makeshift catchers, basically sticks with a basket attached to the end.
The game’s opening is perhaps the only opportunity to gather a huge volume of balls in one scoop. Naturally, the contestants blaze into the center, reaching to snatch as many as possible.
One contestant even loses her scooping stick during the initial skirmish.
Fortunately, a caretaker is nearby, quick and ready to assist her. He picks up the fallen stick-basket, giving it back to the participant.
She wastes no time, proceeding to scurry for nearby balls. Her peers seem to be taking the game just as seriously.
One of the added benefits of the game is the absence of direct contact, especially during the coronavirus epoch. Other games are a little more personal and close in physical proximity, but the nursing home’s life-size Hungry Hungry Hippos keeps people slightly distant. Although it doesn’t appear that any members of this particular game have symptoms of coronavirus, it still establishes a good precedent. These days, one can’t be too careful.
The next few minutes are spent with the contestants scurrying across the room and collecting as many balls as possible. The residents and caretakers seem to be deeply enjoying themselves.
The members of Bryn Celyn Care Home are doing everything they can to maintain their social distancing measures, coming up with unique ways to stay entertained. The coronavirus pandemic will likely be a problem for the ensuing months, and it’s up to each individual and group to prevent spread and exposure, for the good of the realm.
Hopefully these seniors can inspire others to come up with creative solutions to their boredom. A lot of people are becoming naturally uneasy in isolation. But with the right mindset and a healthy dose of imagination, even these difficult times can be managed. Try coming up with a creative game or start working on that hobby that has always eluded you. This too shall pass, and it’s incredibly important that we don’t lose our collective minds in the process.
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