WITH the youngest participant just one year old and the oldest just shy of her 100th birthday, a yoga session at Hilton this week was one for the ages.

A group of seniors from the suburb’s Aegis aged care facility joined parents and kids for an intergenerational gardening play day as part of the Hilton Community Harvest’s Buds n Blooms program on Wednesday.

After a bit of rain delay, the seniors and kids enjoyed a fun stretch with yoga teacher Regina Cruickshank before getting their fingers dirty planting some seeds just in time for the autumn rains.

• Yoga teacher Regina Cruikshank leads a very intergenerational group through some fun stretches. Photo by Steve Grant

The program is run in conjunction with Playgroup WA, whose chairman David Zarb was at Wednesday’s get-together and says watching how youngsters can help bring older citizens alive was magic.

He says at one session an elderly lady with dementia who was virtually catatonic was put before a piano where she rolled out a series of children’s songs and became completely animated. After the performance, her head dropped and she retreated back into silence.

Mr Zarb says he was thrilled by Wednesday’s turnout, with nearly 50 parents and kids taking part. The founder of Nature Play WA, he says getting kids outside with a simple bit of gardening can make such a difference to their development.

by STEVE GRANT