What Intergenerational Learning Looks Like at The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point

QUICK ANSWER

The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point partners with Azura Memory Care to bring children and older adults together for regular shared visits. During these intergenerational sessions, children participate in storytelling, music, and simple crafts alongside residents. Research supports this kind of programming as a meaningful way to build empathy, communication skills, and comfort with the full range of human experience.

When Two Generations Share the Same Room

A four-year-old carries a homemade card across the room and places it carefully in front of an older woman seated at a table. The woman looks down, then up, and smiles. The child watches that smile happen and stands a little taller.

Moments like this are a regular part of life at The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point, where an ongoing partnership with Azura Memory Care brings children and memory care residents together in ways that are gentle, structured, and genuinely meaningful for both groups.

This partnership is one of the more distinctive parts of the Fox Point program, and families sometimes want to know more about what it actually involves. What do the children do during visits? How does it work in practice? And what does a child gain from spending time with older adults in a memory care setting?

What the Visits Actually Look Like

The intergenerational visits between Nurturing Nook children and Azura Memory Care residents are structured, age-appropriate, and guided by educators. Children participate in activities that are familiar to them and naturally lend themselves to shared participation: story time, simple crafts, and music are common threads.

A typical visit might involve children and residents listening to a story together, with children occasionally helping to turn pages or respond to a prompt from the educator. Music sessions invite everyone to participate at their own level, whether that means clapping along, singing, or simply listening. Craft activities give children something tangible to make and share, which often becomes its own small conversation starter.

The visits are designed so that neither children nor residents are expected to perform. The educators from The Nurturing Nook support the children throughout, keeping the environment calm and the interactions natural. Residents from Azura guide their own level of engagement, and children follow their lead. What tends to happen, over time, is that familiarity builds. Children who have visited before often recognize faces, and those small recognitions carry their own kind of warmth.

Why This Kind of Programming Has Real Developmental Value

Intergenerational programming is not a new idea in early childhood education, and its benefits for young children are well-documented. The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development notes that children who have regular, positive contact with older adults develop stronger perspective-taking skills and greater comfort with people whose abilities, communication styles, and life experiences differ from their own.

For preschool-age children, who are actively building their understanding of the social world, this kind of contact offers something that peer-only settings cannot. When a child adjusts how they speak or move to match an older adult’s pace, they are practicing attunement, a foundational social skill. When a child asks a question about something a resident has shared, they are building genuine curiosity about another person’s experience. When a child sees that an older adult may communicate differently but still responds to kindness, they are forming an early, concrete understanding of human dignity.

These are not abstract outcomes. They show up in how children talk about older relatives, how they respond to people who look or move differently from them, and how they begin to understand that every person has a history worth knowing.

A Learning Environment That Extends Beyond the Classroom

The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point has held NAEYC Accreditation, the most widely recognized standard of quality in early childhood education, since earning it through a rigorous review of teaching practices, learning environments, health and safety, and family engagement. The intergenerational program with Azura Memory Care fits naturally within that framework, because NAEYC’s standards emphasize community connections and relationships as core components of a quality early learning environment.

For families at Fox Point, the Azura partnership is one expression of a broader philosophy: that children learn best when their world is wide and their relationships are varied. The program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and pre-K children at The Nurturing Nook is built around play-based, relationship-centered learning. The intergenerational visits extend that same approach into the community.

Families also have the support of The Nurturing Nook’s family communication resources, so parents can stay connected to what their children are experiencing and learning throughout the year, including during intergenerational programming.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an intergenerational program in an early childhood setting?

An intergenerational program brings young children and older adults together for shared activities on a regular basis. At The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point, this happens through a partnership with Azura Memory Care, where children participate in storytelling, music, and crafts alongside residents in a structured, educator-supported setting.

How does the program prepare children for visits with memory care residents?

Educators at The Nurturing Nook guide children through the visits and support them throughout. Children are not expected to manage the experience independently. Over time, familiarity with the environment and the residents helps children feel comfortable and engaged.

Is this kind of program developmentally appropriate for preschool-age children?

Yes. Research in early childhood development supports intergenerational contact as a meaningful way to build empathy, social skills, and comfort with difference. Activities are chosen to match children’s developmental stage and interests, and educators remain present and involved throughout each visit.

Will my child be upset or confused by interacting with memory care residents?

Educators approach these visits thoughtfully and keep the environment calm and positive. Children often respond with natural curiosity and warmth. If a child has questions afterward, teachers and families can explore those together, and The Nurturing Nook’s family communication resources are available to help support those conversations.

The intergenerational partnership with Azura Memory Care is a genuine part of daily life at The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point, not a seasonal event or an add-on. It reflects what the program has been building since 1989: an environment where children grow alongside a real community.

Come see it for yourself. Schedule a tour at The Nurturing Nook – Fox Point in Fox Point, Wisconsin, and meet the team that has been caring for this community for more than three decades.