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Dementia and the Family, 7, Larks Rise, Rise (2026)

15/01/2024

Music: make a playlist

There is no doubt that music can transport you back to a treasured place in time, awaken memories and generally make you feel better about the world! Nowadays, you can buy MP3 players that are very straightforward to use – and this provides the perfect opportunity to create your loved one a ‘playlist’ of their favourite music. You should consider a mix of both soothing and rousing music, songs to sing along to and songs that link to particular memorable occasions in their life.

If you google ‘playlist, dementia’, you will get lots of ideas about suitable songs and playlists for those living with dementia.

09/01/2024

Table skittles

Description: Table skittles is a traditional game that has been played for centuries in pubs and inns, and it came about when pub landlords wanted to devise a miniature version of traditional skittles so that the game could be played on a tabletop. Nine small skittles are positioned on a square, and the objective is to knock over all the skittles by swinging a ball, which hangs on a chain from a pole positioned on the board.

Props and Preparation: In order to play this game, you will need to purchase your own table skittles set. They are readily available from Etsy, Amazon and many other outlets.

Adaption: There are also other versions of table skittles that can be played at home.

08/01/2024

The old high street

Description: The high street has been affected by many changes in our way of life – from rationing to the arrival of supermarkets. There is a whole wealth of history to be uncovered! Make it a family project to research your local high street. How have the buildings changed? What is the oldest shop? How does your loved one remember it in their youth? Was there a Woolworths store?

Props and Preparation: This could easily become a very ‘involved’ project for the family and you will need to plan visits to the local library, record office, museum and even your local history society. You may be able to borrow a book from the library about the history of your town and flick through the pages together. The internet provides a huge resource as well.

Adaptation: Turn a Saturday morning trip to the high street into a reminiscence activity by going through your shopping list and seeing how many of the foods and other items we buy today you could have bought in a 1950s shop.

30/12/2023

Guess the advert

Description: There is a fascinating history behind brands and advertising. This is a game that can be played by all the family, using adverts and brands from across the decades.

Props and Preparation: Collect a range of adverts, food packaging and logos from the 1950s to the present day. Get three pieces of cardboard and cut a square hole in the centre of each one – each hole should be larger than the previous one. Place the first piece of cardboard (with the smallest hole) over the brand, advert or food packaging and see who recognises it. If no-one can, then try the cardboard with the next size up hole, and so on. You can always decide to work in teams and keep a count of the scores.

Adaptation: You might like to look at the history of one particular brand, such as Heinz. This is a great way to really get a sense of how adverts and marketing messages have changed over the decades – from clear targeting of ‘housewives’ with the beans’ value to the modern adverts of today, which promote the ‘five-a-day’ benefits.

20/12/2023

Retro sweets

Description: The sense of taste tends to be increasingly affected as dementia progresses. The taste of sweet is the first taste we develop and the last one we enjoy as we reach the end of life. This is one of the reasons why you may notice that your loved one enjoys sweets more than other foods. Reminiscing about sherbet dips, gobstoppers, fruit salads, spangles, shrimps, pear drops and Barrett’s sweet ci******es will bring the memories flooding back.

Props and Preparation: There are a number of stores that sell retro sweets for you to sample – making your reminiscence a multi-sensory experience.

Adaptation: How about turning this reminiscence activity into a tasting game? Ask your loved one to close their eyes and see if they can guess the name of the sweet from just touching them or tasting them.

19/12/2023

Shopping and remembering

Activities based around the theme of shopping work well because there are plentiful opportunities for reminiscence. Many older people can remember a time when shopping was done every day and you had no refrigerator to keep things cool, when items like butter were sold by the weight in waxed paper bags, when there were no supermarkets and when clothes items were mended and re-mended to make them last. Using this theme, you can also factor in activities, based around repetitive tasks, which rely on the muscles to ‘remember’ an activity that was done repetitively and enjoyably in the past. This is particularly beneficial for someone in the moderate to late stages of dementia, where mental processing and following instructions is very difficult.

Folding and sorting

Description: Activities that tap into ‘work’ and the accomplishment of tasks have a positive impact on self-esteem and feeling valued within the family unit. Many will view shopping and sorting groceries as part of their ‘work routine’, particularly those who were housewives. Getting dementia does not change the need to be viewed by others as ‘needed’ and helpful.

Props and Preparation: Make a list of all shopping-based tasks and activities, which involve an element of repetition. This might be folding clothes, putting items in storage jars, or refilling items.

Adaptation: This is a very simple activity that generations can do together: organise the tins in your cupboard or the spices in your spice rack so that they are all sorted in order and facing the right way.

18/12/2023

Old party games

Party games from the past offer an opportunity to reminisce and join in the fun and laughter associated with games. Remember that although a person with dementia may forget the facts and ‘details’ of the party games, the feelings of enjoyment and contentment will stay with them after the fun has finished. It is worth offering some words of caution about parties, however. Try and avoid over-stimulation and having too much going on, as this could cause some distress for your loved one. Play one game at a time and factor in some quiet time afterwards to rest and have a cup of tea. Remember that it doesn’t matter if they don’t play the games right – and it won’t help if you try and correct them!

Pass the Parcel

Description: Pass the parcel is perhaps the most played of all party games. Everyone sits in a circle, within reach of each other, and you pass around a pre-wrapped gift until the music stops. The person holding the parcel when the music stops gets to remove one layer of wrapping and you continue starting and stopping the music until the last person removes the final layer of wrapping and discovers their gift.

Props and Preparation: Make sure you choose music that your loved one will enjoy and remember from their past. Rather than using lots of wrapping paper, you can always use newspaper instead.

Adaptation: To add interest to the game, you could add some simple, funny challenges to each layer of wrapping paper. You could even write out some reminiscence questions or quiz questions and add these to the layers of the parcel. Even if your loved one doesn’t want to partake in this game, they will enjoy watching the reactions on everyone else’s faces.

12/12/2023

REMINISCENCE ACTIVITY: Memory box

Description: A Memory Box is a multi-sensory way to trigger memories from the past. Whereas Memory Books and Boards appeal to our visual sense, smell, taste and touch can be stimulated through the contents of a memory box. Smell, in particular, can bring back a flood of memories so you may wish to include a favourite perfume in your Memory Box. You could also add items like an old cricket ball, a trophy, an ornament, an item of clothing or some photographs. You can decide on anything you like – as long as it has meaning to your loved one. To bring back memories, the person with dementia should hold each item and be encouraged to share what that object brings to mind.

Props and Preparation: You can use anything you like for your box – from a decorated shoe box or old biscuit tin to a nice wooden box. However, you should try and use something that is hard-wearing. You may wish to label each item with a tag or create a list on a sheet of paper, with a brief summary of the significance of the item. As well as selecting items from your loved one’s past, you could also think about the different themes you could use. For example, you could create a memory box on the theme of baking days and find old recipe books and kitchen implements from around the home and charity shops. If you like, you can even buy ready-made Memory Boxes online – but half the fun is in making your own!

Adaptation: Even if the person with dementia cannot participate verbally in reminiscing using items in their Memory Box, it can still give them pleasure to be involved in reflections on their past by holding and feeling the items. For someone whose dementia is in the late stages, it is important to make their Memory Box all the more multi-sensory. Think about all the different textures you can use and include things like ties, lace and buttons.

Photo taken from Etsy website.

07/12/2023

REMINISCENCE ACTIVITY: Memory Book

Description: Memory Books are a visual treasure-trove of memories and provide a special record of your loved one’s personal history. There are no ‘rules’ about what to include, but you may wish to think about: family and special relationships, key life events, places your loved one has lived, likes and dislikes, favourite foods and recipes, pets, hobbies and working life. You can use photographs and pictures, along with captions, or ‘talking points’, explaining the image. You might also like to add some tactile pieces to your page – such as ribbon, buttons or even a square of fabric from an old school tie.

Props and Preparation: It is a good idea to create a Memory Book together as soon as your loved one is diagnosed. It will not only become a very important, and comforting, memory aid – but it will be indispensable for everyone who comes into your loved one’s life who doesn’t know who they are as an individual person. You will need to decide whether you are going to use computer software to produce your own professionally printed book or whether you will use a home-made scrapbook. It is a good idea to find one where you are able to remove or add pages. See https://www.dementia.co.uk/products/how-to-make-a-memory-book for a useful guide to creating Memory Books.

Adaptation: Rather than creating a record of a person’s life story, you could theme your book. How about a Memory Book focused on their favourite sporting achievements and memories?

Photo taken from Etsy site

06/12/2023

Reminisce with annuals

No Christmas was complete without an annual, featuring the best of the year’s stories, articles and illustrations from your favourite comic. These books are real pieces of history, with their lavish design and colourful covers. Although many annuals fell out of production post-World War Two, when other forms of literature and entertainment took over, The Beano Annual has been published every year since 1939. Watch your loved one’s face light up when you present them with a copy of a traditional annual – and spend time reading the comic strips and articles together.

Back copies of annuals from the 1940s and 50s, such as The Beano, The Dandy, Roy of the Rovers, Eagle can be bought online. The Bunty came out in 1960 and like other Retro Classics you can even access copies on Kindle.

05/12/2023

REMINISCENCE ACTIVITY: Lucky dip

Description: This activity is a variation on a theme of Memory Books, Boards and Boxes! Your loved one is bound to remember the traditional lucky dip, where an old bran tub was filled with sawdust and presents were hidden inside. Collect a range of reminiscence items – such as old-fashioned games, toys, books, etc – wrap them up and put them in a tub or sack. The aim of this activity is for your loved one to pick out an item, one at a time, and share their memories of that item.

Props and Preparation: This activity requires some preparation – in that you will need to collect the items, spend time wrapping them and source a suitable container. You may not be able to source an old bran tub, but a sack will do. Rather than using sawdust, you could obtain some small polystyrene shapes.

Adaptation: Unwrapping the presents is an additional, beneficial activity for your loved one, which can be incorporated into reminiscence. However, here is an alternative that works just as well (without the wrapping paper)! Ask a member of the family to select a reminiscence item from your growing collection, put it in a pillowcase and tie up the top. You now have to pass the pillowcase between you and guess what the item is inside by feeling it.

04/12/2023

Pick up Sticks

Description: Pick up Sticks will help to improve dexterity, coordination and concentration. It is also a brilliant reminder of childhood and a simple game to play. Pick up all the sticks in a bundle and then release them, so that they end up in a jumbled pile. The aim of the game is to remove a stick from the pile without moving any other sticks. Your turn continues until you make a mistake and the game ends when all the sticks have been picked up.

Props and Preparation: You can buy an original Pick up Sticks game or get a larger, chunkier version, so the sticks are easier to handle and grip.

Adaptation: As with almost any game, you can simplify the rules yourself to make the game easier to play and the instructions easier to follow. For example, you could reduce the number of sticks or simply take it in turns to pick up one stick at a time.

Dementia and the Family

15/01/2024

09/01/2024

08/01/2024

30/12/2023

20/12/2023

19/12/2023

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12/12/2023

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