This is a creative crafts activity that produces a great effect when displayed on a window. The result may look messy close up but once displayed on the window it looks fantastic.
Credit:
West Eaton Nursing Home / Clare Lockley.
This is a fun, dementia-friendly exercise which can help you get to know a person’s interests and passions. It can also work well as an intergenerational activity.
Credit:
Sue Holmes, Independent Activity Coordinator
The activity works well in person and also with small groups of around four people online. It brings the stories to life and is a stimulating, creative activity.
Credit:
Royal Exchange Theatre Elders Company / Catherine and Gill.
An activity best done one-to-one or in small groups. It requires clear and concise step-by-step instructions to get it right, but it is very achievable. The finished basket is an attractive object to be proud of!
Credit:
The Whitworth Age Friendly Programme.
Photo poems were first devised by poet Paul Eluard and photographer Man Ray. The technique is a simple blending of poetic words or phrases with an arresting, evocative photograph to create an entirely new work of art: a photo poem.
Credit:
Independent Arts. Developed in partnership with Hazel Lodge, Northbrooke House Care Home.
This is a simple game which works best with small groups. It’s best to have one or two people on each team and a further person to act as adjudicator!
Credit:
Dr Richard Talbot and Dr Clare Dormann / University of Salford. Developed in partnership with Aspire Adult Social Care and Humphrey Booth Resource Centre/Poppy Day Care Centre, Swinton.
These simple dance activities work well together but are equally effective if they are tried on their own. They are a great way to get a group stretching and moving and a lovely way to support a group to have some fun together. They work well seated, but some groups may like to try some of them standing up.
Credit:
Akademi.
This gentle dance offers simple movements set to lyrics to wake up the body, mobilise the joints and stimulate the senses.
Credit:
Yorkshire Dance / Rachel Clarke & Izzy Brittain. Developed in partnership with OPAL, Welcome In Community Centre, Leeds.
Acrostics are a simple form of poem where the first letter of each word spells out a word or phrase related to the poem. Here the word is COMMUNITY, but once you are familiar with the technique it is a great foundation for writing poems on any theme.
Credit:
Small Things Creative Projects. Developed in partnership with The Jinnah Centre as part of Bury Culture Champions.
A sensory activity exploring colour and emotion. It is dementia friendly and can help support speech and communication. It can create a space to discuss feelings and emotions, and to stimulate mindfulness.
Credit:
Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. Developed in partnership with Age UK North Tyneside – Time Travellers Dementia Group.
This activity uses familiar rhymes and rhyming patterns such as well-loved nursery rhymes and limericks as a starting point to create your own. It is good fun and works well in community spaces like libraries, care home lounges and day centres.
Credit:
Writing East Midlands / Michelle ‘Mother’ Hubbard. Developed in partnership Gregory House at Grantham – Orders of St John Care Trust.
