Reminiscing games

As a family member, reminiscing is as enjoyable to me as the one telling the story! Through the telling of stories we sometimes find others who have lived through our struggles, our good times, events, and changing times. This can lead to friendship and increased socialization. Have your ever heard the older generation talking about how much gas prices have gone up over the years or talk about how we got along just fine without cellphones? Many times we talk about where we were when John F.

Kennedy was assassinated or about the great comedians of the past like Bob Hope and Red Skelton. Those persons with cognitive loss may remember things from long ago far easier than remembering something done yesterday.

Reminiscing with others allows us to review our life histories and remember our accomplishments. This can lead to feelings of self-worth and the feeling of a life well lived. Be aware however that reminiscing can also stir emotions. A song might make us miss someone or talking about an event might make us sad. Questions, discussions, things, decorations, holidays, etc… may all spark a memory. Reminiscing can be done anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Reminiscing is versatile so there are many activities to reminisce with.

Choose from the following reminiscing activities to experience with your older family member or friend. In our Keep Discovering Membership you will find Reminiscing stories with questions, reminiscing prompts, remember when and other reminiscing activities. Fresh new reminiscing activities are released monthly!

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A collection of memories leads to connections in life. Reminiscing can lead to new friendships and increases socialization. Remembering makes us think… and is a great intellectual activity. Reminiscing can bring us self-worth. Reminiscing can be done in many ways. More Reminiscing Stories, Prompts, and other Reminiscing Activities In our Keep Discovering Membership you will find Reminiscing stories with questions, reminiscing prompts, remember when and other reminiscing activities.

More Activities for Seniors It's finally here! More reminiscing! More crafts! More intergenerational activities! Read More. Reminiscing About Games and Toys The games and toys we played with as kids can be so much fun to think about! Those old roller Childhood Story Starters for Reminiscing Use the following prompts with an elder or during a family gathering to tell a childhood story. Use these as Remembering Christmas Reminisce About Christmas The Christmas season is the perfect time to spend with an elder and ask questions, play games, Reminisce with a Grandparent Reminiscing with a Grandparent Listening to memories makes us see the differences, but For those of you who have a Pinterest Remember Mom with Gifts from the Heart Gifts from the heart are the best gifts of all.

Mom's love these. Moms do so much for us, especially when Spring Walks for Remembering Spring is here and there is so much to see and remember. Each season has its own beauty, but spring Movie Memories Movies, like books, can provide an escape for a moment in time.

Great movies have the power to make us think They can be great fun to make with the grandkids and the best Reminiscing About Presidents Here are some questions for reminiscing about Presidents.

If you live in another country, use this as a guide for reminiscing Reminiscing About Work life Work takes up a great portion of our life. We spend hours at work to make a living for our Tiny Memories Memory Box Memorabilia comes in all shapes and sizes.

Even some of the smallest things like jewelry, pins, and keys can hold memories Reminiscing at a Party Reminiscing at a party? Why not? Having a get-together that includes an older family member? Maybe a birthday party, an Hanging Up Memories How do you display treasured heirlooms? One way is to display heirlooms on a wall. Hanging up precious heirlooms gives us It doesn't take long to bring forth a memory—an aroma, a touch, History Lessons We're never too old for a history lesson.

Bring together seven mostly middle-aged men, my dad, and some party food, and what Using Aprons to Reminisce and Inspire I remember aprons, those lovely, stained companions that mother wore so beautifully in the kitchen while she worked to make our family a Do you like to dance?

What is your favorite season? Red Sox or Yankees? Examples: Who taught you how to drive? Tell us about your first date. Describe the house you grew up in. What was your first job? Tell us about your best childhood friend. What do you remember about your grandparents? Place one slip into each balloon. Seat residents in a circle with balloon on the floor in the middle.

Have one resident pick a color balloon. We have the staff pop the balloons with scissors as the residents don't like to do it themselves. The resident then answers the question.

We will also go around the circle and have all residents answer. You then go to the next resident in the circle and have them pick a balloon. Call Objective: This game helps stimulate the memory and helps each person recall favorite times, places, events. Description: This game is played on a game board.

Dice are thrown, pawns moved, and cards drawn. All questions are pertinent to life in the U. Anyone would have known the answer to these questions at one time in their lives. This game is suitable for people with slight to moderate memory loss.

Objective: Have room set up for sharing. Have teddy bear cookies and tea. Residents to share memories of their Teddy Bear. Description: Sit around craft table or semi circle.

Each person take a turn telling their memories of their favorite Teddy Bear. End with tea and Teddy Bear Cookies. Description : Before the activity starts, take slips of paper and write a memory on each one First date Place all the slips of paper in the paper bag or box.

Seat the group in a circle, pass the bag around. Each time a resident picks a slip of paper, they answer the question on the paper It creates a great atmosphere of reminiscing and sharing. I've also used the same idea to ask the residents to do silly things Sing a song Make a funny face There are many variations. I've always had great groups with these programs.

Equipment : large 1" binder, memory book pages, stencils, markers, camera. Description : Residents will be asked if they want to participate in creating a activity memory book. They can decorate the front cover, and also sign their names on the first page. To add a special effect, the activity person can put sparkles over the signatures to make them stand out.

The recreation assistant will tell the residents that this book will be used for anyone who wants to remember any activity that would take place at the nursing home that they enjoyed. The residents can remember activities that they want to remember.

Examples of ideas to put in the scrap book would be special guests visiting, birthday parties, Christmas presents being opened, etc. A camera or a disposable camera should be made handy for pictures that could be taken. Be sure to follow confidentiality procedures. Make sure the book has a title on the spine and be put in a place where the residents can look at it.

Each taking a half an hour to one hour. Day one made two different color cards with backs that look like amusement park tickets, of course, must be very general. Then sat down and talked about what things happened at the amusement park that would be reasons to go forward and things that happened that would be reasons to go back. Then decided how far forward and how far backward each card would go.

Example: Cutting in line go back 10 spaces. One color represent the forward file and a different color represented the backward file. The next day we painted the clothes pins everyone picking their own color and then we drew a face on the pine.

The third day we pasted different colored squares around the game board including the colors of the cards made on the first day. We also made the little squares look like the larger cards. Then we pasted a collage of the amusement park pictures in the center of the board.

We then glued two blank cards one of each color of the cards we had made on day one. We each played the game with one of the dice and the player that we had painted. Moving ahead as the dice indicated and taking the appropriate card as we landed on the like square and following its directions.

Ask the participants to write down beside each year one or more significant event associated with that year. The event can be personal or something that happened in the world. After the writing period, each participant can discuss with others specific years and events related to that year. Alternative: instead of having everyone write, announce a year and discuss events from that year.

Each boxcar could name a region or area you plan to "stop and visit. While there you could "stop off" and try such ideas as water color painting while listening to the Grand Canyon Suite, making Indian beadwork, or paper mache maracas. You could make sand picture by adding food coloring and glue to play sand.