Last weeks session for the project Making Memories, was all about the fine art of cake eating... The Great British performance surrounding afternoon tea; the three tiered cake stands, smartly uniformed waitresses, fancy sandwiches with the crusts cut off, warm homemade scones...
We were working with older people the majority whom had some form of dementia, so even more than normal activities and expectations, had to match the needs of the person joining in. 'Keeping occupied and stimulated can improve quality of life for the person with dementia, as well as those around them. Activities can act as an opportunity for fun and playfulness. They can also encourage independence, social inclusion, communication or expression of feelings.' The Alzheimer's Society.
In the memory box this week, I used a range of different prompts to stimulate reminiscence and creativity, photos of afternoon tea, vintage photos of tea rooms, various cakes to taste, smell and look at, cake stands and plates.
In between cake eating and tea drinking we reminisced around the subject:
Special occasions, a nice hot drink
little fancy cakes, a big house
cup of tea, a nice cup of tea in the morning
sandwiches, little fancy ones
a cup of tea for tea
ham, cucumber
cut it in slices
a nice cup of tea
turkey, salmon and cucumber
egg and cress
couldn't afford posh cakes
would make them, not fancy ones
pies everyday things
winberry pie, girls go picking
a nice summer day
Betty's tearoom tea hot water a separate pot
tiny sandwiches, tiny cakes, little scones
tea and cake at the church
I like a nice cup of tea in the morning...
tablecloth, napkins
the people around you
like the old times
like the old times
shouting hot cross buns
Drawings themed on cakes, and lines of reminiscence where drawn onto cardboard three tiered cake stands. These have been left with the care homes to work on during the week, giving our group another go, and new people opportunities to join in with the activity. I look forward to seeing the final results.
No comments:
Post a Comment