Meaningful activity, mindfully designed

Summer Activity Guide

Food for Thought

Reminiscence activities are a great way to engage people living with dementia, encouraging them to spend time revisiting memories from the past, whether that be via smells, taste, sound, visual stimuli or touch. Food is a powerful reminiscence tool as it can very quickly illicit memories and encourage conversation. Our food reminiscence activity can be enjoyed in a group, helping people to socialise, or as an individual, spending time re-living recollections of meals they have enjoyed in the past, perhaps during a special event, such as their wedding day.

Instructions

On each postcard write or glue pictures of a variety of different food dishes, e.g. Fondue, Pigs in Blankets, Spam Fritters, Jam Roly Poly, Black Forest Gateaux, Bangers & Mash, Colman’s Mustard, Soufflé, Birds Custard, Rich Tea Biscuits and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

On a table, place a selection of 5 of the kitchen utensils, then lay out the cards, face down. People take it in turns to choose a card, sharing a memory of that food with you or the group. You can encourage this by asking questions such as, when they remember eating this food? Or if they have ever cooked it?

Ask people to look at the utensils on the table and choose which one they may have used to cook that particular food, e.g. bowl and whisk to make Birds Custard. Encourage people to handle the utensils. Touching the materials and feeling the various shapes may help trigger further memories. (Alternatively, you could also use the Baking Cupboard Creative Scene magnets/images with this activity).

What You Will Need

• 20 postcard sized cards• Collection of cookery

utensils. If possible, find older versions of the items, rather than modern ones, by scouring charity shops

• Suggested utensils can be a hand whisk, wooden spoons, brown mixing bowl, cupcake baking tin, funnel, lemon juicer, flour shaker, jelly mould, measuring spoons, measuring jug, vegetable presser

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Activities

Making an Eton Mess of It!

Eton Mess is a traditional British dessert which found its popularity in the 1930’s tuck shop of Eton College. This history makes it not only a fun pudding to make and eat but can also help trigger memories of childhood meals, either at school or at home. The activity can be enjoyed in a group, with each person taking on their own task, e.g. cutting up the strawberries, or crushing the meringue, or as an individual, creating the entire dessert themselves. Eton Mess is so delicious it can be enjoyed any time, but why not combine it with Wimbledon, and encourage people to enjoy their lovingly created, delicious dessert, whilst watching a match!

Instructions

Purée half the strawberries in a blender. Chop the remaining strawberries, reserving four for decoration.

Whip the double cream until stiff peaks form, then fold in the strawberry purée, crushed meringue, chopped strawberries and ginger cordial.

Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into four cold wine glasses. Serve garnished with the remaining strawberries and a sprig of mint.

What You Will Need

• 500g of strawberries, hulls removed

• 400ml of double cream (use Yoghurt for a lower fat alternative - no whipping required)

• Ready-made meringue nests, crushed

• 1 tbsp ginger cordial • Sprigs of fresh mint,

to garnish

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Stupendous Sandwich Sampling

June the 15th is the start of National Picnic Week, and what better way to celebrate than having a sandwich making session. Though, of course, sandwiches are so delicious that this activity can be enjoyed any time of the year. (We have more activity ideas for National Picnic Week further down the page too!)

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Activities

Instructions

Using a selection of different types of bread; wholemeal, white, sourdough etc, you can either create the sandwiches and offer them for everyone to try, or encourage them to make their own, perhaps getting a bit creative with their fillings and trying some ingredients they’ve never tasted before. Some of our favourites are banana and salted caramel spread, brie and grape, fish finger or chocolate spread.

As the sandwiches are being eaten, incorporate a sensory aspect to the activity by asking people to talk about the different tastes and textures they can feel in their mouth and which fillings they enjoyed and which they did not.

Pose questions as well, to help encourage conversations – what was the strangest fillings they have ever tried before? What was their favourite sandwich as a child?

Baking Up A Word Search

This baking word search is bound to get taste buds jumping and tummies rumbling. Word searches can be enjoyed individually or in a group. If you are using this word search in a big group, then remember to print off the puzzle on a large piece of paper and attach to the wall so everyone can see and participate. As each new word is discovered, spend a short amount of time discussing that baked good and asking questions about people’s memories of eating that particular food.

Have a look through the Level 1 Wordsearch book for similar themed puzzles.

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ButterEggsFlour

IcingJamSugar

A P B R F R H NK J A M D E A ES M Z K S T P GI F H A F T A GH C F L O U R SY J I A C B D QG L M N K P V BO K S U G A R L

Baking

Still Life Session

The benefits of art for people with dementia is well documented, so encouraging creativity when possible is a good idea, helping a person’s mental and emotional well-being. Painting can be undertaken by an individual as part of a relaxing and calming activity, away from other people, or in a group, so people can socialise and encourage each other as they paint. If the weather is nice, then set up this activity in the garden.

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Instructions

Rather than setting up the still life yourself, encourage people to create it. Ask each of those in the group to take a piece of fruit and place it where they would like in the basket. Time can be spent feeling and smelling the fruit before they do so. Once the arrangement is in place, then give each person a sheet of paper on their easel (or place it on the table in front of them - whichever is most accessible for them) and give a variety of pencils or paints to begin painting.

Remind the group that art is completely personal, and no painting can be wrong - art is always open to interpretation. Encourage them to enjoy the process of drawing or painting a still life.

What You Will Need

• Variety of fruit• A table• A basket• Paints• Brushes• Coloured pencils• Cartridge paper• Easels

Activities

Sensing Food

A fantastic activity to be enjoyed in a group or as an individual. This sensory game covers smell, touch and taste, which all help to trigger memories, as people spend time trying to guess what each food item is. It is important to remember that some people with dementia struggle with swallowing or have lost their sense of smell. If this is the case, the activity can still be enjoyed but adjustments may have to be made. For example, for people who find swallowing hard foods difficult, then ensure that soft foods are used. For people who have lost their ability to smell, concentrate on another sense, such as touch.

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Instructions

With eyes closed, allow each participant to either smell, feel or taste one of the items. Encourage them to discuss what they are smelling, feeling or tasting - do they like it or not? Is it familiar? Can they remember smelling/feeling/tasting something like this before? Ask them to guess what the item could be. If this activity is taking place in a group, perhaps put everyone into pairs, getting them to work together to find the answer.

What You Will Need

• A variety of food, suitable for guessing by smell, feel and taste: Ideas for smell Vinegar Cheese Cinnamon Ideas for Feel Jelly Cubes Peach Cornflakes Ideas for taste Watermelon Marshmallow Avocado

Summer Fete Game Ideas

Games are always a great addition to a party, encouraging people to get involved, socialise and have fun. If people don’t want to play the games, they can enjoy watching and cheering as friends and family, especially grandchildren, take part.

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Games

• Bric-a-Brac• Tombola • Guessing Games

e.g. guess the name of the teddy, guess the weight of the cake, guess how many jelly beans in a jar

• Stalls e.g. a plant stall, a cake stall (encourage people to bake their own cakes for sale) or a book stall

• Hook a Duck • Tin Can Alley• Welly Throwing• Ball in a Bucket• Coconut Shy• Hoopla• Active Minds Golf

Target game

Special Event Activities

Active Minds Golf Target game

Marble game

In a tray, stand a large flowerpot (with a hole in the bottom) upside down, along with multiple marbles and a wooden spoon. The aim of the game is to spoon as many marbles as you can into the flower pot through the hole in 30 seconds. Winners can either be determined by setting a maximum number of marbles for people to get in, anyone that hits this number receives a prize. Or by taking names of all players and how many marbles were gathered. At the end of the fete, the person who got in the most marbles is announced the winner.

Other dates in June to plan events and activities around:

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14th June

Alzheimer’s Society: Cupcake Day

Get involved in the day by encouraging people to bake their own cupcakes. These can then be sold, and the money raised given to the charity, or the delicious cupcakes can simply be enjoyed with a cup of tea and a chat (as an alternative you could buy some plain cupcakes and have a decorating session).

11th June

National Carer Week

To mark this important week, invite relatives and friends to a coffee and cake morning or perhaps a cheese and wine event. You can provide some entertainment too, such as a sing-a-long, with lyric sheets, for everyone to enjoy.

Other dates in June to plan events and activities around:

15th June

National Picnic Week

Get out in the garden and lay on a delicious picnic. Either spread a blanket on the grass or set up garden chairs. Encourage people to help create the picnic; making sandwiches, cakes and fruit punch.

21st June

World Music Day

Music is incredibly emotive and a fantastic way to engage a person living with dementia, helping to lift their mood as well as sparking memories. Encourage people to listen to genres of music they may not normally listen to. Take time to talk about each song selection, asking what they liked about it and what they didn’t. Genre suggestions can be; Jazz, Classical, Rock n Roll, Motown, Musical, Folk, Pop, Country, Opera and Disco. Mix these up when playing them and encourage the person or group to guess the genre.

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16th June

National Fudge Day

What a great excuse to encourage people to make fudge:

Instructions

Grease an 18cm square tin.

Put the milk, sugar and butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Heat slowly, stirring all the time, until the sugar has dissolved, and butter has melted.

Bring to the boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring all the time. When the mixture rises dramatically take it off the heat for 1 minute, stirring all the time until the mixture goes back down

When the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (115 degrees on a temperature probe) remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Beat the mixture with a spoon for a few minutes until it starts to thicken and the gloss disappears. Pour the mixture immediately into the tin and leave to set at room temperature.

Once set, cut the fudge into small pieces and store in a sealed container.

However, if you don’t fancy making your own, then buy a selection of different flavoured fudges to try and maybe make a game of guessing the flavours.

What You Will Need

• 300ml of milk• 350g of caster sugar• 100g of unsalted butter• 1tsp of vanilla extract

Website: active-minds.orgTelephone: +44 (0) 203 488 2001Email: info@active-minds.org

Active Minds, 117 Charterhouse Street, London, EC1M 6AA