Fun at every age
As people age, many face the challenge of living with dementia. It is often difficult to explain this to children and intergenerational connections can be lost when family members enter residential care.
The Forget Me Not program was designed to link school-aged children with older people. With grant funding from the Office for Ageing, UniSA and the City of Unley, the program facilitated lessons about dementia education for young people, linking them to their school curriculum and offering visits to aged care facilities.
Project aim and involvement
Forget Me Not teaches children communication skills and empathy while making them aware of dementia. In collaboration, schools provide guidance and expertise, which Council supports with transport and volunteer assistance. The program helps young participants be comfortable with older people and grows connections across generations.
Partners in the most recent Forget-Me-Not program earlier this year were Southern Cross Care and Unley Primary School. Sixty Year 5 students took part in the excursions, which involved fun activities with residents, including crafts and icing biscuits for shared afternoon teas.
Southern Cross provided resources and their staff were generous and helpful. Volunteers took photos, used to create a ‘Memento Book’ and colourful postcards to keep in touch with residents, which were appreciated during COVID restrictions.
Giant Games for intergenerational fun
The City of Unley Community development team has a range of giant games resources including Giant Jenga, Guess Who and Connect Four that are available for loan to community groups, aged care sites and schools to facilitate engagement across generations in a non digital way.
Whilst COVID-19 safe cleaning protocols and replacement costs do apply , the loan of equipment is free. For further queries contact Judith Lowe, Active Ageing Project Officer, on 8372 5711.
Visits were noisy but delightful; the children had interesting conversations with residents and brought genuine warmth to the activities. Our older citizens clearly welcomed these visits and enjoyed connecting with children from their community.
Forget Me Not resources
Program booklet(PDF, 2MB)
Memento book(PDF, 2MB)
Postcards(PDF, 2MB)
Interested in undertaking intergenerational visits?
If you wish to be involved in the project, contact the Active Ageing Project Officer at pobox1@unley.sa.gov.au