The people living at Windmill Lodge Care Home in Brixton recently took a trip down memory lane thanks to a reminiscence activity.
Lifestyle Coordinator Grace gathered a variety of different objects from the past, letting everyone pass them around and give them a look and a feel. Often, stories are attached to different nostalgic objects, so Grace hoped that this would promote some interesting stories.
When Olive held the comb, she recounted the story of when the school nurse would comb her and her classmates’ hair to remove lice. Many residents identified with this story, sharing similar ones that featured their own school nurses and even their mothers!
One of Iris’ most surprising things that she picked up was the stuffed Salamander lizard. She said that it reminded her of her time in Guyana as a little girl, where she lived with her father. She used to chase lizards around the place while her father worked. Her story reminded Grace of her time in Nigeria, where she would see little children chasing lizards around. In fact, when Grace’s nephew was four years old, he chased them as he yelled “Mum see, little Godzillas!”
The stuffed dog was also a popular item, with residents taking it in turns to hold it. William said that the dog was “What his parents could not afford”, and that he had always wanted one, so it was nice to cuddle it now.
This was a fantastic reminiscence session, filled with many wonderful stories of the past.