This is a wonderful multi-sensory activity for residents living with dementia.
In planning this activity, gather props relevant to songs to use as sensory stimulation.
For instance, for the songs suggested you could consider:
Seat four or five residents in a semi-circle; close enough to be able to pass objects to each other but do not over-crowd them.
Show them an item and ask which song it reminds them of.
Pass the item around and wait for each person to express their opinions.
You may hum the song to assist them. The songs for the above objects are:
Do not feel discouraged if at first there is little response, it pays to persevere in my experience.
As with all activities there should be a starting and a finishing point, so residents can look forward to the next session. Half an hour to 45 minutes is adequate.
Point out colors in a resident's clothes and ask them to remember songs with those colours;
Idownloaded several songs on spotify and had all my props together
I used the following songs:-
Green Green Grass of home and had a bag of fresh grass
Im forever blowing bubbles - whilst blowing bubbles
Teddy bear by elvis presley-using a teddy bear
Singing in the rain - using an umbrella
Well the residents absolutley loved it especially im forever blowing bubbles the smiles and delight on the face of the residents brought tears to my eyes. I got as much out of this activity as the residents did. Thank you so much for suggesting such a wonderful, special Idea.
Leanne