Online reminiscence

Image credit: BAE Systems

Use the materials we have

You can look through a series of photos of some of the items in the boxes. Clearly, this is not as good as getting to touch the items themselves, but hopefully they are still interesting to look at. The items come with a small piece of information explaining what it is, and there are a series of questions you can think about. Why not look at these photos with a family member or friends and discuss the questions? You can send them the link and do this digitally in different places then discuss your thoughts on the phone or video call. If you work in a care home you could print the images and talk to your residents about them. Do they have any similar memories of the items?

Your own personal reminiscence

Sharing your own personal stories is also great. They can remind us of happier, freer times, and it is great to share these stories with your loved ones. Here are three ideas that you can use to share memories and thoughts with your loved ones.

1. Your favourite holiday

Here are some questions you can ask your family and friends. These are especially great for children to ask grandparents. No need to be in the same room, you can talk online. Why not ask them to share some photos of the holiday too. Here are some questions that could help:

• Where did you go?

• When did you go?

• Who were you with?

• What made the holiday so special?

• What did you do there? Think about sights you saw, places you visited, landmarks or unusual sights you might have seen?

• What did you eat?

• Did you learn any new words or language?

• Have you ever been back?

• What was your favourite thing about that place?

2. Your favourite journey by aeroplane

Tell us your favourite journey by aeroplane. It might have been travelling somewhere special, going for an important reason, or even a special aeroplane. This is also something you can talk about in person, but we are starting a # online for people to share their stories in a wider community too.

Here are some examples:

• “My favourite journey by aeroplane was from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. It was a small plane with only a few passengers. We flew over the Hoover Dam and lots of desert! The whole landscape was very red and breath taking, then we saw the Grand Canyon below us. The scale was hard to fathom!”

• “My favourite journey by aeroplane was from London to Vancouver, we flew over the Arctic and could see icebergs from the window. It was so cool!”

3. Plan a virtual holiday

It may be that you do not have a particular holiday highlight that springs to mind. Maybe you are feeling disappointed as a holiday has been cancelled. Why not work together to learn about a new place from home. Remember, money is no object when you are travelling virtually! Here are some ideas to consider:

• Where would you like to go?

• What would you see there?

• What would you do?

• What would you eat?

• What would you hear? Would you learn any new words?

Resources that may help:

• Maps and streetview

• Online tours of museums and images of landmarks

• Watch documentaries or TV shows about the place

• Read books set in that place, or books written by an author from that city

• Try a recipe from that country

• Learn some new words in the language they speak in that country *if you chose somewhere in the UK can you find a new regional word from that area? Or find a historical word we don’t use any more – some of them are very funny!

• Read travel blogs written by people who have been there

• If you know someone who has visited, why not ask them what it was like?

Thanks to the below organisations who sponsored the reminiscence sessions.