Learning through intergenerational play: what can people living with dementia and school children learn from each other (LIP).

This project will be an intergenerational exploration of the way play can be used to support learning, social connections and interpersonal skills. The project will work with a Northampton primary school and a local dementia service, whose focus is to support people living with dementia through a lifelong learning programme, called the Brain Gym. The pupils and the Brain Gym members will come together to cocreate a project exploring the use of play in learning across different age groups and different learning/educational contexts, including trialing games and sharing oral histories. The project will also engage with the educators on how play can be integrated into learning settings that fosters social interactions. The perceptions of play as an educational tool will be assessed qualitatively throughout the project. The project will lead to the creation of an open access compendium of games and playful activities, that supports intergenerational activities, learning and connection.

This project explored the experiences of how young and older generations view play. A local dementia service and a local primary school worked together to share what play means to them and to lead workshops where they played games and talked about childhood and adult games. The findings will lead to a guide on how to run intergenerational workshops based on playfulness and games.