Dementia

Sow the seeds together and make sure they get water and sun. Who used to have a vegetable garden?

Gardening is a familiar domestic chore. In the communal vegetable garden on the table, bags of seeds appear which the players can plant. The suns and rain clouds allow the plants to grow. The result? A basket full of delicious vegetables!

TIP: Put on gardening gloves and it will feel like you’re actually outside!

Polish silverware by rubbing each piece. Enjoy the beautifully laid out table together.

Sharing a meal creates a sense of homeliness. Polishing silverware is a familiar task and the players are also challenged physically. The food that is eventually served provides topics for conversation. Cheerful jazzy tunes in the background make this activity even merrier.

TIP: Use a napkin as cleaning cloth to polish the silverware. Fun guaranteed!

Freely associate and create a set of two objects that belong together. That’s how you complete the sports sets!

In the middle of the table an object appears that has to do with sports. The players choose a logical combination from several pictures. What goes with a basketball…? A net! This way, people in the early to middle stages of dementia are cognitively challenged and there’s a social stimulus to start a conversation.

Tip: Incorporate breaks to get to know each other better. Who used to play sports?

Relax in the here and now with dancing lights, beautiful colours and soothing sounds.

Dancing lights move across the table. Are they fireflies or falling stars? This game provides people in the late stages of dementia with the opportunity to relax. Each movement leads to even more colour, sparkles and soothing music. All the players have to do is enjoy the moment. This multi-sensory experience can be compared to snoezelen.

Tip: Try using a soft tablecloth to stimulate tactile sensation.

Put all the puzzle pieces together and a familiar place is revealed! 

Colourful puzzle pieces float across the table. Once touched, they move into the right place. This social and familiar activity reveals a different iconic place in England with each puzzle. From Stonehenge to the Houses of Parliament! Travel across England from your table and share memories.

Tip: Buckingham Palace or a palace? Both answers are conversation starters!

Find the missing tile to complete this world famous numbers game

Rummy brings people together to complete simple number sets. By working as a group, or by splitting into teams and adding some gentle competition, players complete the game by finding the missing number in the series. Rummy, based on the much loved and popular card game, is a favourite across generations and provides a great opportunity for families to play together. Rummy has been developed through our co-design process for those in the early-to-mid stages of dementia.

Play an old-fashioned game of football inside without worrying about breaking a vase! 

A football pitch appears on the table, with a ball and two goals. Give the ball a push and try to score as many goalsas possible! This game challenges people in the early to middle stages of dementia with a clear purpose. The ball will stop moving if nobody touches it, so large movements and collaboration are required. Just like before!

Tip: Project the image on the floor and use your legs to play. Just like the real thing!

Guess the letters missing from the words and playfully practice language skills.

With this game players in the early to middle stages of dementia practice their language skills. On the table, common, recognisable five-letter words appear, with one letter missing. Which letter are we looking for? The players guess together and choose one of the options. When the correct letter is touched, players receive a visual and musical reward.

Freely associate and create a set of two objects that belong together. That’s how you complete the hobbies.

In the middle of the table an object appears that has to do with hobbies and activities in and around the house.The players choose a logical combination from several pictures. A watering can belongs to … a pot plant! This way, people in the early to middle stages of dementia are cognitively challenged and there’s a social stimulus to start a conversation.

Reveal musical pieces together by touching as many musical notes as possible.

The Sheet Music game encourages players to make music together. Musical notes are dancing across the table! When players touch the notes, a familiar melody is played. This gives them the sense of making the music themselves without any false notes. Play, sing or hum: everyone can participate. It’s sociable and fun!

Let the outdoors in and feed the birds that land on the table.

Roll the fat balls around and spread the bird feed across the table. Through the pleasant auditory sensation of twittering birds, this game evokes memories of times gone by. Even better: the birds aren’t skittish! If you’re careful, the birds will sit still and even let you pet them.

Wind the key by collecting music notes and enjoy the tunes that are played.

All the music notes have dropped from the music box. Gather them from the table and complete the piece of music. This game is relaxing and evokes beautiful memories. One person can touch the notes while others can enjoy the calming images and recognisable classic tunes: everyone can join in!

Three colourful kites dance across the table and will twist and turn once you touch them. Just like when you used to go to the beach or the park, you are totally engrossed in this riveting spectacle.

The game Kites creates a relaxing atmosphere in the room. The lively colours and zooming sounds really invite the players to move. The kites respond both to small and large intuitive movements and continually change the pattern they make across the table. Be amazed!

With this game you can play outside, inside! Get the tops to spin and pass them across the table.

Do the residents still remember how the tops used to sound when they bumped into each other on the street? This game breathes new life into a classic game once seen on nearly every street corner. The coloured ‘wooden’ spinning tops elicit physical activity and respond to even the lightest touch. Everyone can join in.

Make the stars floating across the table play a tune by touching them. A fast player may even catch a shooting star!

The relaxing Space game is full of little surprises. When the players touch the stars, they play a melody. Occasionally a star explodes into fireworks. This motivates the players to keep touching the stars and is a great game to play in the evenings to relax players and for those residents who may be awake at night.

Pop all the paint-filled balls and together paint a masterpiece! The more balls you pop, the closer you get to the real thing.

During the Masterpieces game, the players ‘paint’ landscapes and portraits of animals, without real paint being involved. The game has a high wow factor and gives immediate results. As more of the painting is continually revealed, the game keeps people’s attention.

Put all the puzzle pieces together and make the puzzle complete. The puzzles contain images that spark reminiscence of the past. 

The Nostalgia Puzzle game helps loved ones on their journey to do a familiar action that no longer comes automatically to them. When the players ‘take’ the pieces, they move into the right place themselves. The games are as fun for loved ones as they are for the grandchildren that come to visit them.

Give the beach ball a push and knock it back to your fellow players!

From when we are children we throw balls to each other, and for people with dementia this is a familiar action. The Beach Ball game leads to lots of social interaction and the players have a shared focus: the beach ball. It’s very good for one on one interaction or persuading someone around the table to join in. The ball cannot fall off the table, as it bounces off the edges. So, nothing can ever go wrong!

Pop the soap bubbles one by one with your finger, or use your arms so loads of them splatter against each other!

The Soap Bubbles game stimulates lots of movement and moreover has a relaxing effect through the supporting sound. Popping soap bubbles is a familiar action for your loved ones and gives a lot of results. Make more soap bubbles by touching the spinning wheel.

There are loads of butterflies fluttering across the table! Allow the butterflies to sit on your hand, or push them over to your fellow players.

The Butterflies game brings a relaxed atmosphere to the room. Ask everyone to be very quiet and still and put their hand on the table – can they catch a butterfly – or simply get one to land on their hand? The game has a very social side as the various butterflies spark conversations at the table. They attract attention and stimulate movement.

From ‘Mary had a little lamb’ to ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’: complete familiar rhymes. Together you remember more!

Rhymes and songs from the past are stored in our long-term memory. Therefore this game is suitable for people at different stages of the dementia journey. Little by little, familiar rhymes appear on the table when you brush the floating feathers. Everyone uses their own qualities. One person can read the sentence aloud, while others can finish the sentences or sing along.

Transform the table into a pond and try to catch the fish!

The Fish game has an enchanting effect on players, because nature is brought inside. Between the water lilies, fish swim from one player to another. The game invites players to reach out and try to catch the fish.

Touch the floating rings to see the first part of a famous saying. Try to complete the saying together!  

The Sayings game has a cognitive goal and works with the players’ long-term memory. But for those for whom the saying is not on the tip of their tongue, the game is also fun: if you touch the floating rings, a new part of the saying is revealed. There are over 50 sayings and their order is random.

Allow yourself to be surprised by the beautiful flowers covering the table. You can leave them to grow by themselves!

The Flowers game fascinates players due to the intense colours of the light projections and is great for those with visual impairments. By rubbing the flowers some of them will grow as big as the table, creating a joyful atmosphere. Moreover, the game has a strong social side, as it provides a great opportunity to talk about gardening, favourite flowers or colours.

A breeze covers the table with leaves. Brush the leaves off the table, either on your own or with others: many hands make light work!

The Leaves game invites players to make big hand and arm movements. The game brings back memories of walking on the garden path and brushing away leaves is a natural action for players that can be quite instinctive. They can even use a brush to make it more realistic. Ladybirds between the leaves ensure that they stay focused on the game.