Intro
So many Christmases, so many memories… and a whole lot more in photos! It’s always lovely dipping into albums to re-experience the warm fuzzy feeling of seeing the family together opening presents – or funnier moments, like Aunty Gertie burning the turkey.
Before Santa arrives this year, why not dig out your festive favourites and mount them onto a paper tree? The joy isn’t just in admiring your decoration – it’s also in the process of reminiscing over all those wonderful years
What you need
- Large sheet of green card, cut into a simple Christmas tree shape
- Coloured glitter (biodegradable if possible) to add a bit of sparkle to the tree
- Glue
- Photos
The Activity
- Set aside enough time or plan a few sessions with one person as this activity can take a while
- Lay out a small selection of photos onto the table
- Ask the person to look at the photos and share their memories
- If the person struggles to communicate, look for visual clues on how each photo is making them feel and talk to them about it
- Ask questions about the photos as you go
- Once they have chosen some photos, or indicated that a photo sparks a happy memory, put them to one side
- Keep looking at more photos in small batches and talking about them together
- When all the photos are ready, get your paper Christmas tree out
- Encourage the person to arrange their photos on the tree
- Once in place, glue them down
- Decorate the tree by scattering glitter around the images
- Pop the tree up somewhere nearby so they can feel happy and Christmassy whenever they look at it