Heart Full of Memories

Time

Reminiscence

4 3 2 1 Early-Mid Stages

Benefits

Participants

One to One

What you need

Large sheet of red or pink thick card, cut into a heart shape
Photos

Intro

We’ve all got photos tucked away in albums or gathering dust in drawers –and there are probably hundreds we haven’t even printed out yet. Memories of your wedding day, special birthdays and sunny days at the beach all hidden away from view. Well, it’s time to get them out!

This activity invites you to dig into your collections to reminisce and share the joy of your past, then pick your favourites to make a heart montage, so you can enjoy looking at them – every day.

The Activity

Spend time 1-on-1 at a set time or plan out a few sessions, as looking through someone’s cherished photos can take a long time
Lay out a small selection at a time
Ask the person to look at them and share their memories – if they’re struggling to communicate, look for visual clues on how each photo is making them feel and talk to them about it
As you go, ask questions about the photos. For example, if it’s of their wedding, ask, “Where do you get your outfit from?”, “Who was your best man?”, “Who was your bridesmaid?” etc
Invite them to choose their favourites for their heart montage, or pick ones for them that seem to bring back the happiest memories and put them to one side
Bring over another small selection and go through them, encouraging the person to share their memories and pick their favourites
Keep going until they’ve chosen all the photos they want to use (the session can go onto another day or time, if they wish)
Take the heart shape and encourage the person to arrange the photos on it
Once they’re in the right place, glue them down
Display the finished heart somewhere where they can see it every day and relive some of the most joyful days of their life