Intergenerational Creativity
Creating, Playing & Learning Together at Every Age & Stage of Life
Intergenerational Art Making During a Pandemic?
Here’s What’s Happening Now!
In September 2021, I started a new intergenerational arts project called “Creating Across Generations”. I’m very grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for the funding and opportunity to coordinate and facilitate this creative project. Now that the school year has wrapped up, we are in the final phase of the project. The whole project (stories, collaged backdrops, puppet stages, puppets & props) are on display at the Ludmila Gallery in downtown Peterborough! Viewer response has been enthusiastic and positive. I’m so proud of the 150 participants who either wrote the stories, collaged beautiful backdrops, created stages, made the puppets or performed the puppet shows. You are all amazing!
Here is what happened in each of the 4 phases of the project:
In October and November 2021, I facilitated a “creative storytelling” process developed by TimeSlips, to support 50 residents at Fairhaven Long Term Care in Peterborough to write 35 original stories. A photo was used as the initial prompt in order to kick-start the storytelling process. As participants shared their ideas to advance the story, I wrote everything down on a flip chart in exactly the way they said it. Everyone’s ideas came together to co-create an original story. The process was fun, inclusive, and stress-free. Imaginations were sparked, there was much fun and laughter and all voices were heard and honoured.
In January and February 2022, those stories were shared with 50 grade 3 and 4 students at Edmison Heights Public School for Phase 2 of the project.
Students read the stories from Phase 1 and collaged scenes of the background for the stories. The collaged boards were 18 inches long by 12” high and were designed to fit into the boxes that would eventually become a puppet stage.
From March to the end of June 2022, 50 grade 5 & 6 students worked together in 18 groups to build table top puppet stages from small moving boxes with the same dimensions (18” by 12”) as the collaged backdrops created in Phase 2.
The grade 5 & 6 students then made the characters for whichever story they were working on. All 50 students made a different character from one of the 18 stories chosen to become a puppet show. The puppets were jointed with a rod connected to the top of the puppets’ heads. This allowed the student (as the puppeteer for their puppet) to manipulate the puppet’s actions from behind the stage.
Everyone learned about puppetry techniques and began the process of rehearsing and performing the stories. I carefully edited the stories to become scripts, while protecting the integrity of the original story and honouring the voices of the story creators.
The puppet shows were filmed so they could be shared with the residents at Fairhaven, family members, friends, the larger community of Peterborough and with YOU!
Phase 4 is all about sharing the project with others. This is being done through a public art exhibit at the Ludmila Art Gallery in Peterborough, Ontario. The exhibit runs from July 1st to July 24th 2022.
The videos can be accessed below and will living on YouTube for everyone to enjoy for an indefinite period of time. It is our desire to inspire others to create similar arts-based intergenerational projects. It is a wonderful way to create connection and joy!
Once again, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the Ontario Arts Council for funding this awesome project!
While the puppets and stages were on display at The Ludmila Gallery, I had the honour and pleasure of being interviewed by Dr. Elizabeth Russell and graduate assistant, Jordan Till, from Trent University’s Trent Centre for Aging and Society. This video is the outcome of that interview!
“Creating Across Generations” Interview with TCAS (Trent Centre for Aging and Society)
All the puppet shows were filmed and enjoyed by the entire Creative Team of residents from Fairhaven Long Term Care Home, Grade 3 & 4 students, and Grade 5 & 6 students from Edmison Heights Public School in Peterborough, Ontario. You can check out each of the 18 puppet shows here!
We hope you enjoyed “Creating Across Generations”!
Building & Strengthening Relationships Within a Family, Classroom, Organization or Community
Have an “All in the Family” Workshop
Bringing family members together to honour and engage with your person with dementia is a wonderful way to create “new” family memories. We are happy to accommodate your ideas and creative goals for a family project. A process that works really well, is to work together within your family unit to create a puppet to represent each person in the family. When the puppets are made, the stories can be told. Using story prompts, the group can engage in some playful puppet improv that is designed to get the stories flowing. It’s also an ideal way to share with your loved one, the qualities you most love about them. The workshop and storytelling can be filmed so you have a keepsake of this special time shared with one another. Many families like to use the film and/or puppets at the “Celebration of Life” when that time comes. Artful Connections brings all the puppet making materials and facilitates the process of creating puppets, teaching simple puppeteering techniques, and guiding you through the process of puppet improv.
Let Imagination & Creativity Replace Lost Memories
Caring for a person with dementia is tough. When a person you care for loses their memories; family, friends and caregivers feel guilty, confused and frustrated because they don’t know how to navigate changes in personality and behaviours that result from memory loss and other changes in the brain.
When memories you used to share are no longer accessible to your person with dementia, it's time to shift the focus to IMAGINATION & CREATIVITY. A "Creative Care" approach to caregiving allows you to shape "life with dementia" together, in a way that is engaging, joyful and meaningful.
At Artful Connections we offer creative & engaging workshops for people with dementia, that spark imagination and take the pressure off of remembering. We also facilitate workshops & design resources for caregivers, to teach creative strategies & activities that build meaningful connection and many moments of shared joy with the person or people you care for.
Our workshop offerings for Long Care and Retirement Homes, not only spark imagination and creativity for the people who live there, but also provide invaluable coaching and training for Activity Staff so they can keep the joy and connection growing for even more residents.
Intergenerational Projects with Community Partners
There is so much magic that happens when young people and elderly people have the opportunity to learn together, create together, and play together. It is the very definition of connection & joy!
Every Intergenerational project is unique due to the collaborations between the group of elders, the age of the ‘younger generation’, participating artists, and other community partners. Shelley King of Artful Connections uses her skills as a community arts coordinator and artist/puppeteer to bring collaborators together and coordinate the process of making intergenerational magic.
In the 2 videos below, storytelling through puppetry was the medium for learning and sharing “life” stories between elders living in long term care and elementary school-aged children. Participants co-created with puppet characters and a storyboard based on those stories. The seniors took on the role of directing the stories as the younger generation brought them to life through the art of puppetry. Audiences made up of family members, friends, staff & community, came together to enjoy, honour and celebrate the seniors' stories.
If you are interested in hosting an arts-based, intergenerational project for your organization, place of work, or school, please contact us through the button below.
Take a peek at 2 previous Intergenerational arts based projects in Peterborough, Ontario.
