How old is old?
When does someone become ‘old’? How about very old?! This is the question we started off with for our recent Linking Lifetimes workshop at Crowan school. Children personal responses were added on the age hoop to give us a starting point for what turned out to be a very interesting discussion about age.
What words do we associate with old people? How does this differ with young people? We come to the conclusion that actually most words could go with all ages.
8 faces, 8 stories to match
8 faces of people in their 90’s and 100’s appear on the whiteboard. What are our initial judgements of these people? This led to some very interesting reflections, allowing us to explore and challenge pre-conceptions.
8 incredible stories are revealed, one for each face. Can the children match the story to the face? More surprises, more discussion.
It’s a true pleasure to hear children work through their thoughts of older people and realise that we are all essentially the same. It’s important to break down any prejudices so that when we bring the children and adults together later on in the project, it is as meaningful as possible.
The ‘Linking Lifetimes’ project is kindly funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
