Reminiscence Bingo A group activity for your residents with memory loss.
The purpose of this great Montessori activity is to enable your residents to have fun playing bingo while
stimulating their long term memory, using their fine motor skills and practicing their reading skills. This game
can be played by 3 to 6 residents. Invite participants to sit around a table and give each of them 3 or 4 adapted
bingo cards. These cards show one word that provides the answer to a question asked by the leader. For example : ‘’Complete the
song title that starts with I’m Singing in the…’’
With the help of all participants, sing the song and discuss it. Then, the participant
with the ‘’Rain’’ card will turn it down and place it in front of him. If the task is too difficult for him, everybody can help him do it. If
you wish to have a winner, you can decide that the first one to have turned down all of his bingo cards wins. Each question is written
on an 8½’’ X 11’’ laminated cardboard card that you can show to everyone while you read the question aloud. Each adapted bingo card
is 3’’ X 10’’ and is printed with very large black on white letters for maximum readability.
This idea was developed by the Myers Research
Institute and has been tested and appreciated by hundreds of residents with dementia. We have adapted it with Canadian content.
New addition to the family, the set includes 24 questions related to food, 24 bingo cards. The rules and step-bystep
procedures, and it all comes in a very practical plastic envelope for handy storage.