Ludoland a.s.b.l.
Spiller allerhand
Promoting elderly inclusion through an Intergenerational play framework
An Erasmus+ project co-funded by the European Union has been launched by Ludoland in partnership with the Instituto de Apoio à Criança (IAC). The aim of this project is to use play in an intergenerational context and to deliver practical resources to professionals involved in active ageing.
This project has been named PEARL (Playing to Engage Active Relationships for Lifelong connection). Through this name, we wanted to convey wisdom and to emphasise the preciousness of elderly in our society. The Luxembourgish artist STICK found the perfect logo to summarize the spirit of this project: The Cane in the P playing with a ball and a dice, just to remind us that there is no limit of age to have fun, and the thread crossing the letters as a metaphor to illustrate the link between generations.
The motivation behind the project
◊ Play occurs at all ages of life, it is a natural bridge between generations.
◊ Play in itself is a source of pleasure and sharing. It is a fundamental need that helps to create connection between young people and elderly.
◊ On a second level, plays allows the elderly to exercise their memory and to maintain their motor skills and intellectual capacity.
◊ Intergenerational play also improves the positive perception of each group of age vis-à-vis the other one.
Source: Ludoland
The purpose of the project
The objective of the PEARL project is to design an efficient play framework to foster intergenerational relationships and to support cognitive and motor skills of elderly.
The output of the project will leverage on the experiences of the partners to implement and to evaluate the results of a 9-month pilot program on intergenerational play. The pilot sessions will occur in Luxembourg and will involve the following participants:
◊ APEMH Haus Amitié / Primary school Mondorf
◊ Club Kordall Aktiv / Primary school Differdange centre
◊ Résidence An de Wisen / Maison de jeunes de Bettembourg
◊ Servior Differdange / Foyer de jour Am Stram Gram
The information collected during the sessions will be used to deliver a resource package and a training program that will be disseminated to professionals working in intergenerational programs aimed at fostering active ageing. The resource package will comprise two products:
◊ a practical manual to analyse the specific context of intergenerational play and, accordingly, to set up play spaces and select games in a consistent and sustained way; and
◊ a catalog listing the relevant games to be used with a classification and analysis of their characteristics and required skills.
This resource package will be used as a basis for conducting a training program, at both the national and EU levels. The results of the PEARL project aim to improve the daily practices of professionals, who will benefit from educational and training resources and act as multiplier agents to foster elderly inclusion through intergenerational play.
Project management timeline
