'National Stationary Week, 11-17 May

✍️ National Stationary Week 11-17 May

National Stationery Week celebrates the joy of writing, drawing, creativity and communication through traditional stationery items such as pens, pencils, notebooks, postcards, stamps and paper. It is also an opportunity to reminisce about how people once kept in touch before mobile phones, emails and social media became part of everyday life.

For many older adults, stationery can trigger powerful memories of school days, handwritten letters, fountain pens, exercise books, typewriters, pen pals, birthday cards and family postcards from holidays. These familiar objects and experiences can encourage conversation, storytelling and social connection within Cognitive Stimulation Therapy sessions.

The accompanying CST activity slides have been designed to promote:

• reminiscence and discussion

• memory and language skills

• orientation to past and present communication methods

• creativity and self-expression

• group interaction and confidence building

Activities include:

• long-term memory challenge - listing stationary items used in school

• reminiscence - about stationary use in school

• discussion - about changes in written communication from the 1980s to today

• memory quiz - about stationery items

• activity - writing your younger self a postcard

• activity - designing and making a vintage postcard

• activity - design a vintage postcard using ChatGPT (giving it instructions)

• musical memory - singing along with CST Songs Of The Day linked to writing and letters

The sessions aim to encourage multi-sensory engagement through familiar music, vintage imagery, conversation and visual prompts - helping to make activities enjoyable, meaningful and dementia-friendly.

Write A Postcard To Your Younger Self

This can be a positively validating experience for people living with dementia, depending on retained writing skills, with members undertaking some life review of achievements and experiences.

If people struggle with writing, you as a facilitator could ask them for their messages to their younger self and write the card for them.

Design Your Own Vintage Postcard

Provide blank postcards for members to illustrate through making a collage out of vintage imagery. Provide magazines etc for them to choose images from.

Make A Vintage Postcard Using ChatGPT

Instructions - Make a vintage postcard title Barry Island, Wish you were here

Add seagull, chips, stick of rock, man eating an ice cream, Nessa's Slots sign (required an upload of picture of Barry Island)

CST Songs Of The Day

The “CST Song Of The Day” slides use familiar, much-loved music to encourage singing, conversation, reminiscence and emotional connection within Cognitive Stimulation Therapy sessions. Music can often unlock long-term memories, stimulate discussion and help people feel more relaxed, engaged and included.

For National Stationery Week, the selected songs focus on themes of writing, letters, postcards, communication and memories from school days and earlier life experiences. Songs such as 'I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter', 'Please Mr. Postman' and 'Return to Sender' naturally encourage discussion about handwritten letters, pen pals, post offices, birthday cards and how people kept in touch before the digital age.

The slides are designed to:

• stimulate memory and conversation

• encourage singing along and participation

• promote social interaction and confidence

• support orientation alongside themed activities

• create enjoyable shared experiences

The accompanying imagery of vintage stationery, postcards, stamps, fountain pens and school equipment helps reinforce recognition and reminiscence, making the sessions both visually engaging and dementia-friendly.