Residents at a Selston care home and the children of its on-site nursery have been sharing the classic toys behind some of Toy Story's best-loved characters, ahead of Toy Story 5 arriving in cinemas this Thursday (18 June).
Wren Hall, the specialist dementia care home run by Church Farm Care, shares its site with Little Wrens Nursery, and the two generations came together for an afternoon of traditional play featuring a Mr Potato Head, an Etch A Sketch, a Jack in the Box and a classic push-down spinning top.
Versions of the first three all appear in the Pixar films, so for the children, they were characters they had only ever seen on screen, while for the residents, they were the toys of their own childhoods – decades before Pixar made them famous.
The result was a role reversal worthy of the films themselves, with residents showing the children how to twist an Etch A Sketch dial, pump the handle of the spinning top and wind a Jack in the Box, then waiting for the inevitable jump.
Janet Jeffrey, 79, a resident at Wren Hall, said: "I had toys like these when I was a girl, so it was lovely to show the children how they worked. Seeing their faces when the Jack in the Box popped up brought back so many memories.”
Courtney Price, Manager at Little Wrens Nursery, said: "The children know these toys from the films, so getting to play with the real thing was very exciting for them. Watching them wind up a Jack in the Box for the first time, with no idea what was coming, was priceless, and it sparked some lovely conversations with the residents."
For residents living with dementia, familiar toys from childhood can unlock memories and conversation in a way few other activities can, which is why intergenerational play sits at the heart of life at Wren Hall. The home runs a regular programme of shared activities between residents and the Little Wrens children throughout the year.
