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Board game brings generations together

Board game brings generations together

  • Date23 July 2025

A board game that brings together children and older people in care homes has been developed to help bridge the generation gap between older adults and young people.

The Life Rivers Game Board

A board game that brings together children and older people in care homes has been developed to help bridge the generation gap between older adults and young people. The game was developed by Helen Kingstone, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature, who was inspired by her research into 19th century literature, which revealed that the generational divide was being discussed by the Victorians. 

Realising that people now live longer, and our lives revolve less around intergenerational family groups, Helen saw that generation gaps have widened even further. She helped to create the game, Life Rivers, to stimulate life discussions between the generations using a fun and easily understandable format. 

The game is played in ‘Shared Stories’ workshops, and uses questions and prompts to stimulate intergenerational conversations, such as, “Tell me about a memory from when you were little,” “When was the last time you were surprised?” and “What advice do you have for someone younger than you?”

Primary school children who played the game said that it showed them that older people “have been through difficult times but then we return back to normal,” while older participants welcomed the chance to “share our childhoods with each other, despite the age difference.”

Helen cites authors such as Margaret Oliphant, a Victorian novelist who wrote about society and domestic realism. She said: “Her work reveals that issues around aging and the difficulties communicating between generations have been discussed for far longer than we might think.” Keen to channel the research into action, Helen developed the game to use in workshops in schools, retirement homes and public spaces, to bring primary-school age children and retirees together.

The work is in partnership with InCommon, a charity connecting groups of young people with their older neighbours so they can share experiences, celebrate differences and learn from one another. This year, Helen and InCommon received funding from Royal Holloway and from the Ocean Regeneration Trust, a charity dedicated to supporting and improving the quality of life of residents of the Ocean Estate in Stepney.

The funding has helped them to set up more ‘Shared Stories’ workshops, with new activities and structures that celebrate the local community and share life stories through different games and media.

The Life Rivers Board Game

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