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Bi-Folkal Program Kits
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To locate in the MHLS
public library catalog, in Keyword
search, type Bi-Folkal. Kits Available for loan to MHLS member libraries through
the Interlibrary Loan Department at x24 or through the online
form:
The Ideas Behind Bi-Folkal Kits
The following information is from Bi-Folkal
Productions, Inc.
Bi-Folkal Kits
Are Multi-Sensory
All five senses
trigger memories and transmit information. In any group program, the more
senses you involve, the more people you involve. And the more you involve
them.
- Sight. A picture is worth a thousand memories when you look at it with an older adult. A single photograph of Main Street fifty years ago can prompt an entire afternoon of memories. Hand-held photographs and pictures are great for individuals and small groups. But for larger groups, use slides. What's so great about slides? See the introductory page for Slideas.
- Sound. Music is the universal language. Without saying a word, it can remind us of the occasions of our lives - the events, the celebrations, the transitions. In addition to sing-along songs and mood music, Bi-Folkal kits include stories to listen to and discuss.
- Smell. "Nothing awakens a reminiscence like an odor," according to Victor Hugo. We include scented stickers in several of our kits. People scratch, sniff, and remember.
- Taste. Food provides some of the programming opportunities that are the most fun - and the most involving. Our program manuals suggest things to taste to remember the kit topic. And there are recipes for things to make and eat - corn dogs to remember county fairs, butternut squash soup for fall.
- Things to touch. To touch is to make a connection - with an item or texture, with the person passing the object, and perhaps with the memory of a time or a place or an event long since forgotten. Each of our kits includes things to touch related to the kit topic - a silky stocking, a tin cup, a yo-yo, a flour sack, baseball cards, marbles. Do touch!
Bi-Folkal Kits Begin
With Remembering
Remembering is the first word of every kit title, and it's the first focus
of every item we produce. Reminiscence programs can meet many needs: the need
of the family to know and embrace its history; the need of older adults to
put their lives in perspective; and the need of the community to understand
and honor the accomplishments of earlier generations.
Bi-Folkal Kits Can
Make History
All you need is a Bi-Folkal kit and some older adults. Put them together and
what do you get? Eye-witness accounts of the past - his story, and her story,
too. With a Bi-Folkal kit, you can do it. The memories of people's best times
- and other times, too -are waiting to be collected and preserved. Bi-Folkal
kits are just the ticket for the time machines ready to depart from the senior
center, Grandma's birthday party, a historical society meeting, a nursing
home, or the folks' golden anniversary celebration. Anywhere that the experienced
and the curious get together, a Bi-Folkal kit can go, to bring back old memories...and
to create new ones.