I have a photograph in my office of an older man and a young teen, each wearing nearly identical t-shirts. The teen’s shirt says, “Talk to old people; they know cool stuff you don’t.” The older gentleman’s shirt reads, “Talk to young people; they know cool stuff you don’t.”
How true! We have a lot to learn from each other.
The holidays present many opportunities for families to make meaningful connections between people of multiple generations and learn from each other. That said, families can struggle with how to do that when people from different political, generational, cultural, and religious perspectives often seem worlds apart.
If that sounds like your family, perhaps these ideas will inspire meaningful connections that bypass divisive topics and connect the generations in positive ways.
Tap wisdom.
Older adults have a wealth of experience and a storehouse of family tradition just waiting to be tapped.
Ask older members of the family to share their favorite traditions and what they’d be willing to teach others. You might be surprised at what traditions they cherish and would like to pass down. It could be somethings as traditional as a favorite cookie recipe or something more surprising like ukulele playing, oral storytelling, or more.
Whatever their cherished tradition or skill, find a way to incorporate an opportunity for them to share it with others. Provide tools and space for others to bake the cookies, try the ukulele, or learn to spin a tall-tale Grandpa style.
Conversely, give younger family members the opportunity to shine and be the teacher. Ask what knowledge or skill the younger set would like to impart to the older members of the clan.
It might be something highly useful like how to video chat. Or it could be something quite silly like how to do the “floss” dance my great-nephew taught me a few years ago – the one my kids say I must never (ever!) do in public.
Storytelling and archiving.
Sharing stories is a powerful way to connect the generations. Often all that is needed is a few conversation starters to get the stories flowing. Recording the conversation will preserve the family history – and voices – of family and friends for future generations.
A few conversation starters could be:
— Your idea of a perfect day.
— The nicest thing anyone ever did for you.
— A value you’d like to pass on to future generations.
— The funniest thing that ever happened to you.
— The thing you’re most proud of.
Play together.
Ask members of different generations to bring their favorite game from their childhood and share it with others. It could lead to a rousing game of Hide the Thimble (yes, that’s a game and yes, I’m good at it), Euchre, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Twister (I’m proud to say I survived a Thanksgiving game or two of twister with the grandkids without injury.), or even an online game the younger set teaches older members. Who knows, perhaps the generations will be playing together online long after the holidays are over.
Flip through family photo albums
A picture really is worth a thousand words and often leads to sharing stories younger members of the family didn’t know. Dig out the family picture albums and go through them together. A walk down memory lane for you might be a discovery of unique and interesting family history for others.
Another meaningful activity is to create a scrapbook together. Ask family and friends to bring a few of their favorite photographs – old or new – to add to the collective scrapbook. Whether you choose to do a hard copy version or use a digital platform to create your scrapbook, creating a project together creates connections. Capturing who is in the picture and any amusing, interesting, or unusual facts will make the scrapbook a family treasure. Whether you use these or other ideas, finding ways to connect the generations is time well spent. As a bonus, you might learn cool stuff you didn’t know.