Then & Now

🧠 Then & Now – CST Activity

Theme: Everyday life through the decades

Tagline: “Exploring how times have changed — and what’s stayed the same.”

Duration: 45–60 minutes

Best for: Mixed groups or pairs

Equipment: Printed “Then & Now” photo sheets (e.g., Entertainment, Food, School, Shopping, Fashion & Celebrities), whiteboard or flipchart, optional music clips.

🟢 Aims

• Stimulate long-term memory and storytelling.

• Encourage discussion about how daily life, technology, and habits have changed.

• Promote humour, curiosity, and shared reflection.

🟣 Materials

Prepare a set of widescreen “Then & Now” photo montages:

• Money: Pre-decimal coins and notes → Old shop till → Piggy bank → Cheque book → Bank card → ATM → Online banking

• Communication: Writing letters → Sending postcards → Old dial telephone → Phone boxes → Mobile phones → Smartphones → Text messaging → Emails → Video calling

• Entertainment: Cinema → Old radio → Black & White TV → Record player → Book → Colour HD TV → Video cassette → Walkman → Streaming a movie on your iPhone

• Shopping: Corner shop → Specialist shops eg Fishmonger → Death of high street → Green Shield Stamps → Out of town superstores → Online shopping and home delivery

• Food: Chip pan → Sunday roast → Veg box (grow your own) → Curry takeaway menu → Pot Noodle → Sushi

• School: Chalkboard → Bell → Pen and notebook → Calculator → Laptop and online class

• Fashion: Sunday best → Mini skirt → Platform shoes → Denims → Joggers and hoodie → Hipster

• Transport: Steam train with compartments → Bus conductor → VW Beetle & Mini → Oyster card → Uber taxi → SUVs & Range Rovers

• Celebrities: Various well known celebrities "Younger" and "Older" images

(Each can be printed on A4 or shown onscreen.)

🔵 Session Outline

1️⃣ Warm-up (10 minutes)

• Begin with a “decade quiz”: ask participants to name what decades certain items belonged to (e.g., “When did the Walkman appear?”).

• Play a few short music clips (e.g., 1950s rock ’n’ roll vs. 2020s pop).

2️⃣ Main Discussion (25 minutes)

Show one category at a time.Prompts for each:

• “Which of these do you remember using?”

• “What was your favourite?”

• “How has this changed for the better or worse?”

• “What did people do for fun before smartphones?”Encourage gentle debate and humour.

3️⃣ Reflection (10 minutes)

• “What changes have you enjoyed most over the years?”

• “What do you wish hadn’t changed?”Write key words on a flipchart to share later.

4️⃣ Creative Extension (optional)

• Then & Now collage: Ask participants to draw or cut out old/new versions of an item (e.g., postbox, train, fashion).

• Messages To My Younger Self Tree Of Life: Ask participants to draw or cut out leaves to hang on an old or made tree branch and then write messages to their younger selves. Members could also bring in photos of their younger selves to hang on the tree.

• Music & memory: End with a “Then & Now” song pair (e.g., “When I’m Sixty-Four” vs. “Happy”).

💬 Conversation Prompts

• “What was your first TV show or movie memory?”

• “Where did you go food shopping when you were young?”

• “Which fashions made you laugh?”

• “Do you prefer hand-written letters or emails?”

🌟 Follow-up Ideas

• Make a “Then & Now Memory Board” for the group wall.

• Invite family to bring old photos showing how things looked back then.

• Post highlights on your CST group blog or activity wall with a link to www.simondementia.co.uk.

Discuss changes in the money we use and how we spend it.

Money: Pre-decimal coins and notes → Old shop till → Piggy bank → Cheque book → Bank card → ATM → Online banking

Was it easier to use real money in the 19060s and 70s, or is paying for things using a swipe card or online better?

When is the last time you wrote a cheque?

Who likes or dislikes getting cash out of an ATM?

How much more expensive are things today?

Discuss how the ways in which we communicate with one another have changed over time.

Communication: Writing letters → Sending postcards → Old dial telephone → Phone boxes → Mobile phones → Smartphones → Text messaging → Emails → Video calling

When was the last time you wrote a letter or postcard?

How much is a first class stamp today? (£1.70)

Who still has a dial phone or landline?

Who uses a smartphone or laptop to send text messages or emails?

Discuss the ways in which how we entertain ourselves have changed over time.

Entertainment: Cinema → Old radio → Black & White TV → Record player → Book → Colour HD TV → Video cassette → Walkman → Streaming a movie on your iPhone

How have our entertainment devices changed, from black and white TV to streaming movies on handheld devices?

What was the first movie you remember seeing at the cinema?

Who still has a record player and vinyl record collection (33rpm)?

Which members listen to music or the radio on their iPhone?

Discuss the changes over time in how we do the shopping.

Shopping: Corner shop → Specialist shops eg Fishmonger → Death of high street → Green Shield Stamps → Out of town superstores → Online shopping and home delivery

Was it better to have specialist shops on the high street?

Is it easier going to a superstore?

Who used to save 'Green Shield Stamps'? (Now 'Argos')

Who does online shopping and has it delivered?

Discuss how cooking and the food we eat has changed over time.

Food: Chip pan → Sunday roast → Veg box (grow your own) → Curry takeaway menu → Pot Noodle → Sushi

How have our cooking and eating habits changed over time?

Discuss kitchen equipment from chip pan, steamer, microwave to air fryer.

Who still sits down for a Sunday roast?

Did anyone grow their own veg?

Have take aways, ready meals and "Just add boiling water" foods improved our wellbeing or made us unhealthy?

What about the increased availability of "foreign" foods and TV cooking shows?

Discuss the ways in which school has changed over the years.

School: Chalkboard → Bell → Pen and notebook → Calculator → Laptop and online class

Who remembers having a bottle of warm milk every day at school?

Are people losing the ability to use handwriting and do maths?

What about corporal punishment - dis anyone get the cane?

Are the internet and laptops making us more learned or intelligent?

Discuss the ways in which fashions have changed over time.

Fashion: Sunday best → Mini skirt → Platform shoes → Denims → Joggers and hoodie → Hipster

Who still wears "Sunday best"?

When is the last time you dressed up in your "glad rags"?

Who wore a mini skirt or platforms?

How have hairstyles changed over time?

What about the new "casual" look - joggers, trainers, hoodies?

Or the "Hispter look"?

Discuss the ways in which transport and especially public transport has changed over the years.

Transport: Steam train with compartments → Bus conductor → VW Beetle & Mini → Oyster card → Uber taxi → SUVs & Range Rovers

Who remembers steam trains with carriages that had compartments?

Who preferred to have a bus conductor?

Who had a VW Beetle or Mini?

What do people think of the "Chelsea Tractors" (massive SUVs)?

How has traffic increased over the years - remember how quiet the roads used to be on a Sunday?

Print off the images or open a slide show by clicking on the first image.

Ask members to identify the younger and older celebrities pictured.

Who has worn well; who is worse for wear?

Who has had work done?

Here are some song recommendations ...

Make a 'Tree Of Life' with members writing messages to their younger selves on leaves to hang on it.

Ask members to bring in photo of their younger self (preferably a copy) to hang on the tree.

Display it proudly & send a copy to simondementia@gmail.com for inclusion in the 'Creative Arts Gallery'.