Tandemgo by E-Seniors – Intergenerational activities in France

An Intergenerational “WII battle” (with interactive Nintendo games)

This intergenerational tournament, based on interactive Nintendo game consoles, was prepared jointly by the Cultural Center Daviel (where E-Seniors provides computer trainings), the Youth Information Point (PIJ), a group of students from University of Paris X, and the team of E-SENIORS.

We chose Wednesday, since Wednesdays in France are usually the days when grandparents take care of their grand-children.

A large poster had been prepared by the Center to announce the event and was visible at the entry.

The meeting took place in the large cafeteria area, which, being located at ground floor, is visible from the entrance.

We installed 2 game consoles (2 gaming corners), each connected to a video projector in order to obtain a larger visual field for the games, and to loudspeakers, as the spoken explanations are significant in the games.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_oFIGky1uUAI/SZ8PEuIhDbI/AAAAAAAAAXY/JxsZXb4SMFQ/DSC03099.JPG As we wanted to have mixed ages, we divided the participants into teams and registered on the whiteboard which was also used later to mark the results.

In the first part of the event, the intergenerational association “A l’Unisson" proposed some classic physical exercises to warm up the participants.

We started with Wii sports games, such as tennis and bowling, as they are multiplayer games.

The teams, waiting for their "turn", had the choice to: 

·        Observe the players and learn how to manipulate the joystick

·        Sit and talk around the tables enjoying drinks and cakes.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_oFIGky1uUAI/SZ8PFz_JKII/AAAAAAAAAYA/tNwu_z0jCEY/DSC03104.JPGSeveral senior students of E-SENIORS came, some of them with their young grandchildren. 

Young participants came from several neighborhoods in Paris (we believe that the interest came from the fact that Nintendo Company had given  a number of Wii game consoles to the City of Paris).

 

Following this event, additional sessions were planned and realized in other locations such as Hopital Paul Brousse,  Centre d’animation MJC Mercoeur and Centre d’animation Oudiné .

Training for animators was also developed in order to qualify more animators for this activity and enable its multiplication in other sites.