Nursery kids star in TV show 'The Toddlers Who Took On Dementia'

Three and four-year-olds are central to an investigation into whether toddlers can help older people with dementia, as the stars of a new BBC documentary broadcast tonight.

The Toddlers Who Took On Dementia, scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One Wales on 23 May, is a new televised social experiment involving a group of nursery children who spend three days at a dementia day care centre in Colwyn Bay.

Academics from Bangor University devised different activities for the children and adults (aged in their 70s and 80s) to do together which relate to the elderly person's hobbies when they were young.

Each adult in the programme has a formal diagnosis of dementia or significant memory loss.

Psychologists observed the interactions between young and old to assess what benefits the children brought to those with dementia.

'I don't know what's the matter with me'

In the documentary, David and Leo share their love of cars by taking a ride in a vintage Austin Westminster.

Little Leo’s mum said of her son: “He’s just a lovely little boy. Very chatty.

"Loves cars. He was having quite a lot of meltdowns. Getting very frustrated because of his lack of speech. He was diagnosed with ASD which is Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Leo and David are seen smiling and chatting happily to each other during the programme.

Speaking to the camera crew, David later confides: “I don’t know what’s the matter with me really. I just don’t know. Crazy ain’t it?"

But at the sight of a BBC camera crew, Dot had initially told a carer: “I wouldn’t have come here if I’d have known today. Because I don’t like anything like this.”

But despite her misgivings, Dot cracks a smile when she sees the children enter the room. When decorating a cake with four-year-old Arji, Dot helps him with the cake knife telling him tenderly: “Be careful. Be careful darling.”

'Oh! He's a nice little one!'

Arji also spends time painting and making hats with 76-year-old Peter who does not seem to take much notice.

But later, Peter is seen smiling with the group and singing along to a song. When shown a photograph of Arji he says: “Oh! He’s a nice little one!”

But when asked if he had been doing any activities with him he said: “Not to my knowledge.”

The narrator of the documentary said: “Time with Arji appears to have made a big difference for Peter.

"For the experts its proof that good moments can reap benefits for people with dementia, even if they can’t recall them later.”

The Toddlers Who Took On Dementia will be shown on BBC One Wales on 23 May at 9pm.