Looking for a variety of activities to do with people with dementia? Check out these easy and meaningful ones.
Activities To Do With People With Memory Loss
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Listen To Music-It does not seem to matter the type of dementia that someone has. Music is truly a universal language. I have noticed over the years that family members and friends that have dementia, respond well to music no matter the stage of their memory loss. Music seems to trigger something deep inside. Although any type of music player will do, if someone is in the earlier through late middle stages of dementia, they may enjoy being able to operate a radio themselves that can be preloaded with songs. Also, anytime that they can enjoy a live music performance, jump at the opportunity.
Listen To Audiobooks-Just as hearing music can be a great joy to people with dementia, so can listening to audiobooks. Individuals with memory loss may especially enjoy hearing books that were popular in their youth. One neat thing about the music player above is that you can also download audiobooks to it.
Work A Puzzle With Large Pieces-These puzzles offer a good way to keep the fingers moving and the mind challenged for a bit. Once the puzzles are put together, you can talk about the scenes on them.
Enjoy Aqua Painting Books-With a few brushstrokes of water the paintings spring to life with color and scenery. After 20 minutes of drying the paper will fade back to white, allowing scenes to be painted again and again. Lots of different aqua painting subjects are available including farm life, animals, gardens, ocean life, everyday life, and more.
Do Some Good, Old Fashioned Coloring-Grab some colored pencils, markers or crayons and some simple coloring books, and you are off to the races. A variety of coloring books are available that are designed for adults with memory issues.
More Activities To Do With People With Dementia
Work Some Word Searches-Puzzles are in large print and vary in level of difficulty starting with 3 letter words and working up. Print and picture activities.
Look At Memory Book Or Old Photos-As people progress through dementia they often find themselves moving back in time. Their minds may dwell in long ago memories and looking at old photos can really delight them.
Set Up A Mini Garden-Planting and tending to some flowers, vegetables, and herbs in a garden box can be relaxing for everyone and an ongoing activity.
Decorate Flower Pot-Speaking of gardening, how about dressing a flowerpot up with stickers, non-toxic paint, or other.
Create Some Painted Rocks-When you get done with the flowerpots, why not work on making some painted rocks.
Make A Collage-All that is needed is some construction paper and some Elmer’s glue sticks. Let the person tear up their own pieces of construction paper to glue on another construction paper sheet or cut for them.
Decorate Cookies-Some sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies make a great canvas and yummy eats when completed.
Make Mini Pizzas-Use English Muffins as the base. Add some pizza sauce and a choice of toppings.
Exercise-Chair stretches and chair yoga, walks, and stationary bike cycling can be great activities to maintain fitness and flexibility as long as the person’s physician okays it.
Watch An Old Movie-With all of today’s channels and streaming services, a number of old movies are available at any time.
Would you like additional, helpful caregiving resources, check out:
