Are you looking for simple activities for your loved one? Is your loved one in the middle to advanced stages of Alzheimer’s?
These are a fun ideas you may want to try:
- Folding—while you are doing laundry, ask to help you fold washcloths and socks. If they are able to do more advanced folding, that’s also great. Even if you have to redo these tasks, thank them and praise them.
- Stringing—take a handful of cheerios, fruit loops, etc. and ask your loved one to slide these on the screen. Then you can either save them for Christmas {if it’s near} or put out for the birds to feed on.
- Sorting—gather a collection of buttons, rocks, spoons and forks, bottle caps, etc. and ask to sort these items. One reminder is to make sure they do not place these smaller items in the mouth.
- Coloring—working with dementia patients, I discovered they love to color
- Play Dough—allow them to make something out of play dough or even clay. This is a great activity for their hands.
- Name that….—whether you have a stack of pictures of Presidents, family members, friends or celebrities, you can play
Cut out coupons, pictures, or scriptures. You may want to considerable child’s scissors. “Name that Person” and ask to name. If the loved one doesn’t know, give them gentle hints and prompts.
- Dolls—you can cut out and color paper dolls, or find a doll or stuffed animal your loved one can hold and cuddle. We did this with one lady and just holding a doll helped her anxiety.
- Play Cards or Games—pick activities and games your loved one will enjoy playing and be able to follow and understand
- Roll a Ball of Yarn—take a ball of yarn and let your loved one roll it up into a ball
- Cut out pictures—give a magazine and ask your loved one to cut out pictures for you
Bonus Idea: What in the bag?—put a collection of various items in a bag and pull one out at a time. Allow your loved one to touch and feel and tell you what the item is.
Join the Conversation: What other activities have you tried?
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