Whether your senior is in memory care, a nursing home or at home with you, you know the challenge of finding dementia-friendly activities you both enjoy.
Gardener. Photographer. Former Dentist. 80-Year-Old with Dementia.
A creative perfectionist with a solid sense of humor and a huge heart.
Loved to keep busy.
Sound like someone you know?
Meet John–our dad.
When his body and mind prevented him from doing all the things he did before, we dug deep to find worthwhile activities.
Here are 5 satisfying projects we pursued with our dad after his traumatic brain injury. All of them can be enjoyed while sitting and by someone with compromised fine motor and cognitive skills.
- Coin sorting
When there’s a lot that cannot be made sense of or organized in oneās mind, sorting coins can be very satisfying.
- Senior engagement time = 5-60 min.
- Supplies: A pile of various coins. Tray for sorting and rolling coins OR clear plastic cups. Optional: paper sleeves for rolled.
- Helpful: I kept a plastic container of coins and (when my dad wasnāt looking) kept putting the coins weād rolled back to resort and roll.
- āNo Failā Watercolor
My dad was frustrated when he couldnāt get the paint color right or would paint outside the lines. These watercolor sheets have picture outlines that come alive with color when they get wet. Once dry, they are reusable.
- Senior engagement time = 10-30 min.
- Supplies:Ā Reusable, no-fail watercolor sheets from Relish. Water container (low and heavy works well so itās not tipped over), watercolor paint brush, flat work surface, a few paper towels.
- āNo Failā Puzzles
These puzzles are wonderful for people who arenāt successful or even interested in typical jigsaw puzzles. My dad would match them and his roommate would just stack matching pieces on top of one another. My son made his own designs.
- Senior engagement time = 10-30 min.
- Supplies: Puzzle, flat work surface.
Iāll never forget the look of pleasure on my dadās face when he dug his hands into the potting soil. He loved to garden and working with the dirt and plants, even in this simple project, was very rewarding for him.
- Potted Gardening
Iāll never forget the look of pleasure on my dadās face when he dug his hands into the potting soil. He loved to garden and working with the dirt and plants, even in this simple project, was very rewarding for him.
- Senior engagement time = 30-60 min.
- Supplies: Large garbage bag or tarp (to cover flat work surface), a few small plants to and new pot(s) to transplant them into, extra potting dirt, spade shovel, small pitcher filled with water. This mini indoor gardening set and carrier provides simple tools and easy clean up. Optional: gardening gloves, apron.
- Pasta Making
My son helped my dad feed the rolled/flattened dough through the press while my dad cranked the handle. It was a great group project with the satisfaction of getting to eat fresh pasta afterwards. If you donāt have a crank pasta machine, they arenāt too expensive or perhaps you can borrow one.
- Senior engagement time = 1 hr.
- Supplies: Crank pasta maker, fresh pasta dough (premade pizza dough works too), extra all purpose flour, aprons, cookie sheet (for drying noodles), flat work surface.
- Helpful: Fresh pasta should be refrigerated and used within a few days.
May you find joy in loving one another well!
Note: We recommend these products because we loved them for our own dad and we wanted to save you time. Some of them may earn us a bit when you click on the link.
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