While it may seem difficult to help loved ones living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, there are plenty of activities and games that you can participate in together that are not only enjoyable, but also provide beneficial stimulation.
Dementia — resulting from diseases like Alzheimer’s — makes memory and other types of thinking difficult for people, usually older adults, resulting in difficulty with everyday activities on their own. Friends and family can help ease the challenge of doing these daily activities alone, but they can also play a vital therapeutic role by encouraging and participating in stimulating games and activities with their loved ones.
While providing a fun and positive experience, these activities can also reduce anxiety, depression and agitation. They can also play a role in enhancing mood, maintaining cognitive function and promoting emotional wellbeing.
Table of Contents
- Activities for Seniors With Dementia
- Games to Stimulate the Mind
- Physical Activities & Exercise
- Sensory Activities to Calm and Engage
- Activities for Visitors in Memory Care Communities
Activities for Seniors With Dementia
Simple, Everyday Activities to Do at Home
Many activities beneficial for those living with dementia can be done easily in the comfort of home, including:
Music & Singing
Music and singing, and especially music therapy, can be beneficial for improving memory recall. Creating custom playlists of songs your loved one enjoys, and especially songs from their youth they enjoy singing along with, is a great place to start.
Art & Crafting
Creating art provides a sense of accomplishment and stimulates the creative parts of the brain. Simple art projects like painting and coloring, along with crafts like making bookmarks or paper decorations, don’t take many supplies and offer an avenue for multiple friends and family to participate.
Cooking & Baking
If your loved one enjoys the process of cooking and baking, involving them in familiar tasks like measuring and stirring can be stimulating. This also provides an opportunity for reminiscing over traditional family recipes.
Gardening
While it may not be an option for some during the winter months, gardening can provide many benefits during the spring, summer and autumn seasons. Gardening provides pleasant sensory stimulation, such as the touch of the soil and smell of flowers. Tasks like planting seeds, choosing plants to include in the garden and watering plants are all good activities for people living with dementia.
Household Tasks
A variety of household tasks can be enjoyable and stimulating for those living with dementia, providing a sense of accomplishment and sensory stimulation. These tasks can include sorting and folding laundry, making the bed and sweeping are all examples of household activities that your loved one can handle.
Games to Stimulate the Mind
Games are great activities to stimulate the minds of older adults living with dementia, while also providing an opportunity for social interaction. Some examples of beneficial games are:
Puzzle Games & Word Searches
Simple, large-piece puzzles can help promote and improve cognitive engagement, as can word searches and puzzles. Depending on how challenging your loved one finds the games and puzzles, more or less difficult options are widely available.
Memory & Matching Games
Whether you pick up a specific memory game or just play with a deck of cards, games of matching pairs stimulate the memory and cognitive skills. For those who want to keep family and friends front of mind, especially if they aren’t able to visit often, customizing a photo memory game using these loved ones can be helpful.
Board Games
Board games with simple rules, such as Chutes and Ladders, are fun and stimulating. These games also provide an easy avenue for interaction among multiple people, giving your loved one the opportunity to spend time with more friends and family at once.
Apps and Web Games
There are a number of apps and websites that offer games and puzzles specifically designed for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Some examples include:
- Lumosity offers cognitive training and brain games, many of which are designed to improve memory, problem solving and attention span.
- Cognifit is designed specifically for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, tracking progress and adapting the difficulty and challenges to the user’s performance over time.
- BrainHQ also adjusts and adapts to user performance over time, and is full of exercises developed by neuroscientists to improve cognitive abilities like memory and attention span.
If you are looking for more options, there are also companies that curate lists of games and activities, and produce their own, that are specifically designed for people with dementia.
Physical Activities & Exercise
Engaging in physical activity can be extremely beneficial for seniors with dementia, although extra caution should be taken to avoid overexertion.
Walking & Light Exercise
Walks through a garden, park or other well-managed and easy to traverse areas can help improve the mood and physical health of your loved one. Other gentle exercises like chair yoga, stretching, swimming and aerobics are also great options.
Dancing
Dancing to well-known music, especially from your loved one’s younger days, can help encourage physical activity, improve their morale and benefit cognition. There are even playlists that are made specifically for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Sensory Activities to Calm and Engage
Having a variety of techniques to help calm down and engage older adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s is important for their wellbeing. Different techniques can be more beneficial for each individual, so having a few options, like the ones below, is essential.
Tactile Play with Sensory Objects
From textured fabrics to stress balls to fidget toys, there are many objects that are perfect for tactile play. This type of engagement is known to have a calming effect, as are human-to-human tactile experiences like hand massages.
Scent Therapy
Scent is proven to be closely tied to memory, so soothing and familiar scents like lavender, fresh-baked cookies, peppermint, cedarwood and others can help calm your loved one and surface positive memories they associate with those scents.
Pet Therapy
Interacting with animals is shown to have a positive effect on individuals with dementia, improving their emotional wellbeing and bringing on a sense of calm. Petting and interacting directly with animals can also provide pleasant tactile experience. Watching birds and animals in a garden or park can also provide a sense of relaxation and calm. In memory care settings, robotic pets are also used to provide a sense of comfort and beneficial stimulation.
Activities for Visitors in Memory Care Communities
If your loved one is living at a memory care community, you can tailor the activities you do together to fit the space and their needs.
Reading Together
Whether your loved one likes short stories, poetry or has a favorite book, reading aloud can provide a sense of calm. It can also be enjoyable to listen to familiar voices tell stories — if you’re looking for ideas, there are many lists of great books that you and your loved one can choose from.
Life Story Sharing
Sharing old photos, reminiscing about your loved one’s achievements and discussing shared stories and memories are all grounding and calming experiences that can benefit memory and cognition. If your loved one enjoys these kinds of activities and doing crafts, creating a scrapbook together is a great activity that both provides a sense of accomplishment and can help with memory recall over time.
Using Interactive Devices
Devices like tablets or digital picture frames can allow your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s to interact with photos and games. This kind of technology can help them stay connected with their friends and family while in memory care or provide needed stimulation and help improve memory and cognitive function.
Bringing Fun Games and Puzzles
Whenever you visit a loved one, bringing along their favorite games or puzzles can be a relaxing and stimulating activity, as well as a thoughtful gesture. If you want to try new and beneficial games, there are many memory, conversation, matching and similar games available that are designed for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Staying Connected Through Fun & Meaningful Activities With VOANS
From helping to keep memory, attention and cognitive abilities active and functioning to providing a sense of calm and improving their overall emotional and physical wellbeing, there’s no denying the benefits of engaging activities for people living with dementia or Alzheimer’s. It is important for caregivers, friends and family to ensure these kinds of activities are incorporated into their loved one’s daily life.
If your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s would benefit from more consistent care in a secure environment, VOANS has care communities around the country that could be the perfect fit. Take a look at all of our communities to find one in your area or contact us with any questions you may have.
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