Activities for Alzheimer 10 easy activities for your loved one with Alzheimer and Dementia. Managing Alzheimer’s and dementia is challenging. A good way to keep your loved one engaged is using simple activities. Also, keeping your loved one active during the day is beneficial for managing sleep disturbances that can come with Alzheimer’s.
A great book recommendation is Creating Moments Of Joy Along The Alzheimer’s Journey.
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10 Easy Activities For Alzheimer
Here are some activities that are simple and easy to engage your loved one with.
- Folding Laundry- many people with Alzheimer’s disease enjoy the productive and simple act of folding laundry. Try using a laundry sorter like this one.
- Sorting-Sorting things like silverware, buttons, cards, coins, yarn/fabric or other tactile items is a great activity for people with Alzheimer’s. These stackable sorting bins work wonders!
- Tying knots- type a rope into a series of knots and ask them to help you untie the knots. This activity can be very soothing. Try this knot tying kit.
- Picture Cards– These picture cards have pictures of familiar images that will engage your loved one in memories and conversations from the past. The back of the cards have starter conversation tips. This can provide hours of joyful entertainment!
- Puzzles- Jigsaw puzzles can be very enjoyable for persons with dementia. As the disease progresses, it is a good idea to replace puzzles with a lot of smaller pieces with those that have less, larger pieces and simple designs.
More Alzheimer’s Activities
- Listening to Music- It is amazing the positive effect music can have on persons with dementia. Often times the music is connected to special memories that are preserved in key brain areas that are unaffected by their disease process. The Simple Music Player is designed for people with Alzheimer’s, dementia or related conditions. It has only three controls: lift the lid to start the music playing, push the big button for the next song, and close the lid to stop the music.
- Playing with Dolls- many people with Alzheimer’s or dementia love playing with baby dolls, and also if you are unable to arrange visits with animals (which can be very therapeutic) something life like stuffed animals can serve as a substitute.
- Twiddle Quilt– a sensory therapy tool used to reduce stress and increase brain function in elderly patients living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
- Felt Concentration Game– This matching game with colorful fabric tiles is a wonderful aid for your Loved One’s memory and cognitive ability.
- Prepping meals- A great familiar and also helpful activity is to ask your loved one to help you prepare meals by giving them easy tasks such as washing vegetables for example. Just be sure to use separate, color coded cutting boards to prevent cross contamination.
Shop Lia Griffith – Craft Materials and Tools
Additional Dementia Activities
Writing Cards/Letters- in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s your loved one may still be able to write letters and greeting cards. A client of mine once wrote out birthday and other holidays cards for several years to come for his children and grandchildren, so that even when he was no longer able to, his caregiver could mail out these cards into the future to continue the tradition for him.
Looking at photo albums- Many older people have stacks of photo albums and even memory books from when their children were young. Looking through them and reminiscing is a fun and engaging activity. Alzheimer’s affects short term memory and often those older memories from their youth are well preserved.
Keep in mind what is important is not the end result but the process. Remember, if your loved one cannot complete these tasks to completion that is ok. The feeling that they are contributing and doing something useful, and enjoying spending time together is what counts.
For more information on the stages of Alzheimer’s Disease READ MORE …