Play Ladder Golf

August 3, 2012 at 12:15 pm · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia, Activities for Severe Dementia ·Tagged activities for men with dementia, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, Dementia, dementia activities, Exercise, Games, games for people with dementia, outside dementia activities

photo courtesy of ladder-ball.com

Ladder Golf, also known as Ladder Ball, is a fun, relaxing game for people of all ages and athletic-ability levels, making it perfect for people with memory loss.  The basic premise is to throw the bola (a fancy name for two golf balls held together by a piece of rope) onto the ladder.  Each level of the ladder, has a different number of points assigned to it: three for the top, two for the middle, and one for the bottom.

Traditionally, you have to get EXACTLY 21 points to win, but I generally play to whoever get 21 points or more.  You can also just play a certain number of rounds.  There are generally two teams, but you could certainly play with more.  Those in the early stages of the disease will likely catch on pretty quickly.  Those in the moderate stages of the disease might need more reminders of the rules and benefit from a teammate who can help them.   Those in the late stages of the disease may simply need to be instructed to throw the bola at the target, or even have some hand-over-hand assistance when throwing, but might still enjoy the fresh air and camaraderie.

Oh, and if you’re interested, you can purchase a game set online or in any local toy or big box store.  For the really ambitious, there are even instructions on how to build your own game set available online!

 

 

 

 

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