alzheimersactivities

Balloon Toss

alzheimersactivities — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:50:21 +0000

A good way to go through your upper body’s range of motion, tossing a balloon around is a fun way to keep your arms active. The balloon’s movement is much slower than a ball, making it easier to catch. You can simply toss it back and forth, or make it a little more challenging by adding music and playing “hot potato” or trying to throw in rhythm.

“Fix” Something Broken

alzheimersactivities — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:39:24 +0000

For many men, being handy around the house or at work was/is a large part of their identity, even after Alzheimer’s has made fixing things much more difficult if not impossible. If you know someone like that, why not give them a broken item that you don’t care much about and let them work on it. This gives many men a feeling of purpose and accomplishment while distracting them from trying to fix things that aren’t broken! Garage sales and thrift stores are a great place to find things for this type of activity. You can take it apart yourself, or buy something pre-broken. Get a few different items and you can rotate them so the project is always fresh.

This activity is also a great way to reminisce about the individual’s past fixes (or spectacular failures). You can also take a “lesson” and have the individual teach you how to work with tools.

Things to think about:

Make sure that whatever you get, and the tools needed to work on it, are safe for your loved one given the stage of their cognitive impairment.
It might be a good idea to keep a separate set of tools for this purpose as well, that way if the screwdriver gets lost, you’ll still have another handy for use around the house.
Be sure to stop the activity if it becomes too frustrating.

Play Checkers

alzheimersactivities — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:31:05 +0000

Another classic game, this is great fun for all ages, and its fairly simple rules and placement in players long-term memories means that many individuals with memory loss can play with minimal reminders. If YOU need a reminder, click here for a quick tutorial.

For those in the later stages of the disease, try playing on “teams” and make decisions on which piece to move together.

Clip Coupons

alzheimersactivities — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:22:49 +0000

If you get the Sunday paper, you know how full they are of ads. If you’ve ever clipped th coupons from them, you know it can add up to big savings.

This activity, like so many others, relies on past experience to help the individual stay successful even into the moderate stages of the disease. Don’t worry about if they clip the “right’ coupons, if they are enjoying the activity, let them clip them all, then you can sort out what you’ll use later. The extras can be given to friends or families or in some areas, donated to food pantries, VFW Halls (coupons are generally good beyond their expiration date when used on a military base), or churches. If you’re worried about safety, you can certainly get a pair of round tipped “safety” scissors, though that probably won’t be necessary for most individuals.

For those in the later stages of the disease, you may have to point out the “cut here” line to ensure you get the whole coupon, but you may be surprised at how long this cost-saving skill is retained.

Arrange Flowers

alzheimersactivities — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:20 +0000

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, why not buy that special someone in your life a nice bouquet of flowers and turn arranging them into a fun activity. Simply buy any bouquet or single flowers you like, bring them home, and let your inner artist take over. Have fun looking for the perfect vase, cutting the flowers to the proper height, and arranging them until something beautiful. Be sure to stop and smell each one, and see what memories come up.

Topics of discussion could be:

On what occasions did you get flowers in the past?

On what occasions did you send flowers?

What is your favorite type of flower?

Even those in the severe stages of the disease can enjoy smelling the flowers and enjoy hearing you talk about what you’re doing and your past experience with flowers.

Play Pick up Sticks

alzheimersactivities — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:14:05 +0000

A game of physical and mental skill, pick up sticks is a fun reminder of childhood. It’s simple rules are easy to remember (or to repeat as many times as necessary) during game play. For those of you who might be a little rusty, the game is played as follows.

1. Bundle up all the sticks and release them onto the playing surface, resulting in a tangled pile.

2. The first player attempts to remove a stick from the pile without moving any of the other sticks (in some versions the player uses their hands, in others they are allowed to use already picked-up sticks to help).

3. The first player’s continues to pick up sticks until he causes a secondary stick to move.

4. The second player’s turn begins. Some versions of the game allow this player to choose between re-bundling and dropping the sticks, causing a new pile, or playing the existing pile. Others state the player simply continues with the existing pile.

5. Play continues, with each player taking turns, until all the sticks are picked up.

6. Winning. Some versions of the game assign point values to different colored sticks. The person with the highest point value wins. Other versions simply states whoever picked up the most sticks wins.

For those in the more moderate stages of the disease, simplifying game play by reducing the number of sticks, or having players only attempt to move one stick per turn may be easier. It may also be wise to determine the “winner” by number of sticks rather than point values, which may be harder for the person to remember and therefore strategize correctly. Lastly, using fatter pick up sticks (yes, they exist) or even pencils may be easier to grasp than the more traditional version.

Go Snowshoeing

alzheimersactivities — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:30:09 +0000

If you can’t beat the cold weather, might as well join it! If balance isn’t a problem for your loved one, then snowshoeing is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. Just pick a (relatively) warm day with minimal wind and get out and enjoy your neighborhood, park, or trail. You can rent snowshoes at some local parks (such as Stony Creek Metropark in Shelby Township .) REI, a sporting goods store with locations in Troy, Ann Arbor, and Northville rents them as well.

Snowshoeing is a workout, so don’t be too ambitious on your first time out. Of course, if you do get tired, you can always take a break and enjoy some coffee or hot chocolate from a thermos and enjoy the snow glistening all around you!

Mend Clothing

alzheimersactivities — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:18:30 +0000

In the past, people generally had fewer articles of clothing and wore them much longer than we do today. Therefore, many older adults are used to mending torn or worn out clothes. For example, my grandmother used to rip out the collars of my grandfather’s shirts and re-sew attach them inside out so they wouldn’t show wear. Her son, my father, recently admitted that he just bought his first new pair of underwear in THIRTY YEARS because he has been mending the them as they rip. This is a true story.

So, if your relatives are like my relatives, they probably know how to sew, and, as a skilled learned in the past, it is probably fairly well-preserved into the moderate stages of the disease. Therefore, mending clothes, whether their own or someone elses is not only a great way to get some extra wear out of clothes in a tough economy, it’s also a great way to help the person with memory loss feel needed and useful. Who doesn’t want that? If they’re not great sewers, no problem, just get a few pieces that you were planning to donate to charity and let them practice on them. If they are skilled, why not ask for a lesson and learn a new skill yourself?

Make Popcorn the Old-Fashioned Way

alzheimersactivities — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:42:12 +0000

Long before the microwave was a household staple, people made popcorn over a direct heat source like the stove or a campfire Why not have a taste of nostalgia and make popcorn the old-fashioned way. Some grocery stores still carry Jiffy Pop (remember that?), or you can make your own version by placing a 1/4 cup of popcorn and, if desired, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a 4 quart pan and with a lid. Next, place the pan over the stove top and slowly shake. As soon as the popcorn starts popping, start shaking the pan more vigorously. Take the popcorn off the heat once all the kernels are popped or the time between pops slows to 2 seconds or more. Add seasoning like salt, butter, or even sugar to taste and enjoy!

You may need to supervise the person with memory loss around a heart source for safety, especially those in the later stages of the disease. For those who are unsafe to use the stove, have them have them add the toppings or share stories of how they made/ate popcorn in the past. Even those in the severe stages of the disease might still enjoy eating a few pieces or at least enjoying the smell!

Do a Crossword Puzzle

alzheimersactivities — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:03:04 +0000

Crossword puzzles are a great way to user verbal skills and have fun while doing it. If the person isn’t a natural puzzler, try starting one yourself, then asking for help from the person with Alzheimer’s disease. They can either help answer clues and have you fill in the actual puzzle or conversely, you can give them the answer and have them plug it into the puzzle. Either way, the important thing is to focus on making it fun!