Posts Tagged craft
February 5, 2018 at 8:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia ·Tagged activities for reminiscing, Alzheimer, Alzheimer Disease, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's care, alzheimer's disease, alzheimer's statistics, Brain, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, Conditions and Diseases, craft, definition of dementia, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia crafts, dementia facts and figures, dementia in the elderly, dementia statistics, dementia vs alzheimer's, Disease, diy, elderly, Health, Mental health, pomander balls, United States, what is alzheimer's, what is dementia
Feeling crafty? Make a homemade pomander ball! Pomander balls, commonly seen at weddings and baby showers, actually have very interesting historic roots. Learn more about the history behind the pomander here.
Buy rosettes at a craft store, create your own by shaping pieces of tissue paper, or punch/cut out flower shapes from scrapbooking paper. Use crochet pins to fasten each rosette into place on a large to medium sized styrofoam ball. Use the pomander ball as a centerpiece or tie a ribbon around the ball to be used as a hanging decoration.
Step by step instructions can be found here.
Remember, it’s the process not the product. Our primary goal is that the person enjoy themselves; it is not important that we create a flawless finished product. If it’s becoming apparent that the person is becoming confused or frustrated, leave the remainder of the activity for another day. In fact, it may be easiest to plan the activity over the course of several sessions, versus trying to do everything in a single sitting. If your person is further progressed in the disease, they may get more pleasure out of watching you do the activity or admiring the finished product. Be flexible and have fun with it!
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March 23, 2015 at 1:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia ·Tagged activities for reminiscing, Alzheimer, Alzheimer Disease, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's care, alzheimer's disease, alzheimer's statistics, Brain, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, Conditions and Diseases, craft, definition of dementia, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia crafts, dementia facts and figures, dementia in the elderly, dementia statistics, dementia vs alzheimer's, Disease, diy, elderly, Health, Mental health, pomander balls, United States, what is alzheimer's, what is dementia
Feeling crafty? Make a homemade pomander ball! Pomander balls, commonly seen at weddings and baby showers, actually have very interesting historic roots. Learn more about the history behind the pomander here.
Buy rosettes at a craft store, create your own by shaping pieces of tissue paper, or punch/cut out flower shapes from scrapbooking paper. Use crochet pins to fasten each rosette into place on a large to medium sized styrofoam ball. Use the pomander ball as a centerpiece or tie a ribbon around the ball to be used as a hanging decoration.
Step by step instructions can be found here.
Remember, it’s the process not the product. Our primary goal is that the person enjoy themselves; it is not important that we create a flawless finished product. If it’s becoming apparent that the person is becoming confused or frustrated, leave the remainder of the activity for another day. In fact, it may be easiest to plan the activity over the course of several sessions, versus trying to do everything in a single sitting. If your person is further progressed in the disease, they may get more pleasure out of watching you do the activity or admiring the finished product. Be flexible and have fun with it!
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March 9, 2015 at 1:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer, Alzheimer Disease, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's care, alzheimer's disease, alzheimer's statistics, Brain, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, Conditions and Diseases, craft, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia facts and figures, dementia in the elderly, Games, games for people with dementia, United States, what is alzheimer's, what is dementia
Get in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, and play some Shamrock Bingo! Many free printables, such as this one, can be found online. Try to avoid bingo cards with busy designs – they may be too confusing for the person with dementia. The example above is ideal because there are only a few squares, they do not contain words or numbers, and most of the images are recognizable. Be alert to confusion or frustration in the person, and help them through this if it occurs.
You might consider serving green jello or shepherd’s pie before or after the activity. Make a day of it, and get your Irish on!
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March 2, 2015 at 1:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's disease, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, craft, Dementia, dementia crafts, easy crafts, wine cork, wine cork ball
Wine cork balls are decorative, yet inexpensive and easy to make. Your biggest obstacle may be finding enough wine corks for your project! Consider collecting any wine corks that you, friends, family, or neighbors may use. Another option is to purchase wine corks in bulk from such vendors as Amazon.
Step-by-step instructions for this craft can be found at the website below:
http://www.imbored-letsgo.com/diy-wine-cork-ball/
As you work through the steps of this project, be mindful of safety concerns, such as use of the hot glue gun. This project may not be suitable if your person might attempt to bite or swallow the wine corks. Provide supervision, guidance, and reassurance throughout the process. Also, consider breaking up the activity into multiple sessions over many days, versus doing everything at once. You can use your finished product as a decorative accent to your living space or as a centerpiece. If you are feeling adventurous, you could add ribbon or faux vine, leaves, berries, grapes, etc. to change the look.
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November 24, 2014 at 1:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer, Alzheimer Disease, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's care, alzheimer's disease, arts and crafts, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, craft, decorations, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia crafts, dementia in the elderly, dementia vs alzheimer's, what is alzheimer's, what is dementia, window cling
I love using window clings to celebrate virtually any holiday. They’re inexpensive, easy to use, and best of all, reusable — I mean really, what’s not to love? I used to volunteer at a nursing home where this was a popular activity. Some residents were able to stick the window clings onto the window without assistance. Others needing some prompting as to where they might place certain items. Others found it too confusing/overwhelming to be involved in the act of decorating, but enjoyed admiring what the other individuals had put together. The idea is to be flexible in how you involve the person with dementia. Ensure that he/she is not bored but also not frustrated either. Let your creative spirit run wild and enjoy!
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November 17, 2014 at 1:00 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer, Alzheimer Disease, alzheimer s association, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, alzheimer's association, alzheimer's care, alzheimer's disease, arts and crafts, Caregiver, caregivers, caregiving, centerpiece, craft, Fall, holiday, holiday season, Thanksgiving
Want a beautiful way to embrace the Thanksgiving spirit? How about making an easy-to-do Thanksgiving centerpiece? I’ve found a simple method for doing this here. For those that have life-long love affair with arts and crafts, this is truly a must try activity. I’ve included the step-by-step directions below. Follow along here or visit http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/ for a more detailed description, plus other neat tips, tutorials, and project ideas.
- Gather acorns outdoors. Ideally, you are looking for acorns with the caps still intact. Try to collect enough to line a cookie sheet.
- Place the acorns in a foil-lined cookie sheet.
- Heat oven to 170 degrees. Bake for 1.5-2 hours.
- Remove acorns from oven and allow to cool.
- Using acrylic paint, paint just the bottoms of the acorns with a brush. One coat will do, but feel free to add a second coat if that’s more your style.
- Allow the paint on the acorns to dry.
- Set out painted acorns in a candy dish or other centerpiece arrangement.
If you live in an area where acorns are plentiful, you could even make finding the acorns outside an activity in itself. Keep in mind that it is the act of doing that is pleasurable for the person with dementia, not necessarily the outcome. So essentially, don’t put too much pressure on the person to paint immaculately done acorns. If a drip of paint gets onto one of the acorn caps, who really cares? The most important thing is to have fun!
Think how accomplished you and your person will feel after making this gorgeous piece of eye candy for you and your guests to admire during the Thanksgiving feast. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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May 14, 2014 at 1:28 pm · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, craft, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia crafts
The contents of the kit.
These fun designs are actually super easy to make, simply wrap the string around the provided shapes and voila! An instant art masterpiece! To change the design, simply change how you you wrap the string. Once you’ve found a design you like, you can mount it to a card, like the kit above suggests, frame it, make a mobile…the possibilities are limitless! Or, you can unwrap the string and design again another day! This activity is great for people in the early stages of memory loss to do with their grandkids, or for those in the moderate stages have their grandkids help them do. It’s also nice for people who tend to be very figity, as the rhythmic wrapping of the string can be very soothing and almost hypnotic. As with all crafts and activities in dementia, remember to focus on fun of the process, not the end result. You purchase these kits at craft stores or, of course, online. This particular kit is part of the American Girl’s franchise and is attributed to the character from the 1970s, so maybe this craft will trigger some long term memory from someone who lived through the time period? I can’t be sure, but it’s worth a try!
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October 31, 2012 at 3:18 pm · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer's, craft, Dementia, dementia activities
I know this next statement might sound strange, but I swear it’s true, so here it goes. When I worked at a large assisted living, this was the most popular activity we offered, hands down. We had pool tables, bingo, exercise (which was the probably the second most popular activity), ceramics, you name it, we had it, and this was the most popular activity for both men and women. Why? I can’t be certain, but I think lots of people liked it because they could make high-quality things to give away as gifts (mostly place mats, but also table runners and scarves) or use in the facility. In fact, we had so many looms and so many weavers that not only did we use the facility-made place mats in our dining room, we changed them once a month to go with the holiday/season/our whim. Even with all that changing, we still had plenty to sell at our yearly craft fair. Again, in summary, our residents loved to weave.
The nice thing for those with memory loss is that it’s a fairly easy process to learn, simple alternate moving the shuttle (the piece of wood with the yarn wrapped around it) through the two lawyers of string and pushing the heddle (the comb-like device with the yarn through its teeth). The repetitive movements are relaxing and you can set your own pace, which is a nice change from the many time-sensitive activities we do on a daily basis. The person with memory loss may need help threading the whole contraction to get started, but those in the early stages should be fairly good to go after a quick tutorial of who it works. Those more advanced in the disease may need a demonstration and periodic reminders each time they start weaving after a pause, but should be able to weave quasi-independently.
The main downside, in my eyes at least, is the cost. Buying a loom can be a costly investment, especially if you don’t know if it will be something the person with dementia will enjoy. Generally, the narrower the loom, the less expensive it is. They do make lap looms which are less expensive than tabletop versions (like the one seen in the picture above), but in my opinion, they’re harder to use.
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September 21, 2012 at 3:20 pm · Filed under Activities for Moderate Dementia ·Tagged activities for reminiscing, Alzheimer's, alzheimer's disease, craft, Dementia, dementia activities, dementia crafts
Paper dolls are a fun way to stimulate conversation about the past. No longer designed just for small children, today you can find paper dolls for adults spanning topics and people from sports to movie starts, to traditional costumes of other time periods and other cultures. The book above features actors dressed as they were in their favorite roles. What a fun way to reminisce not only about any paper dolls the person with memory loss may have had in the past, but also the actors and their roles. You could even make it a multi-sensory experience by having one of the films playing in the background (as long as that wasn’t too distracting/over-stimulating for the person with dementia).
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September 6, 2012 at 9:50 am · Filed under Activities for Mild Dementia, Activities for Moderate Dementia, Activities for Severe Dementia ·Tagged Alzheimer's, alzheimer's activities, craft, Dementia, dementia activities
photo courtesy of familycrafts.about.com
This is another one of those crafts that are fun not only for the young, but also for the young at heart. Simple and easy to make, they are fun to keep or to give away as gifts. Instructions below:
1. Find/buy some disposable tinfoil pie tins or plastic container of your choice. Rub/spray some vegetable oil inside it to keep the completed stone from sticking.
2. Mix up some concrete and pour it into the mold.
3. Let the concrete firm up a little if necessary (follow instructions on the package). You don’t want it soupy, but you obviously don’t want it too hard, either.
4. Decorate! You can add marbles, decorative stones, old broken china (be careful of any sharp edges), or just about any other weatherproof object. You can put your hand in to make an impression (as in the picture above), or carve patterns into the concrete using popsicle sticks, toothpicks, etc.
5. Let dry (again, follow the instructions on the package).
6. Remove from mold. If you oiled it well, the stone should pop right out. If not, you might need to cut away the mold container.
7. Place outside and enjoy!
Hints:
- Some people like to use Quickcrete, with dries faster for this project. Just be sure it doesn’t dry so quickly that you won’t be able to decorate it fully before it hardens!
- Regardless of what you use, concrete is extremely drying for your skin, so be sure to either wear gloves (medical exam gloves work best because you can still manipulate small objects) or lotion really well before and after to avoid tight, itchy skin.
- You can also place your decorations in the bottom of the mold and pour the concrete over them. Just be careful to not jostle them when pouring it in. Also, remember, that images will be reversed in the product which is important if you want to write a message.
Obviously, for someone in the middle or late stages would need someone to help mix the concrete and possible remind them of the project as they decorate. Some individuals with memory loss may not be able to place the stones, but might be able to point out where they would like them to go, or even just which ones they would like used. This projects also has some great jumping off points for reminiscing about past gardens, craft projects, stories about being outside, etc.
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