Amusements appropriate for dementia?

[Wicky]

Trying to find something that my mother, with moderate to severe dementia, might be able to do. Anyone know any website to buy crafts for 2-4 year old children - am thinking of gluing tiles to a tray to make a hot plate - that kind of stuff. Suggestions would be tremendously appreciated. She sits and dozes or stares off into the distance, and she needs something to take up her time and let her feel that she can make an impact on the world.

Sigh....

TIA, very much.

[Moutaineer]

Wicky, has she expressed this as a frustration?

I really do know where you are coming from, but I think we do it for us.

[Wicky]

Yes, you are correct. But she will often ask if she can help me when I am working or making a meal, so I think she would feel better doing something. And a wonderful book I just read, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JCW ... oks&sr=1-1 , makes much of the importance of having a reason for being. Even in an Alzheimer's ward, people did better having interactions and a purpose.

[Chisamba]

two very helpful activites for people with dementia are cooking, and molding clay,

cooking provides aromas that can touch early memories and will often encourage even severely affected people to remember skills, choosing no bake cookies to mix and roll, or using refrigerated pizza dough to roll out cylinders and turn them into pretzels, cover them with either salt or sugar, and bake.

arranging flowers in no breakable vases. you can choose an assortment of live flowers, or you can have various silk flowers, you can have different themes for the different holidays.

textures are also attractive to people with dementia. softened modelling clay, molded into anything interesting and then painted

shaving cream on a plastic tray, so that things can be drawn into them or simply squishing it with the fingers.

stringing beads is another popular on, largish beads and yarn on a plastic needle , stringing beads of various colors and shapes into decorative lengths.

of course most of these activities require leadership from you or a caregiver,

one of our favorite activities is to make cinnamon christmas decorations. you mix approx 1 1/2 cups of applesauce with two cups of cinnamon, it forms a dough, you roll it out about quarter to half and inch thick, and press cookie cutters into it to make shapes. you make a small hole with a toothpick, and then you set them out on cookie sheets to dry. they can be hung and scented decorations. you string them on attractive ribbons.

salt dough modelling is also popular, you make the dough, about two cups of flour, one cup salt and one cup water, kneaded until it is pliable. if you need it to be more pliable you can add a little bit of wallpaper paste. knead all of the air bubbles out, roll them out and then cut them into shapes. they can be pricked, to hang, cookie cutters or moulded into shapes. etc. once you are happy with the shapes, you bake them at low heat until they are hard. once they are baked you can paint them , glitter them, or whatever you feel like doing. of course you can do this for seasonal decorations, make decorations for wreaths, or use the salt dough to experiment with modelling small sculptures, beads for necklaces, its very versatile and very inexpensive. the salt discourages people from eating it, as well as helping with the texture

i hope at least one of the suggestions helps.

oh , you can also make glitter slime, that was a fun one. you get a bottle of clear elmers school glue, and a bottle of liquid starch ( in the laundry isle) mix them in equal amounts and then mix in color and glitter. you can make slime rainbows, and slime ropes. it is a really really useful exercise for hands, hand muscles,. fine motor skills, all without realizing that is what you are doing.

[Sunshine2Me]

Pairing socks! Take a laundry basket and put a bunch of socks in it. Let her pair the socks and fold them together. Also folding wash clothes. Coloring books are good. If a child's books are not appropriate, they now make adult coloring books with shapes, flowers, animals, etc. Buy a set of colored markers to go with it. If she is able to use scissors, cutting coupons from the Sunday paper. I'll try and think of other ideas. I'm in the same boat with my mother, so I feel for you!

[hoopoe]

My Mother could not express frustration at this point as she was not self aware. She thought she was 5 years old.

My mother enjoyed dolls and dress-up.

also helping with laundry folding. At the time she was in a facility and they allowed residents to help with folding the towels etc. I think helping with simple cooking and dishes ( set / clear the table )

I am not sure she could remember that she could play music ( piano / organ) I think that might be a nice diversion as well

love the idea of flower arranging. centerpiece arranging, leaves and autumn themes. If she is ambulatory, going out and collecting leaves arranging etc might be a good thing.

in advance AZ you cannot think of them as adults, they are regressing backward and you have to think early grade school / kindergarden

[carpevita]

My mom loved going for car rides. Anywhere scenic and she was very happy to just take it all in.

[Kyra's Mom]

There are also a ton of adult coloring books available now. Find some basic ones. A lot of them arequite intricate I'm even giving it a whirl. I figure better than staring at a computer screen.

My Dad with mild dementia, does Paint by Number pictures although his tremor is making that diffcult.

Susan

[Spiritpaws]

The brain doctor recommended the Jenga game for my Dad, and I think it did help his hand-eye co-ordination a bit.

[Tarlo Farm]

Chisamba had some great ideas! How about music? Listening, playing, singing along to old songs from her 20's. Car rides and petting zoos too.

[carpevita]

Oh gosh yes, music made m y mother so happy---and spending time with old photos did too.


And wicky I forgot this before--
(((((((((((hugs))))))))))))) for you and your mom and stepdad.

[VictoriaB]

WIcky, Google 'Montessori Methods for dementia'. You will find many useful suggestions. In my workplace, we find the following activities successful (depending on level of dementia): Sing-a-longs are definitely the most popular (musicals, war-time songs, anything from when your mother was in her teens to middle age), television not so much although Lawrence Welk seems to hold their attention and sometimes familiar movies like Sound of Music, that type of thing, folding laundry, folding clothing, sewing and mending, reading simple books, washing dishes, baby dolls with cribs/prams, colouring, simple puzzles. You don't mention whether she is at home or in long-term care. If at home, let her do as much as she can of her own care. She will probably need cuing but should be capable of washing and dressing herself with assistance. If in long-term care, request the aides do the same. If she is in care, speak to the activities people - they should have lots of ideas. In Canada, we have day-care programs for people with dementia, not sure if you have the same available where you are?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... le7819360/

I find my job rewarding and nowhere near as difficult as I did when it was my own Dad.

(((wicky))))

[Sunshine2Me]

Sorting is also good. For example, get a package of colored rubber bands (or something similar) and have her sort the rubber bands by color, placing them into containers.

[Wicky]

Thank you so much, everyone!!!! Many great suggestions!

She is at home, with my 99 year old mentally intact stepfather, and full time assistance. About five years ago she fell and broke her hip, and she has not kept up with the effort of walking with a walker even though we have almost daily visits by a great PT. The dementia has drained her of the ability to focus on a desired outcome and work towards it. So at this point she requires help to get in and out of bed, to the wheelchair and the commode. She cannot get into the shower and cannot cut her own food although she will eat it herself (decorating her clothes ). She puts on her own lipstick but that is about it. I bought her music on CDs from the 40s and a movie player and DVDs of old movies, and she doesn't care about any of that. I think I saw a coloring book at home but need to check. Will Google Montessori Methods for dementia

I think maybe cookies will be good - she can do it, smell them baking, and eat them. I will ask the aides to let her hand feed the dog - she can get some pleasure from that.

She does enjoy trips outside although she protests a lot before actually getting going - sometimes my stepdad and aides just cannot overcome the resistance. Hasn't looked at photos for a long time because she cannot recognize the people in them.

Getting old definitely is not for sissies.

Thank you for your suggestions, and for your kind words.

[Ganas]

Wicky, if you haven't read them yet the books on validation theory are interesting and I felt that they were quite helpful.
http://www.alzheimers.net/2013-11-07/va ... lzheimers/

[Wicky]

Thanks, Ganas, I have ordered two and will have my stepfather AND the aides read them as well.

[Xcaliper]

I have heard caring for a doll makes many women with dementia very happy. She can dress and undress, "bathe" it with wet wipes (or a dry wash cloth), rock it, sing to it, etc.

[periastra]

I have had many patients who love their dolls. We have a room at work that is set up as a nursery, and some will play there for a long while. I have a patient who loves the interactive stuffed toys, We have a singing Teddy Bear she will have long conversations with. Does Your Mom like to go for a ride outside in her wheel chair? I used to take my Grandma to the store in her wheel chair to just look at everything. We would go through every department and talk about what was there. I used to take Grandma out for fast food, and we would sit in the car at a park to watch kids and dogs go by while we ate. She needed the calories and would eat fried stuff and a big shake. My mom went on these outings too, and it was great bonding time. Grandma also liked to sit in the car at the fairgrounds during a horse or livestock show. More junk food and visual stimulation. Hand massage, foot massage and having their nails done is usually popular with my patients at work. We have beauty hour every AM. We have swing music on the record player and sing along while hair ,makeup , and nails are done.

[nightlace]

Lots of great ideas! One thing that brought my mother to life was singing. Church groups or local bands volunteer to sing at local senior centers, assisted living homes, & nursing homes. Many of these organizations welcome seniors to these events. My mother loved going. She remembered the songs. Her eyes lit up, and she would sing along. Great therapy if you can work it out.

[snftrs2]

I second the cookies idea, especially decorating them (sprinkles, candy pieces, etc. Nothing requiring dexterity.) or using cookie cutters. If using cookie cutters, people end up playing with both the cookies and the cutters - the cutters could also be sorted into groups or baskets.

When my mom was at about the same level as your mom, I started bringing the comics page from the paper and reading it to her. It gave us a way to interact and I sometimes saw flashes of her normal sense of humor even when she was well past the point of speaking coherently. In retrospect, before we recognized the dementia, we'd noticed that she wasn't really reading much anymore and enjoyed comic calendars, joke books, etc. Completely unlike her normal taste in reading and literature. I think, even in later stages, there may be enough cognition (sometimes!) to catch the point of a comic or recognize a character - it would only take 15-20 seconds to go through a comic strip, pointing out figures .... I certainly didn't need fresh comics for her but I bought some of favorites in big, paperback books and they just lived in the car so they were always available for our visits.

The Montessori info is so clever!

[Perilous]

Such great ideas. My 85 year old Grandfather lives with me(he has been with me for over a year now) and Dementia is getting worse. I was thinking about ordering him some coloring books. He likes to cook, fill dishwasher, and do laundry-the only problem is that he breaks everything-as in the washer and dryer, dishwasher..so now I have to limit that to when I'm beside him.

Do you have a senior center? He goes to one a couple times a week, complains about it but gets them out of the house for a bit-they play bingo, chair yoga, go on field trips etc.