2 Free Activities for Seniors with Dementia ~ Life Sketch & What About?

Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, routines have drastically changed for most of us. Wherever you are, whatever your situation, I hope you are staying healthy, happy and safe.

A shout out if you work with people with dementia–in any capacity–THANK YOU!!! 

Older adults with dementia need our love, support, and dedication right now more than ever. And lots of fun, free activities to keep them busy!

Discombobulated

Practicing social distancing and limiting “normal” life activities has been challenging and caused distress among my memory care residents.  

Everyone else for that matter. The tension is real. Routines have been disturbed. And we’re all tired.

One resident who survived 4 years of German occupation in Belgium during World War II, cried for hours on her 98th birthday in April because her family had to sing “Happy Birthday” and blow kisses to her from the other side of a closed window. They wore masks and gloves. She was distraught and told me she understood how war could ruin lives, but didn’t know why an invisible virus could ruin everything. “I just want to die.”

Another woman suddenly became very rude to other residents and refused help from staff. She continually asks about the ‘virus thingy’. Her daughter has attempted several times over the phone to explain the situation, but she just can’t remember or process the info. The confusion and fear keep her in an agitated state. 

Since quarantine began a few months ago, I have not allowed any TV watching of current news stories that could depress, scare, confuse, or agitate residents. Besides, there are much better activities to give our attention to.

Do People with Dementia Still Read?

Generally speaking, individuals in the early stages of dementia can continue reading without much problem. At times though, the person may forget what they’ve read and need to reread in order to fully understand a sentence or paragraph, especially if the material they are reading is unfamiliar to them.

I encourage my residents in the early stages of dementia to read as much as possible. Whether it be reading on their own or reading along or aloud during group activities. 

Keeping the skill alive is absolutely vital to staying mentally active; participation in activities that spark and increase creative thinking, talking, reading, reminiscing, singing songs, reciting rhymes, telling jokes, and writing poems together.

Reading skills during the middle stages of dementia typically remain but comprehension will begin to decline. The individual may need to read and reread a word or sentence they just read several times. And even then they may not understand or remember what was read and what certain words mean.

A group reading can be very enjoyable at this point. I’ve had many residents over the years tell me they can’t read anymore, but love to hear people read to them. 

Use this opportunity to share worthwhile material, to encourage thinking and remembering. Sharing a great story also encourages reminiscing and nostalgia. 

In the late stage of dementia, some people enjoy looking through a book or magazine together, holding a copy of their favorite book, or listening to someone else read out loud. Simple short stories, poems, and rhymes are appropriate. For book ideas check out “One of the Very Best Activities for Dementia Patients – Book Club” and “Gifts for People with Dementia – Books, Books, Books!”

2 FREE Activities for Seniors with Dementia ~ That They Will Love!

1.Life Sketch

Reading the real life story of another person can often influence or motivate others to be their best self. A life sketch or biography may teach lessons of determination, courage, hard work, love, forgiveness, patience…They may remind us of our own struggles, dreams, successes, and life efforts. A connection with people from the past can help create feelings of belonging to the human family, that each life has meaning, and that we all have something important to contribute. 

No one wants to be forgotten when they are gone. 

Well, there is no shortage of famous, important, interesting people to read about. Check these websites for literally thousands of biographies for free. 

• Biography.com
• S9.com
• Womenshistory.org
• loc.gov/collections/
• achievement.org/achiever

I aim for a 30 minute activity. This includes time to show photos, share quotes, and to tell the person’s story. Although I may read parts like specific dates and quotes, I believe the activity is enjoyed much more when shared in my own words. It’s important to make eye contact, see and respond to expressions/reactions/questions as we learn new facts together. 

Last week, I picked Mister Rogers. I put some of his photos on the whiteboard. Then outlined his early life, career, family, philosophy,and contributions to Children’s television. 

Rogers went before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communication to defend public television from budget cuts. He talked about wanting to help children learn to deal with their problems in a healthy manner, to instill a sense of confidence in the kids he worked with, and to improve overall mental health practices.

Senator Pastore, the chairman of the committee was visibly touched and granted public television the funds they requested. 

Finding ways to enhance your activity will make it stand out. For this particular Life Sketch activity, I could:

• Show a clip of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
• Play a couple of his songs
• Discuss some of the important lessons he taught his young audiences
• Watch one of his interviews
• Bring hand puppets to try

Humans are naturally drawn to one another. We are interested in what others say and do. Life experiences are important to share and simple biographies are appropriate during all stages of dementia. 

2. Everything Else (or What About?)

What About? is the category I put all other topics that don’t fit into Life Sketch or biograph. But you want to go about finding and presenting info for What About? in the same way you go about Life Sketch. Look for interesting groups of people (e.g. Native American tribes), inventions, historical events, animals, insects, nature, National Parks, monuments, strange places and things, and so on. 

Again, I spend 30 minutes delving into a fantastic subject–looking at pictures, reading quotes, and learning more about something we may have never heard about, might be familiar with, would like to know more about, or be reminded of because we’ve forgotten. 

A lot of times, while researching for this activity, I stumble across a story or event that I’ve never heard before. I am just as eager as my residents to learn new facts. Print a copy for your files–never know when someone will ask a question or you’ll want to go over a cool topic again. 

For instance, did you know Niagara Falls has run dry several times? Or that it was Mary Anderson who invented windshield wipers? Or that the coldest place in the Universe is the Boomerang Nebula, with a temperature of minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit? 

A Drop in the Bucket

This list is merely a drop in the bucket for “What About?” topics: 

Inventions/Discoveries

Automatic Calculator	Circulation of Blood	Hot Air Balloon	Printing Press	Sewing Machine
Air Conditioner	Clock Mechanical	Helium	Parachute	Soft Contact Lenses
Animation	Diesel Engine	Insulin	Polio Vaccine	Synthesizer
Atom Bomb	Centigrade Scale	Jet Engine	Periodic Table	Thermometer
Aspirin	Chlorine	Locomotive	Penicillin	Typewriter
Adhesive Tape	Dynamite	Laser	Pacemaker	Vacuum Cleaner
Airplane	Electric stove/cooker	Light Bulb	Refrigerator	Vitamin A
Bifocal Lens	Electroscope	Motorcycle	Radium	Vitamin B
Barometer	Electric Fan	Microphone	Radar	Vitamin C
Barbed Wire	Elevator	Microscope	Rocket Engine	Vitamin K
Blood Group	Electric Motor (DC)	Machine Gun	Radio	Vitamin E
Bicycle	Gramophone	Oxygen	Richter Scale	World Wide Web
Chloroform	Hydrogen	Ozone	Safety Match	X-Ray
Cine Camera	Helicopter	Piano	Stethoscope	Xerox Machine

 

World Events

Wheel	Crusades	Communications
Modern Alphabets	Bubonic Plague	Suez Canal
Agricultural Revolution	Renaissance	Colonization of Africa
Writing Systems	Printing Press	Suffrage Movement
Legal Codes	Explorations	Radio
Buddha/Buddhism	Slave Trade/Abolition	Telephone
Confucius/Confucianism	Protestant Reformation	Flight
Ancient Romans	Ottoman Empire	X-Rays
Ancient Greeks	William Shakespeare Works	Rail Transportation
Aztec Civilization	Civil Wars	Television
Inca Civilization	World Wars	Depression/Stock Market
Great Wall of China	Textile Industry	Adolf Hitler and Nazis
Modern Calendar	Colonists in New World	Digital Revolution
Jesus Christ/Christianity	Boston Tea Party	DNA Structure
Muhammad/Islam	American Revolution	Civil Rights Movement
Gunpowder/Weaponry	French Revolution	Satellite/Space Travel
Norse Explorers	Medical Revolution	Internet
University	Russian Revolution	Apartheid
United Nations	China Revolution	Terrorism

                                                         

Landmarks

National Parks Worldwide	Christ the Redeemer, Brazil	Machu Picchu
National Monuments World	Mount Fuji, Japan	Statue of Zeus, Greece
Mount Everest, Nepal/Tibet	Great Barrier Reef, Australia	Blood Falls, Antarctica
Empire State Building, USA	CN Tower, Canada	Ajanta Caves, India
Panama Canal,	Victorian Falls, Africa	Sanssouci Palace, Germany
Statue of Liberty, USA	Sydney Opera House, Australia	Pantheon, Italy
Route 66, USA	Pyramids & Sphinx, Egypt	Treasury of Atreus, Greece
Golden Gate Bridge, USA	Machu Picchu. Peru	Tarxien Temples, Malta
Niagara Falls, Canada & USA	Temples, Worldwide	Colossus of Rhodes, Rhodes
Eiffel Tower, France	Redwood Forest, USA	Knap of Howar, Scotland
Great Wall of China, Beijing	Ajanta Caves, India	La Hougue Bie, Jersey
Taj Mahal, India	Derinkuyu, Turkey	Tumulus of Bougon, France
Nuremberg Christmas Market	Newgrange, Ireland	Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt
The Colosseum, Italy	Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany	Himeji Castle, Japan
The City of Atlantis, Greece	Roman Baths	Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
Confederation Bridge, Canada	Hopewell Rocks, Canada	Hotel de Glace, Canada
Reflective Salt Flats,	Chichen Itza, Mexico	Hagia Sophia, Turkey
Petra, Jorden	Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Iraq	Ha Long Bay, Gulf of Tonka
Valley of Love, Ireland	Puerto Princesa Underground River, Philippines	Table Mountain, South Africa
Jeju Island, Korea	Paricutin, Mexico	Reflective Salt Flats, Bolivia
Aurora, Canada	Stonehenge, England	Salt Cathedral, Colombia
Angkor Wat, Cambodia	Teotihuacan, Mexico	Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees, USA
Bermuda Triangle	Cahokia, USA	Vaadhoo Island, Maldives
The Ghost Trees, Pakistan	Cenote, Mexico	St. John’s, Canada
Underwater Forest/Kaindy Lake, Kazakhstan	Light Pillars, Moscow	Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
The Wave, USA	Cave of Crystals, Mexico	Easter Island, Chile
Loch Ness, Scotland	The Nazca Lines, Peru	Point Nemo
Okunoshima, Japan	Hashima Island, Japan	Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa
Valley of the Kings, Egypt	Okavango Delta, Africa	Pearl Harbor, USA
Strange Things…
Vantablack	Tardigrades	Voynich Manuscript
Goblin Sharks	Bismuth	Aerogel
Giant Tube Worms	Vampire Squid	Leafy Seadragon
Mini-Black Holes	Exoplanets	Metapseudes
Gravity Waves	The Giant’s Causeway	Thor’s Well
Pink Lake Hillier	Badab-e-Surt	Socotra Island

I hope your interest has been piqued; that you are now ready to find awesome material to learn about and share. When possible, use first-hand accounts, color photos, and info specific to your area. 

If you have any questions, let me know. I’d love to hear how your activity goes!

😀 Tamara