8 Dementia Friendly Activities You’ll LOVE to Do Together

Matthew Ralph-Savage

February 12, 2021

Spend Valentine’s Day (and every day for that matter), engaged in meaningful and joyous fun. Take a look at some of the Relish team’s favorite activities that can be enjoyed together.

    1. Animal Anagrams (Early Stages)
      Noils and giters and rabes*, oh my! Can you unscramble those three?
      This word game rearranges the letters to reveal animal names. It’s lots of fun and encourages cognitive thinking. (Psst…*Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!)
    2. Counting On It (Early Stages)
      This simple numbers game is a great way to keep the cogs whirring. (And it’s ideal for someone with a visual impairment too) Roll the dice, choose a card with a math symbol and figure out the sum.
    3. Snakes & Ladders (Mid Stages)
      This iconic board game has had a makeover to suit people living with dementia. It’s a great game that allows friends and family of all ages to play and have fun together once again.
    4. Musical Interlude (Mid-Late Stage)
      Pop in a CD or tune to your favorite station and evoke memories of a time and place when you listened to the song. Sing along. Or, get up and dance. There’s no wrong way to enjoy this wonderfully emotive activity.
    5. Creative Scenes (Mid-Late Stage)
      Have fun creating your own pictures from magnetic pieces. Use sets such as The Baking Cupboard or The Handyman and design your perfect scene. Encourage a sense of achievement and enjoy spending meaningful time together.
    6. Think Of A Link (Early Stage)
      This is a cognitive stimulation game that encourages great conversations. It helps people to share differences, commonalities and opinions across four different topics and are a fantastic way to get to know one another better.
    7. Winter Nature Walk (Early Stages)
      Enjoy the fresh air and outdoors. A feast for the senses, keep your eyes peeled for wild sights, feel the different textures of nature, and breathe in the scents of the natural surroundings.
  1. Aquapaints (Late Stages)
    Get set for all the fun of painting without the paint and mess! Brush water onto the pages to see the colourful images magically appear. Spark conversation around the image when the painting is complete. Use them again and again, as the image vanishes when the water dries.

Think about activities your loved ones enjoyed before the challenges of memory loss. Parlay those ideas into ways that can be incorporated into daily life to continue to have them experience joy and a zest for living. Stave off feelings of isolation through communication, engagement, and hobbies that can be completed indoors with loved ones.

For more information on these, and other activities for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, please visit Relish-life.com, and download our free app for families and caregivers.