Special Activities for Elderly

If you have friends or loved ones in care facilities, or you work with seniors, you may be looking for special activities for elderly people. There are many opportunities to spend quality time together, or create social moments for a group to enjoy.

One key thing to remember when considering special activities for elderly folks is to ask them directly what they may like to do. In many situations, people simply forget that an older person had a life before, with hobbies, pastimes, and other interests. Often, a senior may surprise you with his or her answer, and express a desire to learn to play an instrument, pick up phrases in a new language or something equally unconventional.

In care facilities, asking residents individually about what they’d like to do is a thoughtful approach. The facility may not be able to accommodate all requests because of time or budget constraints, but again, the seniors will appreciate the asking, and you may uncover new ideas.

When seniors have more restrictive living arrangements, they may miss caring for a pet, or may have had animals as a child, but married to someone allergic to dander. Many no-kill animal facilities are in dire need for volunteers to play with cats and dogs. The more interaction the animals have with people, the more likely they will be attractive to potential adopters. And there are documented studies about the positive effect of pet therapy on seniors.

Call a facility ahead of time to see what its requirements may be, and if it can accommodate special needs, such as a person using a wheelchair. For people working in care facilities where outings are frequent, take a poll of the residents to find out how many people would like to play with animals for 30 minutes or so, and plan a bi-weekly trip. If you’re taking a loved one out for morning, a regular visit to a shelter followed by a nice lunch makes for great one-on-one time.

In many situations, it’s harder for the elderly to garden. But, small potted plants, bonsai trees, terrariums, and container water gardens are all possible to have in care facilities, and easy to maintain.

• Potted plants such as ivy, philodendron, begonias, and fragrant herbs are wonderful to work with, and improve air quality. Check first to make sure no one has particular allergies.
• Bonsai trees are unusual enough to hold anyone’s interest. The patience and skill needed for trimming means a person can move at his or her own pace.
• Terrariums are simple to create, and many diverse plants and ornamental accents can be used.
• A container water garden requires a little more maintenance, but is a lovely feature in a community room or bedroom. Ask people with more advanced gardening skills to put their heads together for design and upkeep solutions.

Gardening on a small scale is an easy activity option.

If we truly intend to respect our elders, we need to learn from them and understand their experiences. There is no better way to do this than to let seniors tell their stories.

Miniature cassette tape recorders are inexpensive, and most have easy-to-press buttons. Let seniors have these in their rooms so they can record thoughts anytime they like. In a care facility, rotate the recorders weekly with new tapes for each person so everyone has a chance to participate.

Help them get started by providing topics such as family jokes and stories, events from a particular decade, technological advances they’ve seen, favorite clothing from years’ past, a first car, favorite songs, and so on.

It’s important to have some type of follow through after stories are gathered. For a loved one, have someone in the family transcribe the tapes, and make inexpensive booklets to share with other family members. In a care facility, ask a resident in the facility to write up the stories to read aloud to a group at a later date.

There is no better way to help keep people active, healthy, and happy than exercise. Consider exercise options when thinking of special activities for seniors. For example:

• A new interesting activity is wheelchair dance, and a growing number of instructors are available to visit care centers and teach classes.
• Yoga is a wonderful exercise for people at all stages of mobility. Consider options such as chair yoga and senior yoga. Yoga instructors-in-training have to obtain a certain number of contact hours for certification, and may be willing to teach yoga for free at your facility.
• Make an arrangement with a local health club that has a swimming pool. For a reduced fee at a special time, it might allow a swim outing once a week.
• Seniors reap many benefits from performing tai chi, and anyone who can stand for 10 minutes without aid can do this gentle, flowing exercise.
• Some activity directors in care facilities have other creative ways to keep seniors moving, such as sticking balls on tic-tack-toe boards mounted on walls and using resistance bands for strength training.

We’ve developed a number of different articles and slideshows about senior activities. Here are just a few:

• Ideas for Fun Activities for the Elderly
• Elderly Activities Slideshow
• Fun Activities for the Elderly Slideshow
• Social Activities Slideshow
• Senior Activity Ideas Slideshow

Visit our Activities for Seniors section at left for additional suggestions. More importantly, share your ideas for activities for elderly people in the "Comments" section below!.

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