The Caring Corner®
The Caring Corner – Five Activities to Enjoy with Your Loved One Living with Dementia
Caring for a loved one with dementia can be a difficult experience. It is important to find joy and connection in each moment. Here are five activities that you can do with your loved one living with dementia.
- Music Therapy – Music therapy is an effective way to connect with mom or dad and help them express emotion and experience joy. Singing familiar songs, playing instruments, or dancing together can help to reduce stress and increase quality time spent together.
- Gardening – Gardening helps provide a sense of accomplishment, purpose and satisfaction from watching something grow from start to finish. It also provides mental stimulation as your loved one follows along the steps of planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting.
- Walks – Taking a walk offers a great opportunity for physical activity while also providing stimulation such as smells, sounds, and visuals that can trigger memories in people with dementia.
- Crafts – Crafting allows your loved one to express creativity while building on fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Sitting down together to paint or make jewelry gives time for conversation in between tasks which helps build relationships between family members or friends.
- Reminiscing – When someone has dementia it can be difficult to follow conversations about current events, so reminiscing about past memories helps keep them engaged by talking about things they are more familiar with like old photographs or childhood stories. This activity strengthens the bond between you both by reminiscing about shared experiences from the past as well as creating new memories in the present moments spent together bonding over these stories!
Caring for someone living with dementia can be emotionally taxing but by finding ways to enjoy quality time together you are able to strengthen relationships while providing comfort during this difficult journey ahead! We hope these activities give you some insight into how you can connect more deeply with your loved one who is living with dementia!
