Finding senior friendly activities can sometimes be difficult, especially if your parent is in a wheelchair and has difficulty leaving the house. That doesn’t mean that they should be confined to boredom every day, though. There are plenty of things that can be done for entertainment without ever leaving the house. Here, we have provided some unique activities that you may have never considered before. Hopefully, they will help you to come up with things to do with your loved one.
These are things that you can do with your elderly parent if you are their family caregiver, or instructions that you can leave to do with their professional in-home care professional. Either way, they are geared toward creativity, fun, and memories. Creating new skills is a huge plus to seniors because it keeps their brains and bodies active, when they might not be otherwise.
Baking
A lot of senior citizens have fond memories of their families gathered around in the kitchen, eating the meals that their parents or grandparents made. For many people, going through the hard work of creating a huge meal is not possible thanks to advanced disabilities. However, there are still some small things that can be done, such as bread making. Thanks to automatic bread makers, a lot of the difficulty of making your own bread is eliminated. You can find a breadmaker for less than $100 in most cases, and it can provide not only hours of activity each month, but it allows your loved one to make their own delicious food. With most models, all you need to do is add the ingredients; the machine does the mixing and the baking for you. This can be great to do around the holidays where specialty breads are popular.
You can also dry your own fruits and vegetables with a food dehydrator. Making your own fruit roll up might not sound too exciting at first, but these are delicious, and like bread making, it provides a lot of entertainment.
Make Music
A lot of people grow up with music being a regular part of their household. Making your own music is easy, even if your loved one has no musical background. If they’ve never played a musical instrument in their life, you can make homemade chimes, or even just sing their favorite songs together. If their caregiver isn’t comfortable with this, you can always do it together when you are home for the day. It’s really easy, it’s fun, and a great way to bond.
If they do have a musical background, ask them to share it with you and the rest of the family. Maybe it’s been decades since they’ve sat down to play at a piano, but bringing a keyboard into the house can replicate a lot of the same feeling. They’re sure to be a bit rusty, but this is something that the whole family can enjoy. If desired, you can even record them playing. This would make a great gift in the future, too.
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