Memory care activities allow residents to interact as a part of our community. We enjoy various ways to make life fun, from gardening to dancing that keeps us all moving our bodies.
Gardening: Every spring we start the seedlings and enjoy the benefits of our hard work in the summer. The residents love watching our gardens grow and watering them.
Dance and playing music: A little Karaoke goes a long way.
Sit and be fit: The options of being balanced on a chair and still moving our bodies is very fun and helpful to keep us moving.
Playing and walking the house pup:
Walking: Yards to wander is of great value for our residents.
We move and figure out fun and enjoyable memory care activities to be part of our everyday life. Even participating in chores around the house gives us all a sense of belonging.
Moments and Memories
We work hard so we can spend time together with our residents. It is so important to have a laugh with another being. Our care team is encouraged to learn about our residents as they have more vivid memories of their lives in the long term from before their dementia set in. The short term is where the frustration comes, so we love to learn about our residents’ lives before dementia and enjoy talking together. To sit and talk with our residents and learn about their past gives us all joy.
We find that there are so many interesting lives that we learn about from dentists and doctors to business owners and aerospace engineers. Many of our residents, being part of the great generation, have memories of the wars, the depression, the sandstorms, but truly look at life as a blessing. The amount of progress this world has made in the last 100 years is mind-blowing.
Sometimes the best conversations come and the most unexpected times. This is a great way to help redirect and show genuine interest in our seniors. They have given us many inventions and wisdom and to learn more about each one is a gift.
Sensory Stimulation in Memory Care Activities
We all love to use our five senses and should help residents have these same moments. With touch, games without lots of complicated processes are fun. We play Jenga or bowl on the tables with plastic pins and balls. Always a fun way to increase our senses. Foods with smells, tastes, and textures are overwhelmingly our residents’ favorites. We all have memories of what mom made and it is as much about the memories as it is the need for nutrition in our bodies. Smell is one of the dominant senses and this is felt by cooking in the homes as we do in our own homes.
We are getting to some options with touch slowly again, but our seniors need touch and love. We are full of hugs and enjoy holding hands and walking around the gardens. The fresh air gives a healthy bit of Vitamin D in our Colorado assisted living memory care homes. Our friendly house pups are always enjoying a little touch and love from our residents.
