Taking care of a loved one with dementia can be tough. Roles shift and routines change, but you can still enjoy your time together. By designing activities to your loved one’s abilities, preferences, interests, and stage of dementia, you can create moments that promote well-being and emotional connection.
In this guide, we share dementia activities that can nurture strengths, slow cognitive decline, and provide a sense of purpose.
How Do Activities Benefit a Person with Dementia?
Staying mentally and physically active is good for everyone. The right activities for people with dementia, chosen with their abilities and preferences in mind, support cognitive function, emotional well-being, physical health, and social connection. They can also reduce symptoms of dementia, such as wandering and agitation.
- Cognitive Health: Memory games, puzzles, and personalized Q&As can promote neuroplasticity and memory recall. These brain exercises for seniors help preserve existing abilities and encourage mental engagement. Research shows that brain stimulation combined with exercise supports cognition, even for people already facing cognitive decline.
- Physical Wellness: Gentle activities such as walking or chair yoga reduce restlessness, support heart health, improve sleep, and promote overall physical health.
- Emotional Balance: Participating in activities can reduce depression and boredom for seniors. Activities that spark memories or promote creativity foster joy, self-worth, and emotional well-being.
- Social Connection: Doing activities with others, even just one other person, can ease feelings of isolation and loneliness. Social activities also encourage communication, which can create connections and strengthen social skills.
8 Cognitive Activities for Seniors with Dementia
Cognitive activities help people with dementia exercise their brains while having fun. You can tailor them to your loved one’s abilities and stage of dementia.
1. Personal Trivia
Best For: Early stages of dementia
Ask questions about your loved one’s life history, favorite memories, past hobbies and jobs, etc., to encourage reminiscence and conversation. You can turn it into a trivia game or just a simple Q&A. Just be sure to let their interests guide you rather than probing anything they don’t want to talk about and accept their responses and memories rather than correcting them. This activity is probably most suited for early-stage dementia, but you can adapt it for any stage.
2. Board Games
Best For: Early to middle stages of dementia
Use simple games like dominoes, matching card games, or Scrabble to promote focus and social interaction. Most games are best for the early to middle stages of dementia, but they can be simplified as needed.
3. Sequencing Tasks
Best For: Early to middle stages of dementia
Have the person arrange pictures, events, or steps in a recipe in the correct order to stimulate logical thinking and memory. These are best for the early to middle stages of dementia.
4. Sorting Activities
Best For: Middle to late stages of dementia
Provide objects to sort by color, size, or type (such as laundry, beads, or buttons). These tasks are good for attention, eye-hand coordination, and cognitive stimulation, and they can give your loved one a sense that they are contributing. These are ideal for people in the middle stages of dementia, but you can simplify them for late-stage dementia.
5. Puzzle Games and Digital Brain Apps
Best For: Middle stages of dementia
Offer jigsaw puzzles, word searches, or senior-friendly brain-training apps to challenge problem-solving and visual-spatial skills. These are best suited for early to middle stages, but as with other activities, you can customize them.
6. Crafts and Creative Projects
Best For: Early, middle, and late stages of dementia
Activities like coloring, collaging, scrapbooking, or air-dry clay sculpting encourage creativity, fine motor skills, and storytelling. They’re appropriate for all stages, but be sure to adjust them to the individual’s interest and skill level.
7. Sensory Boxes or Bags
Best For: Late stages of dementia
Fill containers with objects of different textures or scents that your loved one can handle to stimulate their senses. This is especially apt for late-stage dementia, but in earlier stages, you can ask your loved one to identify the item or scent.
8. Play Music
Best For: Early, middle, and late stages of dementia
Encourage your loved one to sing or clap along—it can be a huge mood elevator! (Just listening is fine, too.) Choose music without disruptive ads or interruptions, and let your loved one select the playlist when possible. Music therapy is appropriate for everyone, especially people in the late stages of dementia.
6 Physical Exercises for Dementia Patients
Physical movement, especially movement-based dementia activities for seniors, can promote cognitive, emotional, and physical health, improve sleep, and reduce agitation. Their mobility, comfort, and overall ability will determine which ones are the most appropriate.
1. Walking
Whether inside or outdoors, a walk is always good exercise for body and mind. Consider turning some of these into sensory strolls. As you walk, ask your loved ones what they see, smell, hear, and feel.
2. Light Gardening
Gardening can enhance physical, emotional, psychological, and social health. Just playing in the dirt can be calming and enhance mood. For those in the early and middle stages of dementia, planning garden layouts or choosing plants can also provide mental stimulation and encourage problem-solving.
3. Tai Chi
The gentle moves of tai chi can improve physical functioning and quality of life and may even enhance cognitive function. You can accompany a loved one to a class or practice at home with a video. By exercising with the person you are caring for, you both benefit.
4. Chair Yoga
This type of yoga is an option for people with full or limited mobility. Even the gentlest yoga stretches can reduce anxiety and improve balance, stability, and flexibility. In-person and video classes abound.
5. Singing and Dancing
Moving to familiar music can be a powerful activity for anyone with dementia. Music can awaken memories even in people with advanced dementia. For example, years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Tony Bennett was still singing. In fact, memories of favorite songs may be indelible. Encourage movement—clapping, swaying, or dancing—whatever your loved one can do.
6. Balancing Games
Activities such as tossing a balloon or walking heel-to-toe can improve coordination and reduce the risk of falls. These are especially beneficial in the early to middle stages of dementia.
Tips for Choosing Effective and Engaging Dementia Activities
You and your loved one can have fun choosing dementia-friendly activities, but you do need to plan ahead. What does your loved one like to do? What are they able to do? Here are some tips to get started:
- Keep It Simple and Familiar: Choose activities that reflect your loved one’s past or current interests, daily routines, or special talents. Don’t overcomplicate it!
- Create a Calm Environment: Reduce noise and distractions; this will allow them to focus.
- Make the Activities Safe and Accessible: Is the location secure in case your loved one decides to wander away? Are the materials, such as paintbrushes, trowels, and digital devices, easy to hold? Depending on the activity, you may need to stay in the room.
- Pay Attention to Emotional Cues: Watch for signs of enjoyment, boredom, anxiety, or discomfort. After all, this is supposed to be fun. And keep in mind that increased anxiety and agitation could be related to sundowning or another time of day.
- Offer Choices When Possible: Allowing the person to choose between a few options supports autonomy. They’re more likely to participate if they picked the activity.
- Celebrate Participation: Focus on the process rather than the outcome. Any engagement is meaningful.
- Be Flexible: Cognitive and physical abilities can change from day to day. Be willing to change plans based on what your loved one wants to do.
Supporting Caregivers: Resources and Self-Care
Caring for someone with dementia can be physically and emotionally difficult, especially if you’re looking after a parent. Balancing someone else’s cognitive, physical, and emotional needs day after day can be exhausting. Make sure you prioritize dementia caregiver self-care. Here are some resources to help you find the support you need:
- Connect with an online Alzheimer’s community or find a support group.
- Call the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 helpline at 800-272-3900 or use their online chat anytime. They’ll talk with you about how to find resources and support.
- Make plans for your own rest, hobbies, and routines. Working with a respite care service or using the GUIDE program can help you find the time.
- Reach out to your health care professionals for guidance, resources, and emotional support.
Find Dementia Support with BrightStar Care
Thoughtful, personalized dementia activities can make seniors feel valued and connected, even as their abilities change. These activities can support their cognitive and physical health, improving their overall well-being—and yours. And you can always seek help.
BrightStar Care® Alzheimer’s and dementia care services allow your loved one to feel embraced and supported by caregivers in the comfort of their own home. BrightStar Care’s caregivers are specially trained to support both you and your loved one with dementia. When you're looking for in-home care services for your loved one, our experienced local care team members are ready to help. Find a location near you, contact us online, or call 866-618-7827 to learn more about how BrightStar Care offers A Higher Standard®.