1. Pairs

Think about the hobbies of older people-bowls, golf, travel, fishing, going to the movies, watching sport and so forth. Look at the social histories of your clients. Choose the hobbies that were of interest. Give your game a name eg Golf pairs, Movie-star pairs etc.

Use Google images or if using Microsoft Office go to the Internet clip art images and find about 20 images for 1 hobby. Copy and print each image twice onto an A4 page and laminate. Turn these into cards for a game of pairs. The cards are laid on a table and each person has to turn over 2 cards and find a pair. The person with most pairs is the winner.

2. Picture Bingo

Bingo is a favourite in many facilities. Have you tried Picture Bingo? Use pictures that relate to the hobbies and interests of your clients. Use the same concept as the pairs game and play Golf Bingo (or movies, fishing etc.). Make 10 playing cards, each with a different set of 6 pictures based on the hobby. Add a word to each picture eg golf ball.

Make a set of 20 calling cards of the chosen pictures for that hobby. To play, pick out a calling card to show the participants. If they have that picture on their card they cover it with a token. You can be creative with tokens. Eg. golf tees for Golf Bingo. The first person with all the pictures covered calls out Bingo

3. Memory Albums

A . Make a memory book- you can use a scrapbook album and a client’s photos to make a book about the client’s life. It can be made to look very attractive using some materials and techniques from the art of scrapbooking. Each double page could be an era in the client's life. Eg childhood, school, working days etc. Write a simple story in large print so it can be used over again with the client. If this craft is new to you take a few lessons and also find good tuition on the internet.

B . You can make a very simple memory book using just a few pictures for a client whose memory is fading. A recycled child’s storybook in very thick card works well. Cover each page with appropriate scrap booking paper. Add pictures chosen by the client with family help of people pets etc. that bring him joy. Crop and mount the picture. Add in very large print (48p) the person/pet/place name. You can also purchase chipboard albums for this purpose.

4. Matching swatches of different textures, colours and designs- an idea for one-on-One with dementia client

Make the resource.
Obtain some material swatches of furnishings materials (upholstery or curtain) or wallpaper. Your local supplier would probably be able to give you samples. Use ten swatches and cut each in half making 2 pieces of each swatch. Carpet or laminate samples would also work well.

Activity.
The client looks and feels the swatches enjoying the colour and texture of the swatches. The client then matches each swatch with its partner. The discussion might be about furnishing a room and choice of texture and colour. If the matching activity is too easy choose more swatches for next time. If too hard, use less.

Follow on activity.
Use swatches of different clothing fabrics made from remnants. Choose ones with a variety of colour and texture. Talk about fashions and dressmaking.

5. Cheap and easy tools for artwork

		Use up those old credit cards. They make great tools to paint with making great abstract pictures and are easy to use. Use it to mix into a pool of acrylic paint and scrape over the page. Try with different colours and see a spectacular result.
Pencils with rubber tips are also great tools. Put the rubber side of the pencil in paint and apply coloured dots over the page. Change colours to make an interesting design.

6 . Coloured paper Try using coloured paper instead of plain white for artwork.

Black paper looks really good with light coloured paints or chalks. Try oil pastels on black paper. Make lines and squiggles all over the page using different colours. Add gold or silver glitter from a tube for a great result.

7. Easy Dice Games

A pair of large dice can be used for many games

A . Try this game with a small group of people for a reminiscing game

Each person has a throw of the 2 dice. The person has to remember what he/she was doing at the age shown eg 6 and 1 (61) or 2 and 5 (25) etc and make story. Or, add the dice numbers together to a number in childhood and remember what one did at the age of 5+5=10.Go around the group for some interesting stories

B . Use one dice for this game and a set of large letters face down. Also tokens for correct answers.

Turn over the top letter.
Each person throws a dice in turn and has to name 1-6 things starting with that letter. A token is given for each correct answer. The person with the most tokens is a winner.
There is also an easy dice game available in my resources section of the website

8. Excellent Client Suggestion

I got this suggestion from a carer of a dementia client. She bought a picture frame with inbuilt software of changing pictures of the family so he would be reminded of who he was and who his family are when he awoke. The pictures can be downloaded from the computer and come up like a screen saver.

9. Alzheimer’s association contact

Clients with early dementia are staying at home longer now and entering a facility when the condition becomes much more challenging for the family. Carers and therapists should log onto their state Alzheimer’s association for their free help sheets.

10. Photo Albums

Therapists should encourage families to make photo albums together for clients with early dementia and refer to them regularly.

11. Balloon icebreaker

Large balloons work well with small groups of dementia clients. This game is a great icebreaker to get people talking. It provides mental stimulation through easy reading. We had great fun with it.

Equipment- large balloon, permanent marker, music player and suitable music.
Using the permanent marker write 10 simple sentences on the balloon such as-
Tell us about your family.
Do you have any pets?
What is your favourite TV show?
What food do you really hate?
Tell us where your childhood home was.
What job did you have when you went to work?

The Game
The clients need to be sitting in a circle around the room with space between each person. Put on the music and pat the balloon to pass around the circle. Stop the music and whoever has the balloon needs to read a sentence. Give people a chance to comment do some reminiscing and start again.

12. Reading easy sentences is good mental stimulation.

Try this idea for one on one or for a small group of dementia clients.

Materials: Type up on font size 72 the first lines of famous songs or jingles or prayers appropriate for your group/person’s cognitive and social abilities.

Use about 12 and mount each page in a see through folder.

The Game
Hold up song 1 and ask group/ person to read it. After this, the whole group will burst into song. For example I did this using “I like Aeroplane Jelly” jingle. Talk about the song as a reminiscing idea and keep the game going till you have done all the songs. Try it with poetry and make it harder or easier depending on the group.

13. Blue Danube painting

Here is a great idea for a winter art activity. I did this activity on a cold winters day with 16 clients. I gave each person different types of brushes and 3 shades of blue paint. We listened to the Blue Danube. We painted with the brushes in the air to the lovely music to loosen up. I showed them a variety of easy brushstrokes. I suggested painting something cool -river , winter scene or whatever they felt like. Then everyone had a go- the results were fantastic. In summer we will use warm colours for another fun art activity

14. Make everyday a sensory day especially for your clients in residential care

Here are some suggestions-
Smell and taste - have some real coffee percolating nearby, warm a precooked pie or cake in the microwave, make some popcorn, pick herbs from the garden feel and smell, bring I seasonal exotic fruit to discuss and taste
Vision and touch – put out seeds or bread for the birds in a bird garden, walk in the grounds to check the seasonal plants and gather seeds and nuts remove dead flower heads
Sound - put on some baroque music in a quite place