Craft Ideas for Alzheimer’s Patients – Do You Have Suggestions?
October 23, 2008 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Crafts for Alzheimer’s Patients
Alzheimer’s patients, at least while they are still mobile, can use their hands, and have some connection with reality, enjoy participating in crafts. Even those who can no longer participate often enjoy watching.
Susan S. wrote me an inquiry about crafts for patients with dementia who live in nursing homes.
Our church group gos once a month to a home that has people with dementia. We go there to do crafts with them I have so much fun. Can you help me with some of the crafts that I can do with them? Tell me what kind of things that they can do. Thank you.
Do you have any suggestions to help Susan? I have worked with assisted living residents and dementia patients in a nursing home in scrapbooking and family history/memory projects. My grandchildren participated in crafts activities when we’d visit my mom. She no longer could be involved, yet she seemed to enjoy watchiing.
Hi there, I work in a Dementia specific units with Ladies only and we have one of the first in Adelaide Men only area as well. We find ability varies and often suprises you with their knowledge. Our men like making things with Ice block sticks(pop sticks) and sanding things down in preparation for other projects. Our Ladies tend to like the knitting and wool crafts, making flowers from tissue paper, and all kinds of art work. We keep it simple as they tend to get very overwhelmed if it is not a managable task for them to undertake. Sometime just arranging silk flowers into a plastic vase is a rewarding enough craft for them. Especially if they have to sort by length and colour. It gives you more insight to what level they are at with their cognitive abilities and fine motor skills. Collages are a good one as well, made from a number of items and they like to look at items carefully as a reminiscence. A lot of these crafts even though simple and non demanding are effective. Just remember to keep the craft ideas managable for them not too hard or it tends to reduce their interest.
Helping with Christmas Cards
- Coloring homemade cards
- Placing the stamps on the envelopes
- Writing addresses (might be too overwhelming for some)