Fun Visits With Senior Citizens
Tips for Visiting Seniors Using Easy Activity Ideas and Games
Sep 10, 2007
Enjoying fun visits with senior citizens who are failing or forgetful is possible with minimal effort and a bit of creativity. Following are tips for bringing out personality, humor, and joy when visiting grandparents or elderly friends.
Re-introduce Simple Games and Activities Seniors Already Know
Tic tac toe, simple crossword puzzles (large print and older issues may be most successful), checkers, or large-piece puzzles are all good choices. With senior citizens who are frail physically, but have active minds and hearing, word games may be useful. Try twenty questions or trivia games (if a board game version is chosen, the visitor may have to move the game pieces).
Read to the Elderly Aloud from Reminisce or Good Old Days Magazines during Visits.
These publications contain stories to which the elderly can relate, about times when they were younger. If you know a creative senior, perhaps you can encourage them to relate stories and one might be submitted for publication. Reminisce also has clean jokes and a crossword puzzle that older people can appreciate. You can find these magazines at bookstores, libraries or online.
Look at Family and Other Photos with a Senior Citizen
If a senior remembers the people in the pictures, let them relate stories. If not, perhaps memories can be jogged. Just about every elderly person loves to see pictures of pets, babies, wildlife, and nature. Perhaps a former fisherman would like to look at pictures of fishing and sea life. A quilter might like viewing photos of beautiful quilts. Bring photographs that will be interesting to the particular senior citizen.
Bring Along a Laptop Computer to Share with a Senior
Laptops are great for showing slide shows, seeing the world online, writing dictated letters and e-mails, finding out information about anything of interest, looking up family genealogy, playing games (like solitaire), and more. Seniors may be interested in learning about speech recognition programs which would help them write letters, stories or memoirs without having to type.
Senior Citizens can Use a Good Laugh
Old-time comedies are quite funny. Try finding Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, and Marx Brothers movies. Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" TV programs or another show your senior remembers are great. They may not realize how much is available on DVD these days. Audio CD versions of old radio shows can also be purchased at book stores and online.
Have a Yummy Treat with an Elder
If your senior can have special goodies like an ice cream sundae, a chocolate bar or homemade cookies, they can quite enjoyable and a rarity. If it is a nice day for a drive, maybe a trip to a special restaurant is in order, even if it is just for dessert.
For Fun Visits with Senior Citizens, Bring a Little Sunshine into their Lives
Sometimes holidays such as Mother's Day and Father's Day end up being the rare days the eldery get visits. Enjoy your next visit with a senior you love. And remember, try to have someone take pictures of yourself with your loved one often. These are special times to be treasured.
For more ideas, see Fun Activities with Seniors, Online Senior Citizen Gift Ideas
For more information about senior living, see this Squidoo Seniors page.
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