Memory-Friendly New Year Activities for People Living with Dementia

Build a Theme Around the Past

Dementia patients and seniors have many happy memories related to their past. They can be associated with their marriage anniversary and the first car they bought. They can also relate to the city where they live, their friends, family members, etc. 

To spark happy memories in the patients related to their past, you can create a new year celebration theme around this time. You can achieve this by including music, dance, dresses, and photos of the time gone by in your New Year activities for dementia patients.

Performing these activities with their family members, friends, and others in the home or assisted living facilities will evoke happy memories in the minds of dementia patients.  This will also inspire them to narrate their stories and talk about their experiences. This will eventually make them feel happy, relaxed, and loved. 

Prepare Favourite Foods

Dementia patients may love certain foods. Therefore, you can encourage them to prepare the foods they love to eat. You can also assist them in preparing food. Alternatively, the patients can assist each other in the cooking sessions. Cooking food together can help trigger happy memories in them. They may be related to the time they ate a particular food in their own home, their friend’s house, a restaurant, or during a picnic. 

Moreover, food preparation can provide immense relaxation to patients with dementia. Moreover, this can encourage them to have conversations with other dementia patients, their family members, or caregivers.   

Arts and Crafts

You can include arts and crafts in the planned New Year activities for people with dementia. These arts and crafts activities can include drawing something that they love the most. It can be drawing fireworks or a happy experience, crafting decorations and paper chains, etc.

Participation in arts and crafts-related activities can enable dementia patients to express their feelings and experiences. Moreover, this provides relief and relaxation to them. Furthermore, this helps improve their mood and cognitive engagement. This also boosts their confidence and maintains their motor skills.

Games and Puzzles

Playing games and puzzles not only provides good exercise for their brain but also gives fun and joy to seniors afflicted with dementia.

Therefore, you can include classic games in your New Year activities for seniors with dementia. These can include simple games like Dominoes, checkers, and Go Fish. 

You may also include large-piece jigsaw puzzles in New Year festivities for seniors with dementia conditions. They are really going to enjoy playing these puzzles.

You can also include block tapping in the list of relaxation activities for patients with dementia on the New Year occasion.   

Embrace Nature

Spending some time in a natural setting can provide comfort and relaxation to patients and seniors with dementia.  They can go for a short walk in the park, plant flowers, sprinkle water on plants, or feed the birds. Family members, friends, or caregivers must accompany the patients as they visit outdoors to perform these activities. This helps ensure their safety and well-being.  

Light Exercise

Physical activities are also important for people and elders with dementia. These activities should be according to their preferences and abilities. 

To enable dementia patients to have light exercise, you can arrange a music party. Here, they can perform simple dancing. Moreover, they can take light walks within the premises. This will enable them to maintain their physical function, improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance social interaction. Moreover, this enables them to sleep better. 

Make a New Year Resolution

Making a New Year resolution is yet another fun activity that you can include in the New Year activities for dementia seniors and patients. They should be brought together in one place and told to make one or more resolutions. They can keep the resolutions to themselves. Alternatively, they can share the resolutions with every group member. 

The other option is to bring them together at a place and ask them to form a group resolution. This will help foster a feeling of togetherness and teamwork among them. 

Adapt the Countdown

The seniors and patients with dementia conditions should not remain awake till midnight as other people tend to do. This is because staying up till midnight can affect their routine and disturb their sleep. 

Therefore, you need to change the New Year countdown to an earlier time like midday or evening.