Activities for a parent with dementia or memory loss
Simple large-print activities to do together with a parent who has dementia or memory loss: easy word searches, daily pages and things to talk about on a visit.
You go to visit, you sit down, you ask how lunch was, and then there's a long stretch of nothing. It isn't anybody's fault. Conversation gets harder when memory gets shaky, and an hour can feel very long for both of you. Having something on the table helps. It gives your hands something to do and the two of you something to talk about that isn't how they're feeling today.
None of the books on this page are a treatment for dementia or memory loss, and they're not a replacement for anything their doctor or care team suggests. Ask the care team what suits your parent right now. What these books are is fifteen calm minutes, printed large, with nothing to fail.
What makes an activity work
The things that tend to go well are short, familiar and impossible to get wrong. Large print matters more than you'd think. So does a page that looks the same every day, because after about a week nobody has to explain it anymore. Puzzles where the words only run forward are easier to finish. And questions with no right answer are better than quizzes, because a story that wanders off somewhere else is the whole point.
Try to do it with them rather than handing it over. Read the words out loud. Let them hold the pencil. If they lose interest halfway through, put it down and have the coffee.
For the visit where you've run out of things to say
This is the one to bring if the hard part is the talking. Pick a theme, ask the questions, and see where it goes. Some visits you'll never get to the word search.
Easy word searches
If regular word search books have gotten frustrating, start here. Eight words is a puzzle someone can finish in one sitting, and the subjects are ordinary, comfortable things.
These two have more words per grid, so they suit someone who still likes a bit of a challenge. The hymn book is a good one for a parent who sang in church every Sunday. Don't be surprised if somebody starts singing.
One page a day
This one is built for routine: fifteen minutes, one page, the same chair. Eighty pages is roughly three months at one a day, and you can start over at the end. It works well left with a caregiver or a sibling who visits on other days, so everybody is doing the same page.
Small things that make it easier
Use a pencil with a good eraser, or a felt-tip pen that doesn't need pressing hard. Good light helps more than a bigger font. Sit next to them, not across. If they get a word wrong, let it go. If they finish the page, that's the afternoon done, and nobody needs to make a speech about it.
Every book here is a paperback on Amazon and a printable on Etsy. The printable is handy if you want to print one page at a time, or print the same easy page again next week.