Colouring books

[Lavender45]

Hi everyone

I've been trying and failing to find activities mum could enjoy at home. I bought some adult colouring books, but mum lost interest quickly.

Taking a look at the bit of colouring she has done its pretty clear that the fine detail in the adult colouring book is too much for mum and I'm wondering if that discouraged her (she says she enjoys colouring until she has a go).

I don't want to get a child's colouring book as she mightn't be impressed at being "babied" but has anyone found something in between a child's colouring book (too simplistic maybe) and the current adult ones (too much fine detail). I've had a look on line without finding anything.

 

[Kjn]

When dad was able to do it I found some images on Pinterest which were simpler designs for dad to follow, other than that I drew images or patterns for him to colour.

 

[arielsmelody]

I would have a look in the children's section - there might be some aimed at older primary age which would be suitable. Otherwise finding images online seems like a good idea and you can try a few different types to see what works. When I was young geometric patterns were popular.

 

[Beate]

I found some nices ones in Tiger (that quirky Danish store). They are not expensive either. No idea whether you have one near you. They vary in difficulty, but there's plenty like those:

 

[Kevinl]

Just google image for "colouring in" there's millions of picture on there you can pick what you think is an appropriate level of complexity and a suitable subject and then just print it off. Have to say though they never worked for my wife she was past that stage before I really found out about it and I've only ever seen one woman on the ward who did seem to do it quite regularly.
K

 

[mymemories]

Hi everyone

I've been trying and failing to find activities mum could enjoy at home. I bought some adult colouring books, but mum lost interest quickly.

Taking a look at the bit of colouring she has done its pretty clear that the fine detail in the adult colouring book is too much for mum and I'm wondering if that discouraged her (she says she enjoys colouring until she has a go).

I don't want to get a child's colouring book as she mightn't be impressed at being "babied" but has anyone found something in between a child's colouring book (too simplistic maybe) and the current adult ones (too much fine detail). I've had a look on line without finding anything.

Hi Lavender45, I buy lots for my Mum from 'The Works' they do some great colouring books that your Mum may find easier. They have Mandala's, Geometric and sometimes Stained Glass patterns.

As already mentioned, you can find some designs and patterns on the internet that you can print off at home just make sure you add the word 'printable' otherwise they may use lots of ink. The supermarkets are also a great place too. One to avoid is Millie Marotta - they are beautiful, but are very fine and VERY detailed. My Mum absolutely loves colouring and doing jigsaw puzzles. I have found a company in the UK that manufacturer jigsaw puzzles. They do an amazing selection and produce 250 and 500 piece puzzles. However, what makes them different is they manufacture them as large piece puzzles which are almost twice the size of a standard piece so they have more of the picture on each piece making it easier to follow and the pictures are wonderful as they don't have lots of sky etc. Hope you manage to find something for your Mum.

 

[mancmum]

Sunday afternoon watercolour type pics to colour in.

There is a company called W F Graham who have produced a series of books which have the completed picture on the left and a the blank one on the right. They do pictures of things that look like Sunday afternoon watercolours We have got Sea and Sand which has pictures of named places in the UK. It is not at all baby. they do have a website but I see that there books are also available on a certain auction web site.

The thing about adult colouring books is that they are actually designed to be a bit complicated.

My Dad did a lot of sketching and painting and while it breaks my heart to see him so diminished as to be colouring in. He does get pleasure from doing it.

The other suggestion is that if you get a well loved family photograph and put it through a digital image programme you can usually choose to display as pencil drawing or sketch. This could then provide a basis for someone to colour in a picture or scene that they already know. Perhaps ..a pic of their own house.

 

[fizzie]

oh that is a lovely idea Manc - how difficult is it to do that and which programme do you use?

 

[Grable]

I have found a company in the UK that manufacturer jigsaw puzzles. They do an amazing selection and produce 250 and 500 piece puzzles. However, what makes them different is they manufacture them as large piece puzzles which are almost twice the size of a standard piece so they have more of the picture on each piece making it easier to follow and the pictures are wonderful as they don't have lots of sky etc.

Sorry to hijack the post, but MyMemories - could you tell me wear to find this jigsaw company? I need something for Mum to do!

 

[Lavender45]

Thank you everyone, some really useful leads for me to follow up. As well as the colouring books and sheets I really like the idea of the extra large jigsaw pieces. Will be having a look for them too.

Thanks again. Truly appreciate the help.

Lavender x

 

[mymemories]

Jigsaw Puzzles

Sorry to hijack the post, but MyMemories - could you tell me wear to find this jigsaw company? I need something for Mum to do!

Hi Grable and Lavender45,

I have sent you a private message with details regarding the jigsaw puzzle company. Hope the details help. Please feel free to message me if I can help further.

 

[mancmum]

Doing things with your own pictures.

My free version of the Picasa programme from Google allows you to create 'pencil sketches. I haven't used them for my Dad because not his thing at the moment though I did go on and try it and see what it looked like. Not so good for photos with huge bits of black or dark in them. But it is easy you just click on edit and then click on the feature you want to apply to the picture you are using. I guess if you are not a computer techy sort of person there must be an A level art and design class somewhere nearby that would like a real project to work on.

I found the programme below on the web which has a 7 day free trial. You could get your photos and pics together and have a splurge at it and never use it again.

www.picmonkey.com/blog/turn-photos-into-sketches-edge-sketch/

Which seems better than Picasa.

But if you simply got a photo and scanned it in to your computer, you could print it out at A4 size and trace a line drawing from it. That would allow you to cut out the complicated bits.

 

[mymemories]

oh that is a lovely idea Manc - how difficult is it to do that and which programme do you use?

Hi Fizzie,

Not sure if this is of any help for you but the following programme can turn photos into a pencil drawing it is www.serif.com./photoplus
I use it all the time for my work and it is very easy to do it does it at a click of a button.

 

[Radioham]

Hi everyone,

Have not logged in for sometime, my wife Sylvia has been very ill and took very ill , 1st
May. It was touch and go. So I was very interested to read about the colouring books - our friend who has done this and Parkinson's disease, has been using ones that we recommended his family, those ones , about plants, fish, mysterious ones etc by that famous Scottish outline artist sweeping the country. He absolutely loves them and has come on leaps and bounds, not only his mental state but his physical state. Nice to be back to make some comments

Cheers

John

Radioham

 

[SLV78]

jigsaw

Hi Lavender45, I buy lots for my Mum from 'The Works' they do some great colouring books that your Mum may find easier. They have Mandala's, Geometric and sometimes Stained Glass patterns.

As already mentioned, you can find some designs and patterns on the internet that you can print off at home just make sure you add the word 'printable' otherwise they may use lots of ink. The supermarkets are also a great place too. One to avoid is Millie Marotta - they are beautiful, but are very fine and VERY detailed. My Mum absolutely loves colouring and doing jigsaw puzzles. I have found a company in the UK that manufacturer jigsaw puzzles. They do an amazing selection and produce 250 and 500 piece puzzles. However, what makes them different is they manufacture them as large piece puzzles which are almost twice the size of a standard piece so they have more of the picture on each piece making it easier to follow and the pictures are wonderful as they don't have lots of sky etc. Hope you manage to find something for your Mum.

Hi I'd be interested to know the manufacturer of the jigsaws as my Mum used to love doing them but the ones i find are all a bit too complicated and small for her. Thanks

 

[mymemories]

Large Piece Jigsaw Puzzle Details

Hi I'd be interested to know the manufacturer of the jigsaws as my Mum used to love doing them but the ones i find are all a bit too complicated and small for her. Thanks

Hi SLV78,

I have just sent you a Private Message with the details.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any further help.

Hope the jigsaws bring some joy to your Mum as much as they have to my Mum.

 

[Lulib]

Coloring books

My husband has no interest in coloring or any activities whatsoever.

 

[SLV78]

Thank you very much for this. X


QUOTE=SLV78;1288064]Hi I'd be interested to know the manufacturer of the jigsaws as my Mum used to love doing them but the ones i find are all a bit too complicated and small for her. Thanks[/QUOTE]

 

[Ding Dong]

Jigsaws with big pieces

Mum always enjoyed jigsaws, but after she got dementia she found standard jigsaw too difficult. We found 250 - 300 big piece jigsaws ideal. House of Puzzles do “Big 250” puzzles. They are 34x48cm when completed. Many have a nature or a nostalgia theme
• Train Spotting – boy and dog watching a steam train
• "Daily Delivery" – post van
• “Fill Her Up please” – car at old fashioned petrol pump garage
• “Harbour Lights” – boats in the harbour
• "Wait For Us!" – at the bus stop
• "Crumbs of Comfort" – bird table
• "Down on the Farm"
As her dementia progressed, I used to do the jigsaw at home, and then divide the finished picture into about 8 plastic bags. At mum’s care home I would only put out one bag at a time, to maximise her chances of success, for example all the pieces of the train, or all the pieces of the house. Eventually, as she deteriorated, I found she would do bits of the puzzle in the wrong places, matching colours, but not the actual picture. She was still enjoying doing the puzzle even though it was wrong, so I would tidy it up when she was not watching. In the end, I was doing the entire puzzle, but she seemed to enjoy seeing it on the table and the idea that we were doing it together. Often other residents in the care home would pick up pieces (usually the red pieces) and wander off with them, so I started writing mum’s name on the back of every piece before it went to the home!

 

[mymemories]

Mum always enjoyed jigsaws, but after she got dementia she found standard jigsaw too difficult. We found 250 - 300 big piece jigsaws ideal. House of Puzzles do “Big 250” puzzles. They are 34x48cm when completed. Many have a nature or a nostalgia theme
• Train Spotting – boy and dog watching a steam train
• "Daily Delivery" – post van
• “Fill Her Up please” – car at old fashioned petrol pump garage
• “Harbour Lights” – boats in the harbour
• "Wait For Us!" – at the bus stop
• "Crumbs of Comfort" – bird table
• "Down on the Farm"
As her dementia progressed, I used to do the jigsaw at home, and then divide the finished picture into about 8 plastic bags. At mum’s care home I would only put out one bag at a time, to maximise her chances of success, for example all the pieces of the train, or all the pieces of the house. Eventually, as she deteriorated, I found she would do bits of the puzzle in the wrong places, matching colours, but not the actual picture. She was still enjoying doing the puzzle even though it was wrong, so I would tidy it up when she was not watching. In the end, I was doing the entire puzzle, but she seemed to enjoy seeing it on the table and the idea that we were doing it together. Often other residents in the care home would pick up pieces (usually the red pieces) and wander off with them, so I started writing mum’s name on the back of every piece before it went to the home!

Yes, this is the company I used but I didn't know if I was able to name them hence my private messages to those who were interested. They don't have stockists everywhere. If you contact them via email with your postcode they will tell you if they have a stockist local to you. If they don't, they allow you to purchase directly from them which is what I did.

They also have a children's section with 80 pieces. My Mum loves the large pieces as they are easier to handle, and as mentioned in my previous posts, they don't have pictures with lots of sky or the same colour so there is always something for her to find in the picture.

The company were very accommodating and sent me a wonderful brochure containing all their designs as there wasn't a stockist near to me or my Mum. I ordered them and they came to me within a day or two.

What is good too, is that if the puzzle is still in production and you have lost a piece they will send it to you if you send a SAE and tell them which piece it is. If other members order from them you must order 250/500 'BIG' otherwise the pieces will be of a standard size and after doing a puzzle with the large pieces my Mum won't do anything else now.

I was thinking of speaking to the host at the local carers café to see if I can give the puzzles my Mum has completed to a carer(s) for their loved one to enjoy. It seems silly for me to hold onto them and if the PWD doesn't enjoy them then their carer hasn't wasted their money.