My grandma just sits and stairs outside..any advice welcome x

[Samienky]

Hi, I'm hoping for a little help. My grandma lives with my mom who cares and looks after my grandma. My grandma has early dementia but seems to be slipping away quickly. I'm more concerned with her sitting for hours at a time and staring outside. My mom works hard to give my grandma everything she can. She does go out but with winter on the way this will be less often.
I want to do things and play games with my grandma but her coordination sight and memory are fading. Does anyone have any game ideas I could play with her so she had something to do? She is 80 and loves simple games like solitaire etc. her mobility is limited. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks x

 

[curtainsgalore]

In the winter months take some time to make a beautiful photo/memory album with your grandmother. Printing out names in large bold letters that you can read together. As her dementia progresses she and you can look at it together and you can prompt her about faces and places. I do this with my mum and she gets great pleasure from it. You can include pets,weddings, holidays etc and label each section. Have fun.

 

[Louby65]

Hi samienky. It is so good that you are trying to stay connected to your gran by whatever means possible . I play dominoes and bingo with my mum , which she enjoys . I bought loads of cd's of the music she likes and her grand daughter sits with her listening to all the old music and loves it just as much as her gran . We are planning to put all the music on an iPod so if we are out she can listen if she wants to. She also sits and paints her nails and gives her facials . Is this something your grandma would like . Touch is a wonderful calming thing which always settles my mum and keeps her involved . Hope some of these activities I do help you and your grandma . Best wishes . Lou

 

[marionq]

I sat in with one of the day centres my husband attends and saw a very simple game which was fun and helped with mobility. They had a small sheet of plywood with half a dozen holes cut in it each about the size of a tea plate. Under each hole was a score eg 10, 15, 25 etc. each person sat a short distance away in their armchair and threw a soft ball at the holes trying to get a good score.

The people playing were otherwise immobile but got some fun out of this.

 

[Samienky]

Thank you for your advice. I think the music idea is really good. I'm going to find some old songs she likes and make sure they are put on for her a few hours a day. Hopefully that will make her feel better inside. I think bingo is also a good idea although I worry she will struggle to keep up, but I suppose her just trying is all she needs. Xx


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