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Does the cold threaten to disrupt the holiday fun for seniors in your life? Elderly people must maintain their level of physical and mental activity throughout the winter, just like any other season. The goal is to find appropriate wintertime activities for seniors and to pique their interest enough for them to participate. These 14 fun winter activities for seniors will surely get them excited for winter:
1. DIY Christmas decorations
Wreaths aren’t just for Christmas. You may design beautiful, unique wreaths and home ornaments all throughout the year.
2. Prepare a novel dish
Find a recipe for a dish you’ve never made before, either in an old cookbook or while watching a cooking show. Make the dinner as special as you can!
3. Knit
Knitting is quiet, observant, and incredibly satisfying after you’ve mastered knit one. If you start knitting now, you might be able to create someone a thoughtful gift for Christmas (a holey scarf perhaps?).
4. Writing letters
Anyone can appreciate receiving a real letter in the mail. Improve your calligraphy skills or just write a note with a ball point pen.
5. Get artistic
You can express yourself artistically in a variety of ways, some of which you may have never tried. Felting, needlepoint, and paint-by-numbers are among the possibilities.
6. Indoor gardening
Gardening has several advantages. The activity stimulates all the senses and reawakens the underlying connection to nature. Seniors find it more pleasurable when the activity is done in couples or groups, so enlist as many family members as you can to participate and offer moral support. Start with a simple assignment. Amaryllis blossoms are easy to grow indoors and last for several weeks. Eventually, you can expand your indoor collection of herbs, low-light plants, and flowers by using one or more indoor window boxes. This is also a fantastic way to grow seedling plants that you may plan to replant outdoors in the early spring.
7. Get crafty
Using art as a kind of therapy is a great way to beat the winter blues. Depending on their physical health and dexterity, your senior loved one might enjoy dabbling in painting, pottery, or clay sculpture. Adult colouring books are really trendy right now. Since they keep hands and minds busy, crafts are among the best indoor pastimes for seniors throughout the winter. Crafts may be done by anybody, regardless of skill level, and offer an enjoyable task with a nice reward.
8. Cook with family
It takes time to make something good and entertaining, which is perfect for the winter. The benefits of simple baking and culinary jobs extend to the entire household. A social activity that makes older people feel included, productive, and accomplished is baking or cooking together. Plan these get-togethers during a time of day when there is less chaos in the kitchen, and then take some time to unwind with a cup of tea afterward.
9. Take a moment to read
Why not start a two-person book club with your senior loved one? Set out an hour each day to read and discuss a book that appeals to both of you. Shorter poems or even the day’s news can be used for this. The elderly people in your life will profit greatly from reading, and you will get the added bonus of providing them with hours of stimulating entertainment. Visit the bookstore to find exciting new reads.
10. Don’t Forget About Exercise
Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to keep your body healthy, so you shouldn’t let the cold stop you from being active. Low-impact exercises that can be done inside include stretching, tai chi, yoga, and chair exercises. By using resistance band exercises, which are great for indoor workouts, seniors may maintain their strength and flexibility throughout the winter. You’ll notice incredible results right away, including an improved appetite, less aches and pains, better sleep patterns, and a more upbeat outlook, with just 30 to 60 minutes a day of “gym time.”
11. Join or create a book club
If your elderly loved one enjoys reading, discussing what they’ve read with others could even make them feel more accomplished after finishing an excellent book. It mimics being accepted into a select group of people who share your interests.
Starting or joining a book club has the advantage of fostering a social community of like-minded people who will regularly get together to socialize, discuss their favourite books, and keep one another engaged and informed.
12. Create or join a league
In order to stay active during these winter months, it is essential to be social. One method to achieve this is to join or create a social league. Consider bowling, ballroom dancing, and fitness classes.
This will keep a senior active, engaged in social activities, and encourage their competitive side, all of which are good for adrenaline levels.
13. Play board games
Purchase a brand-new board game to play with your family or try playing one online. Some online games seniors would enjoy include Words with Friends, Uno, and Bridge.
14. Make a playlist
Together with your friends or family, compile a playlist of songs that take you back in time. What were your favourite 1970s songs? What tunes accompany a special trip in your life? Using apps like Spotify makes it easy to do this.
Want to learn more?
ConsidraCare’s live-in caregivers are trained to offer professional support and companionship to seniors, which is especially important during the cold winter season. Please reach out to us at wecare@considracare.com or call us at 1-855-410-7971 to arrange care for a loved one.
Maryam is a leading writer at ConsidraCare, specializing in senior care. Her well-researched articles are widely recognized for guiding families through the complexities of caring for loved ones, establishing her as a trusted and authoritative voice in the field.
