Memory-Boosting Activities for the Early Stages of Alzheimer’s

While you can’t stop the decline that occurs with Alzheimer’s, a study did find that brain games may help delay it by around five years. If there is a chance it could help your mom, why not engage in memory-boosting games and activities? Here are six activities your family can do with your mom during a visit.

Paint Pictures

Home Care Osakis, MN: Memory-Boosting Activities

Painting is a great hobby that works on memory skills, and you don’t need experience. Purchase some canvas paper and paints. Once you have the supplies, find an appealing instructional video online and play it while you paint.

Follow along with the instructor, hitting pause when necessary, and see what happens. You’d be surprised by the creations you’ll make together, even if you have no prior experience.

Plant a Garden

Now is a good time to invest in some form of garden that your mom can tend to. It helps with memory skills as she has to keep in mind the steps involved, and you or a caregiver can remind her as needed.

She has to aerate the soil and add fertilizer or compost, if necessary. She has to plant the seeds or seedlings and water them. Your mom has to keep checking for and removing weeds and make sure insect pests aren’t damaging her plants.

When the crops are ready,  your mom has to harvest them, remove dead plants, and restart the process as needed. If you get an indoor garden, such as an AeroGarden, your mom can garden year-round.

Play Simple Games

Even simple games can be incredibly beneficial to helping boost memory retention skills. Children’s games like Memory or Guess Who? are fun for all ages. Gather the grand kids or great-grand kids and have your mom sit down and play with you. If everyone plays, she may not feel that you’re choosing children’s games simply because of cognitive health.

If she’s particularly resistant to children’s games, there are suitable adult games that will also help. Yahtzee is one, but you can also pick games like Codenames or Uno to help with memory and strategic thinking skills without having complex rules to follow.

Put Together a Jigsaw

Work on a jigsaw puzzle together. It requires hand-eye coordination, and it’s also a good way to use memory skills. Your  mom will need to think about how the pattern goes together. She has to look at the picture on the box and visualize how to arrange the pieces to match.

Who is around to help your mom each week? If she’s alone regularly, hire home care assistance to support her. She’ll have someone to help with medication reminders and transportation since one of the first things her doctor will say is to stop driving. Call a home care assistance specialist to get started.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering Home Care in Osakis, MN please contact the caring staff at Alternative Senior Care today. Providing Home Care in Central Minnesota and Surrounding Communities. Call us Today (320) 352-3350

Sources:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210714170134.htm