Learn Alaska Senior Benefits of making NEW memories with loved ones and family. Spring is a great time to enjoy what is fresh and new. It is at this time of year that we tend to plant, build and create. What a wonderful time to make new memories!
Memory Concerns
Alaska Senior Benefits from reminiscing and can be wonderful fun. Most of us know of at least one person who is still blissfully stuck reliving their glory days. While this is the experience for some seniors, for others it doesn’t work that way. Unfortunately many seniors must contend memory issues, health concerns and emotional stress.
One of the very best things you can do with your senior loved ones is help them enjoy their memories and make new ones.
Planning Great Activities with Senior Loved Ones
One of the best things you can do is stir memories for your loved one. Ask questions. Listen to their stories.
Encourage them to be more social. You can even bring a friend or additional family member when you come to visit. Visiting a senior is one of the most important things you can do for them!
Ask how your loved one is doing. Encourage them to share their concerns and joys with you. Make sure they feel comfortable expressing themselves. This is a great way to help reduce their stress.
Try taking your favorite senior for a day trip. Spring is a wonderful and refreshing time to be out and about, and it will help them to feel more engaged.
Try helping them with daily activities or even ADLs. Helping a senior to feel more productive will almost always lift their spirits. It’s also nice if you have a small task that they might be able to help you with or a problem that they could give you advice about.
Alaska Senior Benefits from Fun Activities
Sometimes we think of visiting our senior family members and loved ones and we assume we must visit and talk and then go home. However, the visits can be much more fun and productive for you and your senior loved one if you plan an activity or two to enjoy together.
Look at Photos
There are lots of fun ways to enjoy photographs together. Scrap booking can be a great activity for some seniors, but you can also just settle in and flip through the pages of an old photo album or the photos loaded on an electronic device. Be sure to ask lots of questions and help the senior to engage with the photos.
Photos also make a great gift for seniors. Having an awesome memory or two framed for them can be a great way to go.
Get Outdoors
How far you can go and how active you can be will depend on the individual senior in your life, but, just getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine can be such a great thing.
For the more active senior, taking a day trip to a local park or landmark is a great outing. For a little less activity, consider going out to dinner or lunch, or even catching a movie.
Share Hobbies
From collections to sports to photography, everyone has hobbies they enjoy. Find out what kind of hobbies interest your loved one and perhaps share some of yours as well. This is a great way to make new memories together.
Animal Therapy
If your loved one is an animal lover and no longer has a pet, check into taking your pet to visit with you. If you don’t have a pet consider asking a friend who has a particularly cool, friendly, well behaved pet to come with you.
Petting animals is proven to relieve stress and even lower blood pressure. Plus, for the animal lover you are engaging them about a hobby or topic the senior genuinely enjoys.
Cooking and Crafting
Cooking and crafting are great for seniors because they can be as easy or complex of activities as the individual can handle. These types of activities not only help the senior to get moving a little, they also allow for a great way to make conversation and share memories.
Make Some Music
Music is great because it can provide both comfort and stimulation. Take the time to share your favorite musical artists and to listen to your loved ones favorite artists and songs as well. If you or they play an instrument, it is always fun to play music together, too.
Read Together
As eyesight can become a problem in later years for many people, one of the coolest things you can do is read to a senior. Find out their favorite book and read it to them. This is an amazing gift.
If you live far away, you can consider gifting audiobooks. This is a wonderful way to help seniors with vision difficulties stay mentally stimulated.
Enjoy Nature
If your senior loved one is physically able, the spring time can be a great time to get out and enjoy nature. Taking a stroll in the park or enjoying great views can be a lot of fun.
You can also invite your senior loved one to plant flowers with you or tend to a garden. If they are not physically able to get out, you should consider bringing or sending fresh flowers as a harbinger of spring.
A small window plant can be great for a senior as well. It will give them the plant to tend to, but will not be enough work to be too difficult.
Small Activities
Due to limitations, sometimes small activities are the best for your senior loved one. Conversation and feeling heard and listened to is a big thing! Spend time talking with your senior loved one and engage them about topics they know and enjoy.
Adding in a small activity can sometimes help the conversation along and even make the senior feel more comfortable in expressing themselves. You can try activities like puzzles, watching television or board games for this effect.
Show Your Love
The most important thing is that you remind your senior loved one how much you care. Let them know that you are thinking of them and that they matter to you.
Alaska Senior Benefits from making new memories with family. At Baxter Senior Living, we work to ensure that our community is an extension of your loved ones family. If you are at a place in your life that you need to discuss Anchorage Assisted Living, Anchorage Memory Care, or Anchorage Respite Care please reach out today.
