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I'm looking for things besides the remote and tissue box. She's always trying to move things around and organize her TV tray table. She is able to do things like put on her socks, tie her pants' drawstrings, brush her hair, search through her address book with her glasses on, etc.


I feel like during the days she's sitting alone, she could have an activity or even just a random thing to keep her brain working. She's been really coherent despite some creative imagination. And, she seems tired of the TV all the time. I'm just not sure what to try and put in front of her!

In the houseware section of inexpensive stores I bought loads of microfiber dusting clothes of different bright attractive colors and prints. I washed and dried them but didn't fold them. My husband folded them w/o being told. Two days later he got it back all jumbled up again to start all over. I'd alternate that busy activity with large hard cover coffee table travel books or magazines I purchased from a Salvation Army or second hand store for almost nothing. He could do whatever he wanted to them. He usually tore out pages, folded them and hid them. Months after his death I'd find them here and there. It was like getting a little visit.
I would also buy second hand scarves and put soft knots in them for him to straighten out. I learned this from nurses who use to give my husband extra long plastic tubes that were knotted for him to unravel.
Do you believe she can safely manage a Mandala coloring book and colored pencils? Or a puzzle? Could she thread beads that are too big to swallow. Would she enjoy large Legos? There are also mazes with a bead that can't get out and lost.
If you can afford it there are electronic pets, and Simpl, (yes it's spelled SIMPL)(prerecorded) radios.
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Reply to MicheleDL
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Buy a large amount of very colorful and patterned socks. Separate them and put them in a laundry basket. Ask her to please pair the socks.

We gave my 100-yr old Aunt with advanced dementia a large stack of kitchen towels to fold several times a day. That was the only purpose of the towels. I also gave her colored poker chips and she not only sorted them but sometimes made patterns with them.

As for the tv, she may not be tired of it but rather cannot comprehend what she is seeing or hearing. For my Aunt, we ran non-scary animated movies with the closed captions on and she would read the entire movie out loud. Not sure she understood what she was reading, but she did it consistently, over and over. We also got her animal books that were mostly pictures. She would read out loud to us while we prepped dinner. She also colored in coloring books.
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Reply to Geaton777
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My Dad is 91 and does 300 piece puzzles. We’ve seen a sharp increase in his cognitive skills and dexterity. We also gave him some old-fashioned comic books that he enjoyed when he was younger. Plowed through those in no time.
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Tiredniece23 May 6, 2025
Nice! Go dad! :-)
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We had Mom dry swiffer the kitchen and dining room floors every day.

Mom was also responsible for wiping down the kitchen counter after every meal.

Mom was also responsible for putting the silverware away in the right slot in the silverware drawer (from the dishwasher caddy.)

Mom also liked to pick up pine cones in the yard so she walked around the yard with a plastic bucket and put pine cones in there.
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Kpel1221 May 6, 2025
You’re lucky your mom is still able to walk alone .
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I gave my mom a "pop it's" popper, where they push the little poppable bubbles things and she loved it!! she would sit and do that all day & sometimes give it to me to do :) (she had dementia) and I wish she was still with me to do again.
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TouchMatters May 6, 2025
real bubbles? Sounds lovely. Gena
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How about lacing cards , magnetic paper dolls , sorting box , coloring book and crayons.
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Reply to waytomisery
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There are fidget toys and busy boards created just for dementia patients. Online at Amazon, Walmart, Alzheimers store and other places.

They like them and best of all, they always seem new to them every time., so it's never boring.
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Reply to Fawnby
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One of the things I have seen in the nursing home is a small hamper of towels to fold. She might enjoy a task to help. They keep refolding and folding them as you bring them back to do again and again.

Those little squishy kids toys from the toy store that look like a sea urchin or a fidget widget from kids toy store

jigsaw puzzles; my mom at the progression of her dementia could not necessarily find the pieces.. but she could organize them in a linear fashion by color. Try 500 piece or less

dominoes... match and make a long train or play mexican train with her

a small doll baby equipped with easy on clothing, diaper and a bassinet. My mother in law with moderate to severe dementia at a time enjoyed taking care of the baby
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Reply to LSG333
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This is one of those problems that, if she were in facility care, probably wouldn't exist. Those horrible places for people with dementia! That posters here would NEVER make their loved ones do! Are better in some ways that being bored at home! Poor declining parent stuck with a family caregiver that now has no life!

Dementia care offers friendships, outings, 24/7 monitoring and meds, sitting and watching TV with their buddies, eating all meals with their besties and laughter that results, entertainment (sometimes a dance where a karaoke guy brings his friends to get the ladies on their feet and dancing), many puzzles, giant legos, the staff's dogs, the staff's kids who bring them cards and play games and sing for them, and on and on.

Go check out some of these places. Mom would be so much better off and so would you.
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jemfleming May 7, 2025
I have to agree that AL or memory care can in fact offer the stimulation you are talking about. It depends upon the facility and whether the facility has a good activities Director and a well managed, happy staff. It has been better for my Dad to be in AL rather than sitting in his house alone with my brother - who did his best, but who was starting to really burn out. But, as far as care, hygiene, keeping the room clean, keeping them well fed, making sure they are not sick, you, or someone from the family MUST have a presence to ensure the facility does what it is paid to do. Otherwise, there can be real neglect going on. There are no perfect solutions.
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I would try to involve her as much as possible in not-critical household tasks so she feels useful. She could scan recipe books for recipes to try in the future (you don't have to cook them if you don't want). When the laundry is dry I put it on a table and I ask my husband for help matching his socks and hanging his shirts. Anything involving sorting may help. My husband self-picked task is sorting his clothes - he pulls them off the closet and puts them on the bed, takes a nap, then puts them back in the closet all mixed up. If he asks, I suggest to separate shirts, jacket, and pants, but he forgets quickly. Sometimes he sweeps the kitchen, often leaving the broom on the floor and little piles everywhere, but he tries. He also likes to look out of the window and report in his own way on the activities of the wildlife. I always thank him for the help, it makes him happy.
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