Stimulating Activities to do at Home with Your Loved-One
Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center

Stimulating Activities to do at Home with Your Loved-One

Maintaining cognitive, physical and even social stimulation is important to encourage not only at the LIAD Center but also at home. There are an array of activities we conduct during our day programming that you can facilitate in the convenience of your home as well. Below is a list of stimulating activities that you and your loved one can participate in together!

  • Name That Tune – create a guessing game by playing classic, popular music. Turn it into a conversation by looking up the artist, when it was released and other fun facts about the song.
  • “Roll The Dye” - roll dice until there’s a match (this encourages recognition). Keep score to make it into a game!
  • Cooking/ teamwork activity- while cooking together, facilitate the retrieval of spices
  • Reading aloud – whether it’s a short story, poem or book you’ve already read, reading a great pass time and calming activity.
  • Puzzling- to help engage both hemispheres of their brain
  • Redirecting Exercise – Using two buckets, place coins in one bucket and redirect the coins into the empty one. You can also use a piggy bank!
  • Visual Recognition Exercise – name all of the items in this room that starts with the letter “t”, “a”, and so on.
  • Go for a walk!
  • Motor Skill Exercise – on a piece of paper, draw out a pattern/shape (i.e. square, squiggle, zig-zag), and using gems, string, buttons, popcorn kernels or other small tokens follow the lines.
  • Play War – this card game is typically familiar and helps to pass time. Here are the rules, no cheating!
  • Other fun, easy card games include Go Fish, Rummy and Uno.Touch Stimulation – play with play-doh or make your own!
  • Blow up a balloon and bump it back and forth. Make it more challenging by creating a “net” using a string and keeping score!
  • Blow bubbles – get some fresh air without having to be physical!
  • Animal Recognition – name “what’s outside” (squirrel, bird, bunny, etc.)
  • Create A Memory Box – select 4-10 sentimental items and store them in a box together and reminisce about the significance of each piece.
  • Towel Folding - a relaxing activity to feel included in home chores and to help keep engaged
  • Handmade Cards – a simple “thinking of you” can go a long way!
  • Photo Album – reminisce and pass time by going through an old photo album. Engage in discussion and memories.
  • Spa – treat your loved one to a spa-like experience, massage their hands with lotion and paint their nails!
  • Chair stretch – tackle every joint from head to toe
  • Baking – make some simple sugar cookies and cut them into different shapes. Icing them after they cool also helps to exercise fine motor skills!
  • Matching Card Game – using two decks of cards, pick 10 or more of the same card, face all cards down, and pair by pair test your memory skills until you get a match for all!
  • Dominos - take turns matching the numbers/colors
  • Letter Challenge - list all of the words you can think of that start with the letter “m”, etc.
  • Bananagram/ Scrabble
  • Chair exercise – work on every muscle from head to toe. Follow this video for a fully guided class.
  • Using your smart device to play an array of games can be very fun, interactive and, most importantly, stimulating! Here are some suggestions.
  • Arts and Craft – using an upcoming or recently passed holiday, conduct an art craft to display on the fridge! (see Easter suggestion)
  • Play a board game
  • Watch old episodes of a tv show, like “I Love Lucy” or “The Carol Burnett Show”
  • Take a drive – roll down the windows for fresh air and take a look at mother nature
  • Dance to music!

About the Author Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center

At the Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center, our mission is to improve the quality of life for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia, and their caregivers. We actively work to achieve this mission through research-based programming for all stages of Alzheimer’s, Caregiver Support Groups, in-home respite solutions, transportation options, and additional services.

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