Engaging In-Home Holiday Activities for Seniors

November 18th, 2020 | For Family Members

‘Tis the season to spend more time engaging in festive activities at home with your senior loved one. Holiday traditions, meals, and activities are a part of the holiday season for people of all ages. Seniors can especially benefit from engaging in-home activities, including better fine motor and cognitive skills, in addition to decreased feelings of loneliness or depression.

The experts at Legend Senior Living have compiled a few of our favorite holiday activities for seniors that everyone can enjoy. Even better, these activities are perfect whether done alone or with a family member or two. This year, give the gift of meaningful moments spent together by settling in to enjoy one of these activities together.

Simmer Homemade Potpourri

There’s nothing quite like the smell of the holiday season. Create your own favorite mix by experimenting with seasonal simmering potpourri. Start by adding 1 cup of fresh cranberries, slices of orange, 3 cinnamon sticks, and cloves to a saucepan with 6 cups of water. Simmer on low, refilling the water as needed throughout the day.

Spice up your recipe by adding vanilla bean instead of cinnamon sticks or tossing in a few sprigs of rosemary. You have all season to find your perfect mix!

Make a Homemade Wreath

Greet your guests and passersby with a festive wreath you can make yourself with just a few supplies you can order to be shipped right to your house. Grab a wreath foam frame along with a hot glue gun. Finish off your supply list with round and colorful plastic ornaments of various sizes. Then, carefully glue your ornaments to the foam wreath frame until you have a colorful result. Add a ribbon and hang from the front door or on a wall.

Send a Christmas Card

Turn on your favorite holiday songs, brew a pot of coffee, and pull out your address book. Handwriting a Christmas greeting, whether on a beautiful card or a piece of notebook paper, is a wonderful way to ring in the season. Take your time to write heartfelt messages, and don’t be afraid to spread your activity across a few days or weeks. Once you mail them out, you can imagine the joy people will feel when they open your note.

Create Hot Cocoa Mix Gifts

Spread a little Christmas cheer to neighbors, family, and friends by making homemade hot cocoa mixes. Add mix to a small mason jar and tie with a ribbon to create a lovely gift for nearly anyone on your list this year. We love the easy recipe from Boulder Locavore, but eliminate the cinnamon.

Make Your Favorite Photos Shine

This is the perfect time of year to sort through your favorite family or travel photos and turn them into art for your walls or games for your table. We love Pinhole Press for their personalized photo memory game as well as their small magnets, which are perfect for your refrigerator or filing cabinet. Convert a favorite memory into a puzzle by uploading it to a company like Portrait Puzzles or simply pull your favorite photo to frame at a local shop.

Have a Cozy Night In

Make an otherwise normal movie night into a sensory experience by adding in a few items and good company. Watch your favorite holiday movie - we love White Christmas - and add in a new cozy blanket and pair of comfortable socks. Plug in the Christmas tree and enjoy your favorite holiday treat as you settle in for a delightful night with someone you love. Don’t have someone who can join you? Try a Netflix watch party, where you can chat with each other while watching the same movie.

Check Out the Lights

If a neighborhood drive to look at your neighbor’s holiday light displays isn’t possible this year, head online for a virtually festive experience instead. You can find a variety of virtual tree lighting ceremonies as well as videos of homes across the country that go all out on the holiday cheer. To make it more interesting, judge and rate the homes you see on festiveness and level of difficulty.

Create a Colorful Garland

You can string popcorn, cranberries, or even dehydrated citrus slices to hang around your home or on your tree using a needle and thread. Or, you can eliminate the need for a needle and simply use a hole punch and baker’s twine instead. We love working on garlands with seniors because it is an easy way to customize the experience and every result is beautiful. Here’s a round up of ideas to get you started.

If you are feeling a little lonely this season, or if you wish you had access to daily activities and events to participate in daily, call the Legend Senior Living residence nearest you. Our teams work hard to create meaningful, engaging, and downright fun events for our residents to enjoy all year long. We’d love to have you join in!