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Christmas

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Original poster

Christmas games for someone with dementia

25 replies

Thewinterofdiscontent · 14/12/2020 20:37

Staying with PIL for Christmas. FIL has dementia. He’s still able to hold a conversation well but will forget it shortly afterwards. MIL will be keen to keep a normal Christmas and games were a big part. Any suggestions to something he can enjoy with MIL?
Taking the kids along so enough for 3 aside team game.

OP posts:
Mumdiva99 · 14/12/2020 20:39

Have you played Logo? It has lots of pictures and questions about brands.....so for some you need to be older than my kids to answer....it might tap into older memories.

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 14/12/2020 20:43

What about Who Am I? All you need is post out notes so worth a try! Think of someone and write it on the note and stick it on the head of someone and they have to ask questions to guess who it is.

Candleabra · 14/12/2020 20:43

Can he still understand numbers? We played Uno with my mum a lot one Christmas. She was able to understand it because you're just looking at colours and trying to match numbers.
Normal card games (with a standard pack of cards) were beyond her at that point, but managed with uno because of the bright colours.

Candleabra · 14/12/2020 20:45

Also I think any game that involves progressing round a board was ok, especially in a team (rather than strategy based games). Even if mum just rolled the dice, she felt part of it.

DesperatelySeekingSunshine · 14/12/2020 20:50

Bingo!

Original poster
Thewinterofdiscontent · 14/12/2020 20:51

@EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide

What about Who Am I? All you need is post out notes so worth a try! Think of someone and write it on the note and stick it on the head of someone and they have to ask questions to guess who it is.
That was our favourite game. I don’t think he’d remember what questions he’d already asked if the replies. I have a hard enough time!

The Logo game is a great idea though , thank you.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thewinterofdiscontent · 14/12/2020 20:52

Bingo! Of course.

OP posts:
jambeforeclottedcream · 14/12/2020 21:02

My gran who had dementia enjoyed playing a music game in her career home.

So you could have a Christmas version involving bing crosby and crooners etc+ some more modern songs and you have to guess the song & title and perhaps year of release.

Think jigsaws also went down welll

Candleabra · 14/12/2020 21:26

@Thewinterofdiscontent

Bingo! Of course.
That's a great shout. When my kids were little they loved making bingo games. And being the caller. Depends on the age of the kids, but it would help them feel involved with their grandparents too.
Candleabra · 14/12/2020 21:27

At mum's care home they play The price is right. It's surprisingly fun (the staff are very enthusiastic!) But also involves everyone without putting any pressure on.

Poppins17 · 14/12/2020 21:31

Another vote for Bingo... when my nan had dementia we also played the game where you stick a sticky note on your forehead and had to guess who you were by asking questions.... we made hers really simple, something like the queen.... but bless her all she kept asking was am I a woman as by the time it got to her go again she’d forgotten she was a woman... ah... I do miss her... I hope you have a lovely Christmas Smile

LilyLongJohn · 14/12/2020 21:37

Anything with music. Dementia sufferers can often remember music and it's known to help with dementia.
Maybe a quiz around music, name the musician or band with clips of tracks

weaselwords · 14/12/2020 22:02

I was going to say music too. People can remember songs much better than anything else. Means you can have a singalong too.

DesperatelySeekingSunshine · 14/12/2020 22:42

I used to spend a lot of time in a nursing home for residents with dementia. Tuesday afternoon bingo was always such a hit. We’ve done it before at home.
Gather together a basket of prizes that the winner can choose from.
The residents used to love being able to choose some new toiletries... nothing exciting, maybe toothpaste or shampoo, maybe a pack of biscuits or something.
It’s easy to set up, and even if FIL loses track, it’s easy for someone to help him and still stay involved.

TrickyD · 15/12/2020 09:24

I bought 'Christmas Bingo' from Amazon two years ago, lost it and had to buy it again last year as it was such good fun. £3.99 for a few sheets of paper and card, but worth it. Simple enough for all ages but very entertaining. With only nine items per card, each game is fairly short.

TrickyD · 15/12/2020 09:27

Otherwise, the 'Sock Game' might be useful. Teams ferret in the sock to find one of the 30 little items, chosen via spinner.

Scarby9 · 15/12/2020 09:29

My mum can play Dominoes using our childhood set where the dots are also coloured for each number. My parents play 5 games every night - it has been a lifesaver after she could no longer do the crossword or play any card games.
On the back of that, I got them snakes and ladders with a coloured die - but she gets unreasonably upset about going down a snake! Dominoes it is.
I am thinking of Jenga at Christmas?

akittencalledjesus · 15/12/2020 09:29

Stuff like Pictionary (guess what's being drawn) or Taboo (describe something without using the words on the card)?

RainbowRaine · 15/12/2020 09:34

Name that tune

You could make the game yourself by using a YouTube play list of old songs.

SingingSands · 15/12/2020 10:15

I was going to say Dominoes, I see Scarby9 beat me to it!

What about those extra large playing cards? You could play "higher or lower"? That is always good fun in a crowd.

FPS123 · 15/12/2020 10:18

My grandad enjoyed Buckaroo and it’s silly enough to play with kids.

Mindymomo · 15/12/2020 10:22

In my mum’s nursing home they used to play songs and have pictures of the person singing. They got a point for guessing the name and singing along to the song. We also played armchair skittles, if you have the room, as it can be played sitting down.

DougRossIsTheBoss · 15/12/2020 10:29

My patients with quite advanced dementia like to play dominoes, snap and beetle drive.
If anyone can't do it we buddy them up with a staff member to help them (you could do a grandkid)

Basically it has to be something simple that they already know how to play from younger days because they can't learn new stuff.
Nothing with too much problem solving either

Other popular activities are
Quizzes- again old knowledge is still there so not current affairs but past stuff they can do very well
Music, dancing, sing a longs of songs they know
Reminiscing- get the old photo albums out and get them to tell some stories of their youth. We often have some prompts like old kitchen or garden tools or a theme and they live explaining what things were like.

Runnerduck34 · 15/12/2020 10:30

Good suggestions here, my mum has fairly bad dementia , she still enjoys scrabble, which she has always loved and been excellent at, her spelling is going a bit awry but i just go with it .
I would stick to familiar well loved games where you turn is played in the moment and that dont involve holding any info in your head or strategy

DougRossIsTheBoss · 15/12/2020 10:34

They do love Bingo too. How could I forget that!

And carpet bowls/ skittles
Also batting a balloon around, stopping it hitting the floor (from your chair). I can imagine grandkids joining in with that.

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