Engaging Dementia Patients: Creating Greeting Cards for Holidays

In the early stages of dementia, it is common for individuals to lose their sense of time and place. Caregivers should stay calm and upbeat, offering gentle reminders of the day and time. Large calendars that show just the current date can also be helpful. Unfortunately, this disorientation will only increase over time.

One way to help keep your loved one oriented is to reminder them of upcoming holidays and events with easy activities for a loved one with dementia like making greeting cards for friends and family. Greeting cards are easy to construct, and the activity can be scaled up or down depending on your loved one’s interests, health, and abilities.

What You’ll Need: 

• Construction paper
• Stickers
• Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
• Glue stick

 Steps:

1. Fold the paper into a card.
2. Add stickers or other decorations.
3. Write a greeting.
4. Send to loved ones!

See more activities for dementia patients.

 Caregiver Tips

1. While doing activities with a loved one with dementia, engage them in conversation. Play music they enjoy softly in the background to create a positive mood.
2. Even though your loved one may not remember names or things that happened in recent days, they may still remember their childhood. Ask about favorite colors or clothing they used to wear or how they celebrated holidays as a child.
3. Activities for people with dementia have the best chance of success early in the day when your loved one is well rested. If they don’t want to participate or get frustrated, don’t force it. Try again another time.
4. Remember that the goal is to have an engaging activity with your loved one with dementia. Don’t worry about the end result.

Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to support patients with dementia and their families. Please call us at 1-888-564-3405 to learn more about how our unique care programs help provide a higher quality of life for dementia patients while helping caregivers avoid burnout.

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