Fun Ways to Include Seniors in Your Families Holiday Activities
Sometimes the stress of preparing for the holidays can weigh on you and things can easily slip your mind. While being so focused on showing your loved ones how much you appreciate them with cards and presents, the one gift that can quickly be overlooked is the gift of quality time. Finding time to spend with your loved ones around the holidays will mean the world to them.
Including seniors in holiday activities is a great way to ensure that they enjoy the holiday season. Simply spending quality time together is special and meaningful for most seniors. Now we get it, not everyone lives close by, and with the current times, traveling can be difficult. But even if they are in a different state, simply inviting them to celebrate over skype, facetime, or zoom can still be a lovely reminder that they are thought about by their loved ones.
Because we always want to be a resource for seniors and their families, here we’ve compiled a list of fun and festive ways to include seniors in holiday activities.
Baking:
Baking is one of the most classic holiday traditions (and my favorite) that everyone loves to be a part of. The fun of baking comes from the ability to play with your food, so we suggest making things like sugar cookies, or gingerbread cookies. These give you lots of room to be creative and with a few festive cookie cutters, lends themselves well to the holiday season.
Crafting and Decorating:
Whether you make your own popcorn garland, mistletoes, or paper snowflakes, there are plenty of fun crafts that everyone can join in to do together. Try asking your aging loved one if there were different crafts they use to make on holidays and if they could teach you about them.
Gift-wrapping Party:
Having a gift-wrapping party where your senior loved one helps wrap gifts for the grandkids, family members, and friends can help give them a sense of closeness to their family and help them remember the loved one’s interests. So, grab the tape, scissors, and bows, put on the radio station playing holiday music from your loved one’s past, and start the wrapping.
Family Holiday Movie Night:
Watch a classic holiday movie with your senior loved one. Bring out the cookies and milk, grab some extra pillows and blankets, and spend some quality time in front of the TV. Including seniors in holiday activities that involve snuggling with grandkids or your furry companion can do wonders for their sense of wellbeing.
Admire the holiday lights and decorations:
With full home exterior decorations becoming more popular, taking the whole family out to experience all the beautiful light (weather permitting) can be a heart-warming experience. If your loved one has mobility issues, consider taking a drive instead. There are plenty of drive-thru light displays during the holidays. Check Facebook Events or your local paper for a list of light shows near you.
Always remember the holiday season is full of opportunities for older adults to have fun, making it a priority to help them feel included can help reduce stress, depression, and loneliness. If you need help with the holiday hustle and bustle, give Williams Loving Care a call! We would love to help you and your family.