Easter Activities for the Elderly

With Easter not far away we thought we’d share some fun activities you can do with older people so they too can enjoy Easter holiday season.

7 Fun Easter Activities to do with the Elderly

Make some Easter inspired decorations. There are lots of Easter pintables online so print some off and get the older person to colour them in or paint them. You could also get crafty and turn toilet rolls into bunnies with some cardboard and paint, or use paper plates, cardboard and paint to create chickens or add some cotton wool balls to make rabbits.

Make some Easter biscuits together. If this is too hard, you can make the dough and get the older person to cut out egg or bunny shapes and decorate them. Or if making the biscuits is tricky just get them to decorate some pre-made biscuits with pastel icing.
Decorate some cupcakes in an Easter theme. Use pastel coloured icing and add chocolate eggs, sweets or seasonal fruit.

Dye Easter eggs. Hard boil your eggs and let them cool. Then mix ½ cup of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 10-20 drops of food colouring depending on the colour shade you want. Put the egg in the dye for 5-10 minutes using a wire egg holder or spoon. Then allow them to dry on some paper towel. Alternatively, you could also paint some hard boiled eggs.

Create an Easter bonnet using an old hat and some plants from the garden, objects from around the house and/ or craft supplies. You could also make an Easter wreath for the door using a wire wreath frame and adding similar objects that you have or buy.

Reminisce about Easter when they were younger. How did they celebrate Easter? What were their Easter traditions? What are their favourite memories of Easter? Get them talking about Easters gone by.

Create an Easter Egg hunt. Hide some Easter eggs, or if they can’t eat chocolate for whatever reason, use paper or plastic eggs. Make sure you hide the eggs in places where seniors can easily find and access them.

Easter Activities for those with Dementia

Dementia shouldn’t be a barrier to enjoying Easter festivities. You’ll just need to respect that person’s particular needs and adapt your activities accordingly.

A few things to keep in mind when organising Easter activities for someone with dementia:

• Space out the activities and don’t try to do too much as this can be overwhelming.
• Keep the activity in familiar surroundings.
• Keep the numbers involved in the activity to a minimum.
• Try to stick to the dementia person’s routines as much as possible. For example, try to keep meal times and bedtimes the same.
• Ensure they have a quiet place that they can retreat to should the activities become too much.