5 Thanksgiving Crafts for Seniors in Assisted Living

Holidays can be especially tough for seniors, including those who are no longer living in their longtime family home or who have lost partners or family members and friends through the years. The negative emotions associated with these circumstances can add up, making them feel sad and alone. So, it’s more important than ever to come up with new, fun traditions to remind them that life hasn’t passed them by and there are still memories to make.

With a bit of foresight and planning, you can help your senior loved one fill their calendar with stimulating and engaging activities to chase away any holiday blues and restore some of that cheerful holiday spirit. And there’s no better time to start than this Thanksgiving!

These Thanksgiving crafts for seniors are not only something to do for entertainment; they provide a broad range of mental and physical health benefits to improve and maintain seniors’ cognitive abilities, memory, and dexterity and physical strength.

Benefits of crafting for senior citizens:

• Reduces stress and anxiety levels.
• Improves self-confidence and gives a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
• Maintains or improves dexterity and flexibility in the hands, especially for seniors suffering from joint pain or arthritis.
• Keeps seniors’ minds sharp and engaged, which can help support moments of clarity or create a calm environment for seniors living with dementia.
• Improves communication, which can relieve their burdens, form important connections with the people they love, and help you better understand their needs.

When crafting with your older loved one, focus on the sort of things they like to do and they’ll be eager to participate, especially if they can make something to brighten up their living space or give to others as a gift.

Find inspiration for crafts in the changing colors of the fall leaves, or bright and colorful holiday light displays. There is no limit to what you can create.

Holiday crafts can be worked on any time of day, in a community space, in a group setting or in the privacy of their own room. All they need is some inspiration and a few supplies.

Try these Thanksgiving crafts for seniors:

Photo albums and scrapbooks

What better way to start a trip down memory lane than to get out your photo collection! Organizing pictures into photo albums isn’t only a constructive activity to help our senior loved ones pass the time, it’s a great excuse to open up that old box of photos and recall fond memories from family events of the past.

You can create specific photo albums for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Year’s. To make the activity more interactive, create a scrapbook with the photos, and help your loved one cut out holiday-related shapes to glue onto the pages along with stickers, ribbon, stamps, or fun photo captions.

Another bonus — the photo albums and scrapbooks will always be there, so they can look at them whenever they need a pick-me-up.

Fall wreaths

For many, the first official act of the holiday season is putting a festive wreath on their front door. Wreaths can be made of a variety of materials, ranging from dyed autumn leaves to pages cut from old books. Try one of these senior-friendly DIY wreaths made out of holiday fabric or cardboard and rubber bands! You can also purchase wreath kits from your local craft store that include everything you need to make a beautiful holiday wreath.

Leaf bowls

You’ll need a couple of specialty supplies for this leaf bowl craft. First, a large balloon, brush on fabric stiffener, and some artificial fall leaves that you can find in your local craft store. Place the inflated balloon in a bowl. Paint both sides of the leaves with the fabric stiffener and press them onto the balloon in layers to cover the entire surface. Let it dry completely, then deflate the balloon, leaving a festive bowl made of autumn leaves.

Handmade cards

Writing letters and cards by hand is a throwback tradition that remains popular among older generations. These holiday card crafts can be made with cardstock and a variety of other materials that your senior may already have! They are sure to enjoy making touching cards to share the holiday spirit with their family and friends.

Centerpieces

A fantastic way to bring the holiday spirit to your home is a festive centerpiece. Here’s one idea: Cover several dried corn cobs with metallic gold and copper paint. After the paint has dried, glue the cobs vertically to the side of a cylindrical vase. Place gold raffia or holiday themed ribbon around the cobs and fill the inside with floral foam to hold seasonal flowers or your senior’s favorite blooms.

Create new traditions with more holiday tips on our Caregiver Tips blog!