Making Christmas gifts is a fantastic way to keep your senior loved one working on something that will be treasured within the family. Whether you have a home care provider help your senior one loved one make these gifts or you help you senior parent make them they are sure to become family heirlooms:
Afghans
If your senior parent can knit or crochet they can work on making some warm winter afghans to gift to family members. Knitting and crocheting are fantastic activities for helping seniors keep the dexterity in their hands. And counting stitches and following a pattern is great for helping seniors retain their cognitive skills.
Christmas Ornaments
Did you ever make Christmas ornaments with your parent when you were young? Now you can make them again with your senior parent. You can buy clear Christmas ornaments and either fill them with miniatures or candy or toys or you can paint the outside. You can also make salt dough ornament with handprints in them the way that you did when you were small. Someday when your senior loved one is gone having those handprint ornaments will make you remember special times like holidays with your loved one.
Picture Frames
Your senior loved one can get really creative customizing picture frames for the family. With paper, glue, ribbon, sequins, shells, stones, glitter, and other craft materials they can transform inexpensive photo frames into works of art. Pop in a photo of your senior loved one and then send them out as gifts to the rest of the family members as keepsakes or use them as place card holders at your holiday parties.
Quilts
Quilts are a wonderful gift, and quilting is a fantastic activity for seniors who like to sew. Planning and sewing a quilt will help seniors work their brains and their cognitive skills while sewing will help their flexibility and dexterity in their hands and fingers. And a beautiful quilt that is handmade by a senior loved one is a keepsake that you can pass down to your children.
Scarves, Hats, And Mittens
If your loved one likes to knit or crochet but they can only manage one or two stitches or they don’t have the patience to make an entire afghan small items like scarves, hats, and mittens are also great gifts. These types of handmade items are easy and fun to make so your senior loved one may really enjoy gifting everyone in the family a handmade scarf this year.
Photo Albums
This is a very special gift project that you will probably need to help your senior parent do. Get prints made of the best family photos that encompass the entire history of the family. With your senior loved one go over each photo and write the names and dates on each photo. Then arrange them in decorated photo albums so that everyone in the family will have a copy of the family history in photos.
