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Sensory activities for seniors are a great way to stimulate the five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).
It’s hard to watch a loved one face cognitive decline, physical limitations, emotional challenges, or other degenerative medical conditions. You want to help, but you don’t know how.
Sadly, you may even feel as if you’re loved one is slipping away. They’re still with you physically, but mentally they are miles away. It’s a lonely process for both of you. Does this sound familiar?
As a caregiver, you might be looking for ways to reestablish a meaningful connection with your person. This is where sensory activities for seniors can make a huge impact.
You have control over it, where the outside world and all the advice, suggestions, and well-intentioned visits can temporarily take a back seat.
Keep reading and learn how to use sensory activities for seniors effectively. By the time you’ve finished this post, you should have a better understanding of the following:
- What sensory activities are
- How they work
- Who they help (you’re included in this!)
- How you can use everyday items you have around the house (no need to spend money!)
- Ways to handle the shift as your loved one’s disease progresses
- Frequently Asked Questions
Losing a loved one in any capacity is hard. But, for now, let’s focus on ways you can engage and interact with that person in a meaningful way.
Disclaimer:
This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider, occupational therapist, or medical professional before starting any new activity or therapeutic intervention, especially if your loved one has specific health conditions, allergies, or cognitive impairments. Sensory activities should be tailored to each individual’s needs and abilities, and safety should always be a top priority.
What Are Sensory Activities?
Sensory activities include anything that engages one or more of the five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound).
These activities can help enhance verbal and non-verbal communication in people with dementia. They can improve mood and behavior, and even boost cognitive function.
Cognitive function refers to the brain’s ability to think, learn, remember, and make decisions. In people with dementia, these abilities gradually decline, which can affect everything from remembering names to following a conversation.
Read:
Sensory Activities For Dementia – Promoting Cognitive Function and Quality of Life
How to Make Slime With Foam Soap for Sensory Play
9 Sensory Toys for Adults With Autism or Alzheimer’s
How to Tailor Sensory Activities For Every Stage of Dementia
Sensory stimulation can benefit seniors with dementia at every stage of the disease.
However, it’s important to recognize the need to tailor sensory activities as the disease progresses. For example, gentle hand massage, listening to soothing music, or experiencing familiar scents can provide comfort and reduce anxiety.
It’s also important to consider the timing of these activities, especially if your loved one experiences sundowning.
Sundowning
Sundowning is a phenomenon where people with dementia experience more confusion and restlessness later in the afternoon and into the evening.
To minimize distress, schedule sensory activities during calmer periods of the day, such as morning or early afternoon. Understanding and adapting to these patterns can help in providing better care and improving the quality of life for both the individual and the caregiver.
For more information on sundowning, read: Sundowning and Dementia from the Alzheimer’s Society website.
Why Sensory Activities Work For Seniors
Sensory activities bring cognitive, emotional, physical, and social benefits to seniors experiencing debilitating illness.
Of course, there’s a lot of talk about how these activities benefit the loved ones in our lives, but they can also help you in a lot of ways. I watched my father turn into a completely different man as his dementia progressed.
It was like watching a completely new man emerge from my father’s body.
This “new” version of my father was suspicious and paranoid. He acted completely out of character. In all the years I knew him, my father never used profanity in front of me. So, the day he started dropping the “F” bomb, I knew something was up.
That was a long time ago.
I didn’t have the resources available now. I’m not even sure all of these sensory activities would have helped. But some may have. And that’s the point. They won’t all work. It’s really about picking and choosing the activities that you know will resonate with your loved one.
The following are some ways that sensory activities can help your loved one, along with a few examples that I’ll detail further into the post.
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How Sensory Activities Work
The following are examples of the many ways sensory activities can help seniors with dementia or other degenerative diseases.
Cognitive Benefits of Sensory Activities For Seniors
There’s a reason real estate agents bake cookies or use the scent of fresh bread during an open house. It’s not just for the aroma.
Smells like these tap directly into memory and emotion, creating a powerful sense of comfort and familiarity. Research supports the theory as well. In fact, studies have shown that scent exposure can trigger pleasant memories.
Memories induced by pleasant scents have even been linked to decreased heart rates and improved mood.
Read: The Role of Odor-Evoked Memory in Psychological and Physiological Health for more information.
Emotional Benefits of Sensory Activities For Seniors
Have you ever seen a certain color, heard a sound, or tasted something that you couldn’t quite place, that left you feeling happy for no obvious reason?
There’s a good chance it was related to something positive from your past, whether you can remember it or not. That’s how sensory activities for seniors work. They help bring good feelings to the surface.
The resulting state can boost mood, reduce anxiety, and offer comfort.
Physical Benefits of Sensory Activities For Seniors
Many sensory activities have physical benefits for seniors, including an improvement in fine motor skills, coordination, and balance.
Tapping a balloon floating in the air, picking buttons out of a sensory bin, and molding clay are a few examples of sensory activities with physical benefits.
Social Benefits of Sensory Activities For Seniors
Any sensory activities for seniors that involve interacting with others have immediate social benefits while reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Taste testing for fun, arts and crafts, and sing-alongs are a few examples of sensory activities with social benefits.
How Sensory Activities For Seniors Can Also Help The Caregivers
As a caregiver for someone with a degenerative disease, you probably spend a lot of time worrying. Have they taken their medications? Have they eaten enough? Will they be safe if I’m not there 24/7?
These questions can swirl around your mind constantly, creating a quiet hum of anxiety.
There’s relief
Sometimes, however, there’s relief found in a shared song, the smell of something baked, or even the feel of a soft blanket. That’s how sensory activities for seniors can bring you both into the present, even for just a moment.
It’s a form of communication
Sensory activities for seniors are a form of communication. They speak a language that doesn’t rely on memory or logic. When that happens, you’re not just a caregiver anymore. Suddenly, you’re a daughter, son, spouse, or friend again.
Yes, the disease will progress, and there will be difficult days. But having these shared moments, however small, can help you stay grounded while offering your loved one a meaningful way to stay connected to the world around them.
25 Calming & Fun Sensory Activities for Seniors
The following 25 sensory activities for seniors are designed to stimulate the senses, boost cognitive function, and improve mood. That said, some activities may work better than others.
Ultimately, the activities you choose should be appropriate based on the individual’s needs. As mentioned earlier, activities might need to be tailored, especially if the person is in the later stages of the disease.
Smell-Based Activities (Olfactory)
Scents can trigger powerful emotional responses and memories.
1. Aromatherapy Sessions
Use essential oils like lavender (calming), citrus (energizing), or rosemary (memory-boosting) by adding them to a diffuser or a scent strip.
2. Scented Playdough or Putty
Scented playdough is a simple, calming activity that engages touch and smell. It supports fine motor skills, can spark memories through familiar scents, and encourages relaxation and conversation.
Don’t have scented playdough? Use this scented playdough recipe to make your own!
3. Scent Guessing Game
Place common scents (coffee, mint, orange peel, spices) in jars and have seniors guess the smell. This is a great way to bring back memories and encourage storytelling.
4. Herb & Spice Exploration
Create a sensory tray with herbs and spices from the kitchen. A word of caution: Powdered spices can be easily inhaled and ingested. Consider wrapping the spices in cheesecloth or keeping them in small containers.
Sound-Based Activities (Auditory)
Sound-based activities encourage relaxation, alertness, and social interaction.
5. Music Therapy
Play music tailored to their preferences. This might include golden oldies, classical, or even nature sounds.
6. Instrument Play
Use simple instruments like shakers, tambourines, or bells for rhythm play. Don’t have any instruments handy? That’s okay! Use wooden spoons on pots or find household objects that can be safely be used as mock instruments.
7. Sound Recognition Game
Play everyday sounds (birds chirping, ocean waves, doorbell, train) and ask them to identify the source. Learning Bugs is a great game to encourage active participation.
8. Audiobooks & Poetry Read-Alouds
If your loved one was an avid reader, why not borrow library audiobooks? Try to find books they once cherished and will love hearing again. The soothing voices and familiar stories can be comforting.
Sight-Based Activities (Visual)
Sight-based activities are a great way to encourage curiosity and interest in the elderly.
9. Color Sorting
Create a basket or bin with buttons or fabric swatches (for example) and help your loved one sort the objects by color.
10. Scenic Slideshows or Virtual Tours
Use YouTube or VR to “travel” to nature scenes, museums, or old hometowns.
11. Light Therapy or Lava Lamps
Gentle, colored lights can be calming for those prone to restlessness. Lava lamps can be particularly interesting to watch and can be a great way to stimulate conversation.
12. Photo Reminiscence Boxes
Use old photos to spark conversations and trigger memories.
Touch-Based Activities (Tactile)
Touch-based activities can help calm nerves, improve fine-motor skills, and encourage cognitive functioning.
13. Sensory Bins
Fill containers with beans, rice, water beads, or fabric scraps for a hands-on experience.
14. Textured Boards or Blankets
Create boards with different fabrics (velvet, burlap, faux fur, corduroy) to explore with their fingers.
15. Hand Massage with Lotion
A gentle hand massage can be a soothing experience, especially for someone in the later stages of dementia.
16. Clay or Therapy Putty
Use clay or therapy putty to make shapes. This is great for hand strength and creativity.
Taste-Based Activities (Gustatory)
Nothing engages the senses like tasting and smelling freshly baked goods from our childhood. Turn these ideas into social events for added benefit.
17. Tasting Parties
Provide a tray of finger foods to sample. Just be mindful of food sensitivities, allergies, and potential choking hazards.
18. Make-Your-Own Trail Mix
Mix textures and tastes (nuts, seeds, raisins, etc.).
19. Flavor Guessing Game
This is another fun way to engage the senses. Have the individual close their eyes and guess things like whether the food is salty, sweet, sour, plain, etc. Again, be mindful of sensitivities.
It’s also important to be flexible when experimenting with sensory activities for seniors. Some people can be triggered or distressed by various activities.
20. Cooking or Baking Together
Cooking or baking together can be accomplished at any stage of dementia. However, the amount of direct involvement may need to be revisited over time. Stirring, smelling, and tasting ingredients are a great way to trigger the senses.
21. Gardening
Gardening could be especially nice if your loved one was once an avid gardener. The feel and smell of fresh soil, flowers, petals, or leaves are a great way to stimulate sight, sound, and touch.
22. Nature Walks or Indoor Nature Simulation
The sights, sounds, and smells of nature could turn a regular stroll into a walk down memory lane. Keep in mind that a “stroll” might mean a few steps and then a rest for the loved one.
23. Spa Day
You don’t have to spend money at an expensive resort to have a spa day. Ask your loved one if they’re comfortable with a manicure, hand massage, foot massage, or even if they’d like to have their hair brushed.
24. Art & Craft Activities
Arts and crafts are a great way to boost creative thinking. Try finger painting or work with textured materials in a group setting to encourage social interaction.
25. Seasonal Sensory Boxes
It can be difficult to come up with ideas for sensory bins. If you’re lacking new ideas, why not rotate bins by season? For example, you might include Halloween decorations in the fall and Christmas trinkets for the winter. Spring and summer bins might include flip-flops, sand, or other items related to the season.
Summary: Sensory Activities For Seniors
I hope you found this blog post useful. Ultimately, sensory activities can be useful in helping someone with dementia (or other degenerative diseases) feel connected to you and the world around them.
That said, it’s important to stay mindful and respectful of the individual. Their tolerance, preferences, and responses may shift from day to day, or even hour to hour.
People living with dementia don’t follow a straight, predictable path.
They often experience a mix of good days and bad days. Some days they may seem more alert, communicative, or engaged, while other days may bring confusion, agitation, or withdrawal.
That’s why a rigid routine often doesn’t work well. Instead, aim for flexibility.
Choose times of day that tend to go more smoothly for your loved one, and be ready to shift plans when needed. Meeting them where they are, moment by moment, can make all the difference.
This fluctuation is a common part of the dementia journey and can be influenced by many factors like sleep, stress, environment, or even time of day (like with sundowning). It’s important for caregivers to recognize these ups and downs as normal and to meet their loved ones where they are in each moment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are sensory activities important for seniors, especially those with dementia or Alzheimer’s?
Sensory activities tap into parts of the brain that remain active even as memory declines. For seniors with Alzheimer’s, these kinds of experiences can be grounding. The activities can reduce agitation, spark old memories, or simply provide a comforting routine.
What types of sensory activities are safe and enjoyable for older adults?
Activities like folding warm laundry, kneading therapy putty, listening to wind chimes, or smelling lavender sachets are gentle but deeply engaging. The best sensory tools aren’t flashy. They should be simple, familiar, and easy to handle.
Are there any sensory activities that encourage social interaction?
Definitely! Think about group activities that involve shared sensory experiences like hand massages, baking (smell + touch + taste), sorting objects by texture, or listening to music together. These activities open the door to conversation and connection without needing sharp memory or cognitive effort.
What if a senior doesn’t seem interested in sensory activities? Should I keep trying?
Yes, you can keep trying, but gently. Some people may be hesitant at first or have sensory preferences that aren’t obvious right away. Try different approaches. For example, soft vs. textured, calming vs. energizing, visual vs. tactile. Also, pay attention to body language. They may not say (or may not be able to express) that they don’t like it. Note whether there is any tension in the body. Check for facial signs (giggling or grimacing?), etc.