Knitting

Grandma loves knitting. She learned to knit when she was a kid.  When someone learns something when their brain is young, it is stored in their memory bank really well.  So they are able to remember stuff.  When people are seniors their storage banks are not as good as when they were younger, especially if they have Alzheimer's disease. When they have Alzheirmer's disease the storage bank is very weak and damaged. A memory could go into it, but it can fall through the drawer of the memory bank.  Sometimes the bank can hold the memory for a little bit, but not for long.

Knitting gives grandma joy. She loves to teach me how to do it.  We are making scarves for each other. I am very happy when I knit with grandma. She told everyone at the nursing home that she will make a scarf for them.  All people like to feel useful and grandma feels good when she is offering to help other people.

Tips

1. Find out what your loved one enjoys doing. Did they have a hobby?

2. Here is an example: If your loved one was a mechanic, give them some tools and let them "tinker with them"

3. Did they like gardening?  (Milk carton and seeds, draw pictures of plants, cut out pictures of plants and create a collage.)  You get the idea...

4. Everyone has something that they like doing.  Spend time doing that activity together.

5. If you do not know what your loved one likes to do, ask your parents or other relatives, friends. They will know!

6. You can make the activity easier for your loved one by making a few changes. I will not make a complicated sweater with a difficult pattern, but a simple scarf is easy to make and a lot of fun!