Mandala Activities for the Elderly

It's good to hear from all of you. This site is very helpful. Another thing I do for my residents is that I make copies of pictures and word find and leave them in the room so that they are available when the residents feel like doing something. In a day or two after leaving them I check back to see how much they have done. Sometimes when I do one-on-one visits I also use that time to work on the project.

We also work on puzzles both in groups or individually.

My residents enjoy the thing I have given them to color and are always excited when it is coloring time. there are times that I sit in the room and color with a resident if they are not in the mood for group coloring. I also include with coloring pictures a memory game, items that are the same, or animals and their babies, or even fruits, match the name to the fruit. These things as simple as they seem are big help to them and it might take some time for them to remember but it is helpful. So as they find the item they color them to as real as they can remember them to be. I call this activity Coloring with friends, and this encourages communication.

The things that we might think is childish for our seniors are sometimes good for them.

thank you for sharing your variety of activities. The mandalas are a great hit with our seniors.

Colouring continues to be of great benefit in aged care. We have introduced our residents to watercolours and acrylic painting besides crayons. Our latest venture is:- We are recycling an old large Hot Water tank. Our art animator led our residents with acrylic paint on this tank. On completion we are placing it on a prominent site at the facility and invite some guests (the residents' relatives) for the inauguration. The residents already feel proud on their achievement!

We have been having great success with the adult colouring. Our consumers are finding it very relaxing when doing it at respite and a few have bought their own books to colour in at home.

At present we have an Art Program - using acrylics - l am looking to intoduce this(Mandalas) to a select few Residents who are intereted

We have been using these at our facilities, the residents find this relaxing and enjoyable.

I give the resident a Clipboard with the image to colour in and a container of pencils.

This is particularly good for those whom like to stay in there rooms and prefer to not interact with others.

We have started these in our facility, in the rest home and also in the secure wing, they are very good for calming the mind, and like i tell all the residents, it dosnt matter which colours you choose they still look fantastic, we have been colouring them in, then glueing them onto cardboard, cutting them out and then glueing 2 of them back to back, putting a hole in the top, threading threw some string and then hanging them from the cealing in the lounge areas, the residents just love them, and we have had requests also for them to be hung in their rooms. Very very popular activitie x

I leave mandalas in the tables in our hostel for the residents to do over the weekend. They love to do them. We then put them on display so they can show off their creativity. They sit and discuss the colours and patterns. I have found many mandalas in the books that travelling book sellers place in the staff room.