Easy to Do Craft for Those with Dementia

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This craft about color is easy to do for people of many different abilities. People with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias have many different strengths and weaknesses so this activity will allow them to make something creative and festive.

This craft uses scrunched up pieces of tissue, news, construction or any scrap paper glued to a paper form. This is a simple activity that offers lots of practice using fine motor skills that those, with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, may still be intact.
It also is good because most folks with many different disabilities can still rip up paper. Some people with dementia actually enjoy this because it seems to sooth them.

You will need: paper stock, a paper plate, or cardboard for the form, tissue paper, newspaper, construction paper or scrap paper to be scrunched and glued to the form,  glue, safety scissors to cut the form and ribbon to use to hang up the craft if you so choose

What you do: Cut the inner circle out of a paper plate, leaving an outer ring. Or cut a shape such as a heart out of cardstock or cardboard. You may have to help with this first step.

Have the participants rip the soft paper into approximately 2”x3” pieces. The size is not that important. You may have to experiment to see how easily the group member(s) can scrunch the paper.

Let them scrunch up each piece of paper, and you can have them sort the paper if they are able.

Pour some glue on a paper plate. Now ask one or more participants to dip the paper into the glue and stick it onto the form. Make sure they only use small amounts of glue. Have the gluers hold each piece of paper down for a couple of seconds until the glue starts to set. 

Alternately you can put drops of glue on the form and have the gluers stick the ripped soft paper in the glue on the form. You can use colored glue so they can see it easier or have the form another color besides white so the glue can be seen easier.

Try to have the ripped scrunched paper cover the entire front plate of the form so that the plate is no longer visible. The participants can use different colors or types of paper in a random arrangement and make any sort of pattern they like.

Put the finished form on a piece of wax paper to dry for several hours or overnight.

Staple a piece of ribbon on the back of the completed form at the top so that you can hang the decoration.

You can have each person make his own decoration or you can give each participant a job depending on their strengths.

For example: you can have rippers, scrunchers and gluers. You can work on this craft in several sessions. You can let the participants do what they can and have you or someone else finish what they cannot complete when the forms are drying.

You can have music in the background as the group members are working on the craft. Then have a discussion about the holiday or event you are making the decorations for.