Ideas to alleviate Senior quarantine boredom?

[donkeypoofed]

Hi everyone! Like so many of you, my elderly father is a little bored. He's a sports lover and without that to watch, he is at loose ends. He does have books and movies (all already watched or read), but was wondering if any of you all had ideas or games for your own parents or grandparents. My dad doesn't have a computer or cell phone, which severely limits my options to help. Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks.

[PA Democrat]

1. My parents love jigsaw puzzles and Sudoku.

[Lars39]

2. A Kindle would give him access to a whole lot of books & movies.

[Hortensis]

11. Yes, and expose him to a few unalarming computer buttons.

My old Paperwhite actually has a primitive internet capability, some kind of trial; not that I try to use it, but it's there.

[a la izquierda]

3. Any chance he's got trees around?

If so, he could birdwatch. I’ve been doing that a lot lately.

[Hortensis]

13. A bluebird, who seemingly does have a mate, has been

spending much of the last two days fluttering repeatedly at windows on the car and shed. Can't guess if he's having fun or trying to clear his nest territory of competitors. If the latter, he's a pathologically slow learner. We sometimes see her waiting for him to finish.

[a la izquierda]

19. I've got a great window over my kitchen sink.

The birds provide me loads of entertainment, especially now. I have a pillared woodpecker that visits daily and those birds do not appear to be intelligent 🤣

[Hortensis]

20. The big, tropical-screecher one?

Darn, other woodpeckers come to our feeders, but not them. Notably not intelligent?

They're very shy here in FL and in GA, where they mostly stay in the woods. If I go for a walk into the wooded hillside around our GA house during the nesting season, one will follow me maybe 30 feet overhead, squawking reports to his mate (always far away on the steep east side of the hill) every few seconds. I know they have to recognize me, we see them and hear their demented screeches all the time, but I'm out of place or something.

[LiberalLoner]

4. Some people enjoy doing artsy craftsy things like paint by number

And so on when they are stuck indoors.

Really I do feel sorry for people who haven’t taken up the iPad iPhone computer craze because there is such a rich world available through those devices. I understand it’s harder to change habits and learn new things as we get older though. I’m turning 59 this year and am already finding it harder to master new skills and keep information in my head than when I was a teenager.

[MuseRider]

18. That is a great idea.

Not yet elderly but getting closer......sometimes when I just get sick and tired and cranky or just blah I will color. Those adult coloring books are wonderful to relax you and focus your mind on something simple and pretty. Like paint by numbers but with a little more choice for those rule followers who would not ever think about painting another color other than the one on the canvas.

***oh crap, I just looked up elderly and found out I am indeed elderly. 66 and NOT incapacitated yet.

[LiberalLoner]

21. Thank you!

Here’s hoping 66 for you is only middle aged and all your years will be healthy!

[hlthe2b]

5. If he has any kind of telephone there are tons of volunteer opportunities he could participate in

to help with community response to COVID-19.

https://www.volunteermatch.org/covid19

might be a place to start.

[Hortensis]

10. Great idea. Biden campaign is doing national telethons from home.

Easy and relaxing, and a special opportunity to get "out" for sociable people who'd enjoy even the short conversations with others you have to cut off at some point. Most of them, anyway.

[femmedem]

6. What about asking him to write down his childhood memories for you?

Another possibility might be giving him some drawing tools, paper and a drawing instructional book. Of course, I don't know him or his interests, other than sports. But creativity is good for brain health, and he might appreciate knowing his memories are important to you.

Because I'm interested in history, someone just sent me a short autobiography of his relative who was asked by her grandson to write down her memories. It was just a few pages, but it talked about taking dance lessons, the parties her bootlegging father held, and local stores and theaters that no longer exist. It was a treasure.

Article on why creativity is so rewarding, regardless of one's skill: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/11/795010044/feeling-artsy-heres-how-making-art-helps-your-brain

Edited to add: I like the suggestion above about birdwatching. Depending on his location and mobility, a bird feeder and bird seed might be wonderful. I live in an urban area with a postage stamp-sized yard, but during this period of isolation I find it comforting to see birds and squirrels.

Any chance he could adopt a pet? Maybe a senior cat?

[SheltieLover]

7. Painting / Drawing?

Can be very therapeutic - just the process.

Kits online are fairly reasonable, too - for both watercolors (easy clean up) & drawing pencils and paper. Maybe he could go outside & sketch trees, or...

Word search books?

A pair of binoculars for bird & squirrel watching?

Just a few ideas.

Love your screen name!

[Tanuki]

8. How about a harmonica and beginners' instruction book? Without even

Last edited Tue Apr 28, 2020, 10:37 AM - Edit history (1)

knowing how to read music, he could be playing some familiar songs almost immediately. It's also really good for the lungs.

[2naSalit]

15. If he's in a collective living environment...

I could see that being a sketchy idea. Not that he'd fail at learning to play well, others might have a hard time being in the same place during the learning process.

[ecstatic]

9. My dad has been on the grill a lot.

Can he cook? Would he be interested in an at-home mini golf kit? What else does he enjoy besides sports? Assist him by purchasing some accessories.

Or set him up with the various sports rerun packages.

And yeah, I know this is all way easier said than done. It's nearly impossible to control the actions of a grown person. Luckily, my dad seems to be taking the pandemic seriously.

[Books_Tea_Alone]

12. My mother has been organizing old photos

And as an added bonus making boxes of them to give to my siblings and myself and other relatives

[Croney]

14. That's what I'm doing. It's a huge task. I'm putting the oldest photos

on Facebook so the grandkids and great-grandkids can marvel at life when pictures were taken with a camera and you waited eagerly to pick them up in a little envelope.

[gibraltar72]

16. You tube is a great thing to take you away.

I have been watching great moments in baseball. I have been to many Tiger games in past. But many of the great players I had never seen were in National league. To see some of them has been very interesting. Old Home run derbies are a hoot also. Lots of junk on there but lots of really interesting stuff. Once they see what you like they'll just line it up for you. Just a thought. Works for me though.

[renate]

24. Seconding the YouTube idea!

You can armchair travel, you can go to lectures at the Royal Institution, you can watch British panel shows... I couldn’t recommend it more. It’s got everything.

[Jamastiene]

17. One of the things my aunt had leftover from her stuff at the VA when she passed

was one of those puzzle books with a list of words and a list of letters, where you circle the words from the list. I know how much she loved those. I have decided to fill in the book before never seeing these types of puzzles again, sadly. She enjoyed them so much. I'm sure there are some online that could be printed out.

I have yet to meet anyone elderly, at least in my family, that does not love westerns. My aunt sure loved them. Most male members of the family who are in their senior years love them too. Westerns are like pacifiers, I noticed. Or at least they were when I found some on the Roku for my aunt. Even cable usually has some channels that show those old westerns, either movies or TV shows from back then or both. Something about westerns settles older people down and makes them just zone out and grin or something. At least, that is how it did her and has done several other members of my family and extended family. Westerns are the great pacifiers of TV for them, especially Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, and any John Wayne movies you can find.

Those are the two best things I used to use to help my aunt not be so bored.

She loved those and reading. I would download oodles of "the classics" as she called them. They were books she had (that I now still have) but could not physically hold any more. She could read them on her little netbook though. Netbooks are not overly expensive to buy and would give anyone who loves to read oodles of material to keep them busy. Even Amazon offers oodles of free books that are well worth the read. Project Gutenberg is another great source of free reading. Even letting them borrow one will keep them entertained. I let my aunt borrow my netbook. It didn't bother me, because I have my laptop and love it. The netbook was her constant companion once I taught her how to turn the pages to read books and how to search and scroll to read newspapers and web sites too.

[Rae]

22. Do you live near by?

Have you been self isolating?

[Codeine]

23. A Sudoku book

with puzzles starting out easy and gradually increasing in complexity can be very absorbing, and completing a harder example is hugely gratifying.

[Rae]

25. I've started taking my mom out weekly

Not to stores or places where other people are, but just for a drive, to a lake with benches to sit and talk and get some fresh air. I work from home and only go to the store every other week fully masked. She looks forward to the weekly outings and makes the time at home more bearable.

She also loves to garden, so I've dropped off herbs, soil, pots, tomato plants, flowers, etc. for her to plant and put on her little patio. It keeps her busy and brightens her mood.

[Tanuki]

26. Maybe one of these courses, which are available in multiple formats

including DVD, would interest him. The base prices are pretty steep, but there are always numerous sale-priced options:

https://www.thegreatcourses.com

[cyclonefence]

27. Songs from the old days?

My mother always enjoyed singing the old songs--does anybody in your father's community play the piano? Alternatively, you can find these old songs on youtube. Maybe he and some others living there would like to get together after dinner and sing?

[SheltieLover]

28. Yale is offering online Course "The Science of Well Being" Free

Perhaps you could somehow download the lessons & provide a DVD player for your dad?

https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being