Activity Professionals often offer cognitive games and discussion activities to provide cognitive stimulation, socialization, and reminiscence. Such programs may include: word games, trivia, puzzles, technology activities/classes, educational programs, current events, reminiscence, discussion groups, remotivation, arm-chair travel, movies and videos, reading and writing, and much more.
Some of the many benefits of cognitive games and discussion activities, include the promotion of:
 Communication and shared experiences- Socialization and interpersonal skills
- Sensory and environmental awareness
- Ability to follow simple directions
- Ability to make needs known
- Decision making skills and opportunities
- Long and short-term memory skills
- Self-expression and self-esteem
- Attention span and meaningful engagement
- Reminiscence and creative thinking
Tips for Adapting Words Games and Trivia
- For individuals who are non-verbal, provide paper and pen, pictures, communication board etc.
- Utilize multiple choice; narrow down multiple choice to 2 or 3
- Utilize true or false
- Use phrases like, “it sounds like”, “it’s rhymes with”, “or it begins with the letter __”
- Use gestures, verbal/physical cues
- Utilize pictures and objects to promote participation
- Encourage a resident with severe physical limitations to call bingo
- Have a trivia contest, bingo, pokeno, etc. amongst those who either prefer to stay in their rooms or have to for medical reasons
- Utilize adaptive equipment i.e., large print word searches, large print word puzzles, easy grasp bingo chips, large print bingo boards/playing cards, card holders, card shuffler, etc.
- For residents with cognitive impairment, ask them to choose a letter when playing a game like hangman, i.e., “Would you like letter A or F”? Or have the alphabet written out and ask the resident to point to a letter of the alphabet.
BRAINSTORM VOL 1: RECREATION AND LEISURE - 50% OFF
Sent as a PDF document |
 Brain Storm: Theme-Related Trivia, Word Games, and Discussion Materials (Volume One: Recreation and Leisure), is an eBook that includes 80 pages of trivia, discussion questions, quotes, fun facts, word games, word puzzles, and creative thinking activities, based on the theme recreation and leisure. The activities in this book can be adapted for individuals with a variety of cognitive abilities and are designed for older adults and seniors.
View the Brain Storm Table of Contents.
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