25 Kid-Friendly Nursing Home Activities

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When I was a young girl, my grandpa spent some time in a local nursing home. Back then, nursing homes were a lot like hospitals.

As I try to picture the nursing home in my mind, I can see white walls and lots of gray metal fixtures. I also recall the subtle scent of Pine-Sol disinfectant.

There seemed to be nothing interesting to do when we visited Grandpa at the nursing home. Sadly, I quickly became bored and wanted to go home.

Fast forward to the Eden Alternative

Many years later, I worked as a nurse at a nursing home that embraces the Eden Alternative philosophy. This place was alive with the energy that comes from dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, as well as kids from the childcare center.

Unfortunately, the Eden Alternative didn’t make us immune from going through annual inspections by the State Department of Health. Those of you who have experienced a nursing home survey will relate to what I’m about to share.

After four days of being watched and questioned by the surveyors, I felt immensely relieved when they finally exited the building on Friday afternoon. At that point, I felt emotionally exhausted.

When my shift ended, I went home and told my two young children that we needed to find something fun to do. My sweet little daughter piped up with, “I know what we can do for fun, Mom. We can go to the nursing home and play with the animals.”

What?! The nursing home was the last place I wanted to go after the week I had just gone through.

But I couldn’t resist my daughter’s enthusiasm. So back to the nursing home I went, this time with my two kids in tow.

We took a dog for a walk, brushed one of the cats, and played ball with a bunny. Quickly, the stress of the week melted away, and once again, I saw the beauty and the joy that enveloped this nursing home.

With or without the Eden Alternative, most nursing homes nowadays seem a lot more homelike and kid-friendly. However, there are still times when a child can feel uncomfortable or intimidated when visiting a loved one who lives in a nursing home.

That’s why I want to share 25 fun activities a child and a nursing home resident can enjoy together.

• Look through old photo albums
• Put together simple jigsaw puzzles.
• Bring a metal detector and go outside to search for little treasures.
• Get creative with play dough or slime.
• Play catch with a small beach ball.
• String Cheerios for the birds.
• Sing together.
• Share brief videos of the child’s activities (sports, etc.).
• Ask the resident to teach the child something such as knitting.
• Ask the child to teach the resident something such as how to use a Smartphone.
• Bring books that a child can read to the resident or vice versa.
• Ask the resident to teach your child to dance.
• Bring sugar cookies to decorate.
• Cut pictures out of magazines and create collages.
• Learn how to do magic tricks.
• Enjoy a little picnic.
• Go for a walk inside or outside the facility and play I Spy.
• Do a craft project. You’ll find tons of ideas on Pinterest.
• Bring a few favorite treasures from home for show-and-tell.
• Play games like checkers or Connect 4.
• Learn card tricks.
• Color pictures together.
• Create a scrapbook.
• Play card games like Uno or Go Fish.
• Do a chair yoga video together.

What else would you add? I would love to hear about the activities your children enjoy when they visit someone at the nursing home. Please share your ideas in the comment section.