Ideas for Crafts to Make for Nursing Home Patients

Nursing home crafts allow residents to express their creativity and develop friendships.elderly lady image by pixelcarpenter from Fotolia.com

Special programs in nursing homes may allow residents to meet new people and give them a sense of achievement in what can sometimes be a lonely and slow-paced environment. For example, many nursing homes have activities directors who coordinate crafts for residents. Volunteers may also be interested in nursing home visits that involve a craft. As noted at Senior Site online, activities should be done "with the residents, not for them," in order to allow each individual to express his creativity.

Seasonal Crafts

The holidays afford ample opportunities for crafts that people can make in a nursing home environment. Homemade holiday cards are a simple craft idea and are also quite practical. Use stamps, calligraphy pens and other decorative supplies. You might use embossed leaves for Thanksgiving cards, or religious images for Christmas and Easter. Other seasonal crafts, such as dyed Easter eggs or Christmas ornaments may also be enjoyable.

Garden crafts are appropriate for seniors who love gardening, and may be appealing to both men and women. They can make painted terra cotta flower pots quite easily with acrylic paints. Once the painting is complete, seniors can plant seeds in the pots and keep them in their rooms. Other garden craft ideas include painted ceramic tiles, wind chimes and plant markers.

Scrapbooking may be a bit more costly, but it is a creative way to get to know nursing home residents. You might consider doing a series of scrapbook sessions in order to allow ample time for residents to complete a scrapbook. If residents do not have enough family photos or documents to make a family scrapbook, Charity Guide online suggests a special interest scrapbook instead, which can use photos and clippings from magazines.

Residents can use potpourri in their rooms and it is easy to make. Residents can dry their own flowers by hanging or air drying them for about two weeks. After drying and mixing the flowers, they can add essential oils to the mixture and let it sit for a week. Once the potpourri is complete, residents can put it in satchels or baskets for decoration and air freshener.