When you’re caring for someone with dementia or supporting an older adult with limited mobility or memory like I did then you’ll need DIY crafts for seniors and dementia that can offer more than just something to do.
The right activity brings calm, gives a reason to sit together, and sometimes helps them feel useful again. But I know how easy it is to think crafts won’t work anymore. I tried so many, here are some we’d enjoyed that might work for you!
This guide is full of crafts that are simple, gentle, and flexible. Most can be started and paused without a fuss. Some are lovely to keep or give away. Others are more about feeling textures, moving hands, or remembering how to make something with someone else. I’ve organised the ideas into sections to help you find what suits your day.
Simple Crafts That Actually Get Finished
It helps to start with projects that are short, manageable, and forgiving. These kinds of crafts work well in the morning or when you’re trying to ease into the day without pressure.
Decorating a mug can be done with permanent markers, paint pens or oil based Sharpie pens. Choose a plain ceramic cup and help them add dots, stripes, or a name. You can bake the mug afterward to set the design, or just leave it as a keepsake. If shaky hands are an issue, try using stickers or tape to create a border and keep the decoration neat.
DIY bookmarks are another gentle option. Use thick cards and offer a few sticker sheets or stencils, and various paints. Or you can use soft ribbons, different types of fabrics for a personal touch. This works well if you’re doing an activity with someone else too. You can make a few in one go and use them in memory books or gift them to family. I like this tutorial as you can make the background whatever you want and add inspirational messages together!
Making decorative magnets using glass gems or bottle tops is satisfying. Print small pictures or patterns, glue them underneath the clear gem, and attach a magnet to the back. They can help choose the images and press them in place, even if they don’t want to handle the glue. Obviously be careful with the use of the stronger glue, depending on your loved ones’ dementia stage.
Felt flower wreaths feel soft in the hands and are easy to prepare. Use pre-cut felt petals and a foam ring. Let your loved one arrange and press the pieces into place with fabric glue or pins. The final wreath can be hung up or placed near their favourite seat.
There a lot of ways to make felt flowers, a lot use glue guns, this video shows you how to make a rose by cutting out shapes and sewing, and uses the glue gun right at the end, to make the rose shapes
Toilet Roll Gift boxes made from toilet rolls can be decorated with washi tape, stickers, or paper strips. Fold the edges inward to create a rounded shape, and add a ribbon or label. These are great for small gifts, messages, or simply as something tactile to hold.
Each of these crafts works best when you set out just a few materials and give plenty of time. You don’t have to finish in one sitting. Let the day lead you.
Calming DIY Crafts for Seniors and Dementia That Actually Work
For people who like to feel their way through activities, crafts with soft textures and repetitive motion are ideal. They often help reduce restlessness in the late afternoon or offer a sense of comfort when language is fading.
Knotted fleece blankets are quiet and familiar. Cut two large squares of fleece, fringe the edges, and knot each pair of fringes together. Sit side by side and tie knots slowly while you chat or sit in silence. The process often becomes more comforting than the result itself. It’s quite fiddly, but looks lovely when done, and you don’t have to be so precise, you can estimate one inch splits when cutting the materials! I know from experience, it still works
Making yarn pom-poms is another soft and repetitive option. Wrap yarn around a cardboard circle or fork, tie it in the middle, and cut the loops. Even if you do most of the cutting, the wrapping part is easy to help with. Or this is the simplest, just using your hands, not as neat an end product as using a toilet roll or other things, but so much easier to just get on with and not worry about perfection!
Twine wrapping works well for jars, candle holders, coasters, or even making light baubles. Use glue and gently wind twine or soft yarn around the object. The finished item can be used as decoration or simply left as is. It’s the motion that helps settle the hands.
Button collage crafts involve sorting, choosing, and pressing buttons into place. Draw a large shape like a heart or tree and fill it with colourful buttons using glue dots. The result looks complete even with just a few buttons placed.
Drying flowers, leaves, or even eucalyptus which brings a natural scent into the room. It’s less about crafting and more about touch, smell, and choice. With the flowers and leaves, it’s about pressing them onto paper and weighing them down until they dry out and can be framed or used in other art. The eucalyptus leaves can be dried and stored in glass jars and they give off such a gorgeous smell. These crafts are especially useful when verbal instructions aren’t working well and are more sensory in nature, tactile and smells.
These tactile crafts don’t need outcomes or praise. They’re slow and steady, and they make space for the moment to unfold.
Painting and Colour Activities with No Right Answer
Paint can be freeing when you let go of neatness. These crafts give room for creativity without precision.
Painting flower pots works well with thick brushes and bold colours. Use acrylic paint to cover small clay pots, and encourage large patterns or simple dots. You can help by holding the pot while they paint. I love these two versions, the paint pouring was an absolute joy to do and the q-tip painting was so much fun especially if you’re not a great painter! Always prime your pots before painting!
Watercolour painting is gentle and forgiving. Offer just two or three colours on a damp brush and let them blend freely on the paper. The flow of colour can be calming, even without a subject in mind.
Painted rocks are satisfying to create and hold. Use smooth stones and let them choose colours to decorate. Add a face, a flower, or just a few dots. You can place them in the garden or around the house afterward.
Paint-by-numbers kits might suit someone who likes structure. Choose a set with larger spaces and simple themes. The picture gradually appearing can be a helpful guide when memory is unreliable.
Marbling with nail polish turns plain mugs or jars into something beautiful. Drop nail polish into a bowl of water and swirl gently with a stick. Dip the object or paper and let the pattern set. It’s short and sensory, with clear results.
Paint gives room for expression, but it can also be messy. Cover the table, use aprons, and focus on the process rather than the picture.
Crafts That Remind Them Who They Are
Some crafts help preserve memories. Others simply make space for someone to feel like themselves again, a mother, a baker, a sister, or someone who used to host every holiday meal.
Memory boxes can be decorated with photos, stickers, or soft fabric. Use a shoebox or small wooden crate. Fill it with old letters, postcards, or everyday items that carry meaning. Even if your loved one doesn’t explain the memory, just seeing or touching the objects can bring something to the surface. You can see how Boots used to help trigger conversations using simple smells and nostalgic things
Scrapbooking with a theme is more manageable than trying to create a full album. Choose one subject, a family pet, a trip to the coast, birthdays, and build a single page. Use clear photos, names, and cut-out shapes. Recipes were our thing, building a recipe book of mum’s favourite foods. Once you’re done, you can sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and talk about their history, their loves and more. Love this for connecting with my mum.
Paper wreaths for the seasons are light, colourful, and cheerful. Use cut-outs of leaves, flowers, or circles and glue them onto a ring. Display the wreath near a doorway or window. The project can feel like a celebration of the time of year, even if dates and holidays are forgotten.
No Sew Napkin cushions are soft and familiar. If your loved one enjoyed sewing and making fabric pieces but can no longer use sewing machines, then this may be an idea to create beautiful home made cushions. Fold or glue two napkins together, fill with stuffing, and decorate with fabric paint or stamps. These can be placed around the room or used during quiet time.
Decorated candles using ribbon, stickers, painting or faux flowers can help mark birthdays or holidays. We used wax crayons as we had them in the house. You don’t need to light them. Just having something to set out on the table brings a sense of occasion. Be careful if you’re using melted coloured tealights from burns etc! But the beautiful designs that you can make can be gifted or admired at home as their handiwork is displayed and commented on as days pass.
These types of crafts just bring happiness in reminiscing about their lives, their talents and producing things that can be gifted or adored.
Nature-Inspired Crafts That Don’t Require a Garden
Even if you can’t go outside often, you can still bring nature into the home through crafts that involve colour, scent, and the feel of the seasons.
Making faux plants are ideal for those who enjoy greenery but can’t manage care routines. Use a recycled jar, small basket, or teacup to jazz them with moss, stones, and one or two small diy faux plants. No watering required.
Sun-themed collages work well in spring or summer. Use magazine cuttings, yellow and orange paper, or pressed flowers to build a simple scene. The colours lift the mood, and you can talk about days spent outdoors.
Decorating a wooden sign or block can become part of their room. Choose a short word like Home or Rest, and let them add stickers, paint, or soft decorations. These projects offer a gentle sense of ownership.
DIY paper lanterns are light and lovely. Pre-cut paper with simple designs, fold into a cylinder or go more elaborate with layers of paper designs, and add a battery-powered tea light. The result glows softly and can be used in the evening to help reduce agitation.
Wreaths made from dried herbs such as rosemary, lavender, or eucalyptus bring texture and aroma together. Weave or tie the stems onto a ring and display it in the kitchen or bedroom. The smell alone can be calming and familiar.
These crafts invite quiet participation and they don’t have to be completed all at once. You can come back to them over a few days, especially the plant based ones.
Collaborative and Social Crafts
If you’re in a care home setting or spending time with family, some crafts are better done together. These work best when each person contributes a small part toward a shared result.
Pom-pom garlands can be made over several days. Each person makes a few yarn pom-poms in different colours. Later, string them together and hang across a window or wall.
Confetti tumblers are fun to decorate with peel-and-stick vinyl. Let each person personalise a cup or glass with colourful dots or their initials. These can be used at group meals or kept as a token.
Washi tape trees are especially easy during the holidays. Use a piece of card with a drawn tree outline, and offer different colours of tape to fill in the shape. There’s no wrong way to decorate.
Group scrapbooks can be built over time. Leave a blank page in a central place and invite contributions, a drawing, a photo, or a sticker. Once filled, add it to a binder.
Shared wreath-making lets each person add one item. Feathers, buttons, paper cut-outs, or ribbon. The wreath becomes a shared decoration and something to return to again.
Crafts like these help everyone feel included. They work especially well when attention spans are short or when mobility is limited. Even just watching others create can still be part of it. You can help with using glue guns, helping to stick things down, or cutting out pieces that can be assembled by your loved one. Whatever it is, some of these diy crafts can be completed quickly or be something that you can return to again and again to complete.
Final Thoughts
If your loved one can’t follow steps or stops halfway through, that’s not failure. That’s dementia. You’re allowed to simplify. You’re allowed to finish it for them. You’re allowed to let it be incomplete. What matters is that you were together, doing something that made room for your loved one to do what they enjoy with you or other cherished friends or family by their side making conversation and just being.
Enjoy!
