New Year’s Eve can pose challenges when it comes to celebrating with your loved one with Alzheimer’s. But there’s good news, because there are a number of ways you can make New Year’s a success with Alzheimer’s.
Just for caregivers and those with parents or friends with Alzheimer’s, here are a few festive ways to ring in 2018!
Take a Trip Back in Time
This New Year’s Eve take a trip back in time to different decades. This is fun for your loved one with Alzheimer’s, and your entire family. Make a few decorations like party hats and napkins with different decades on them. Play music from other decades, and have easy trivia questions about that decade.
For example, if everyone is wearing a New Year’s hat with 1930 to 1940 on it, you can play music from that time period. Trivia questions from that period could be, “Who won the World Series of Baseball in 1935?” Give prizes for the right answers, and enjoy quality family time.
Take a Culinary Trip Around the World
A New Year’s Eve celebration with a loved one with Alzheimer’s may need to run a little earlier than the traditional ball drop. So keep it fun and make the festivities last all day. One way to spice up the New Year is to make traditional dishes from around the world.
For example, you could have tacos, hummus, mini-hamburgers, and more to represent different countries. This will also keep your loved one or patients’ bellies full all day. It is delicious, fun, and a great way to ring in 2018.
Make New Year’s Eve Resolutions
Resolutions on New Year’s Eve are popular and it is important to keep those traditions alive for your loved one with Alzheimer’s. Have everyone gather around the dining room table and go clockwise with everyone sharing at least three New Year’s Eve resolutions and why they want to do them.
Another fun way to play the resolution game with your loved one with Alzheimer’s is to have everyone write down one resolution and put it in a basket. Next, mix them up and have a family member pick one, read it, and guess whose resolution it is.
Get Crafty with Your Alzheimer’s Loved One
It is important to keep everyone’s mind sharp this New Year’s and making a scrapbook is family fun arts and crafts everyone can enjoy. For example, make a family scrapbook that you can present to your loved one with Alzheimer’s after the ball drops.
First, pull out old photos and memories you have saved over the years and photocopy them ahead of time. When it’s time to get crafty, spread out those memories and begin pasting them into a big book with colorful notes and dates. This will be a great book you and your loved ones can enjoy all year together.
There are plenty of ways to make your Alzheimer’s New Year’s Eve a success. From scrapbooks to trivia, make new memories and enjoy old ones together as a family. How will you make this holiday season and 2018 a successful for your loved one or patients with Alzheimer’s?