Older adults can have their leisure time outdoors during the summer months. However, in the winter, the cold weather may mean moving recreational activities indoors.
There are several fun indoor activities for older people to enjoy during the colder months. Since having the freedom to pursue your hobbies and interests is one of the best parts of retirement, older adults can take the opportunity to explore the possibilities and look into participating in different, exciting indoor activities in winter.
At Seasons Retirement, we encourage our residents to practice safe and fun hobbies to remain active and healthy and engage in social activities that make it easy to combat loneliness.
This article explores nine enjoyable indoor activities during winter that are great for your older loved ones. They include:
Throwing an indoor party during the winter holidays is a great way to have fun indoors. You can invite colleagues, friends, children, grandchildren, and other well-wishers to drop by and catch up for a good time.
Indoor parties are easy to arrange, and everyone enjoys themselves in these events. To make it even more unique, your older loved ones can choose a party theme — probably something tropical-oriented — to get them feeling like they’re in the summer.
Watching movies is a great indoor activity for adults. Nowadays, several digital streaming and live movie options are available for viewers, making for a great pastime during colder months. There are also several TV options like Netflix and Amazon that offer exclusive series which appeal to a wide range of tastes.
Marathoning a movie series is an easy way to bond with loved ones or friends. Organizing a movie night can be an exciting way for older adults to socialize with their friends and reminisce on wonderful shared memories.
One of the more popular options for indoor activities, reading is an excellent option for some individuals to stay engaged when indoors during winter. Reading is a recreational activity that’s centuries old and still serves as a perfect hobby for older adults to stimulate the brain and enhance memory health.
Several novels, motivational books, self-help books, and so on, are available for older adults to peruse at their leisure. Several e-book options are available nowadays, so your loved ones don’t have to physically travel to a location to purchase or borrow a book. If your older relatives are not fans of lengthy books, they can also consider reading short, interesting articles on any reputable blog.
Regular indoor fitness routines are one of the most effective indoor activities for older adults. The weather is cold in winter, and exercising is beneficial to warm the body and stay fit during this period.
Indoor activities like skipping, jumping, and stretching, are suitable indoor exercises to maintain fitness and mobility. These workouts can help reduce anxiety and depression in adults and improve their overall quality of life.
Adding to one’s knowledge is essential, and older adults can take advantage of the winter season to learn new skills and knowledge through online training courses.
There are several reputable online learning platforms with thousands of free and paid courses. From the available options, your parents or grandparents can find one that aligns with their interests and start pursuing long-held interests and curiosities from the comfort of their homes.
For older adults interested in expanding their cooking repertoire, studying new recipes can be a worthwhile indoor activity for adults.
The colder months present plenty of opportunities to learn new things, and unique culinary recipes are one of them. Older ones can choose a recipe that suits their preferred complexity and cuisine style or experiment with some of their favourite traditional recipes and try variations to find new flavours.
Your loved ones may also find it fulfilling to cook for others by inviting family and friends to share their creations and results.
Puzzles are mind-tasking games and great fun activities for adults indoors. There are several puzzles available, including sudoku, word puzzles, etc. These games can easily be accessed on phones and computers or using the traditional playing medium.
Because puzzles can improve mental alertness in older adults, they can help take your loved ones’ minds off the cold weather. On top of this, solving puzzles can bring a sense of fulfillment that makes an effort worthwhile.
Crocheting and knitting can be simple, easy-to-learn activities for older adults. Since winter is the season of thicker clothes, your older loved ones might find it practical to take up knitting or crocheting during this period. Seniors having fun with crochet hooks, scissors, yarn, and stitch markers can produce fantastic results to show off and enjoy the colder months.
Online articles and videos on knitting and crocheting can help maintain your older loved one’s motor skills and can be a great way to get a good mental workout, stay engaged, and obtain practical results after completing their handwork.
Winter is the time for your older one to start their indoor project — whether indoor gardening, art, or redecorating a room.
Indoor gardening, in particular, can be an excellent option for winter months, as several plants are great to grow in the home. It’s often much less intensive than outdoor gardening and can be a constructive way to spend time during winter months. Colouring and painting are also great recreational activities for seniors that stimulate the brain, provide opportunities to express creativity, and try new art styles for personal enjoyment.
The exciting indoor activities for seniors we’ve covered are an excellent way for older adults to have fun, even in the colder months when it’s not as easy to get out and about. Any one of these pursuits is an excellent option for older adults to enjoy the winter season to the fullest.