50+ Dementia Friendly Board Games: Fun Games for Elderly Family Bonding
Sharing 50+ board games for dementia patients and the elderly.
One of the questions I receive most often on Instagram, are requests for games to play with aging family members, particularly those with Dementia or other forms of memory loss.
Games can be a great way to connect with an elderly family member or a loved one who is suffering from memory loss. They help stimulate the brain and improve cognitive skills.
While everyone will be different and there’s no one-game-fits-all solution, there are a few tips to help you choose a game best suited for this scenario.
When looking for a game to play with an elderly family member, in general, you’ll want to avoid games that:
Have Complex Rules
Require quick response times
Require detailed hand-eye coordination
You’ll also want to make sure that you:
Choose familiar games
Provide clear instructions and feedback during play
Quit early or take breaks
Practice patience
I wanted to make sure this post could be the most helpful for those looking for a game to play with their loved one in this situation, so I asked our community on Instagram to send in the games they’ve played with their family members!
One follower said to select, “something familiar to the person with dementia! Learning new things can be hard. A team based game is also good — puts less spotlight on the person with dementia.” Which I think is wonderful advice!
Another said, “I know it’s not a “unique” recommendation, but Sorry is great too.” I definitely agree here! The goal is to connect with our loved one and meet them where they are!
Many commented echoing the above advice to choose familiar games and bring lots and lots of patience. A good reminder no matter whom we’re playing with!
Another comment shared, “We Played blank slate and Qwirkle with my grandma all the time the last few years!”
One of the most incredible sources of help came in from a wife who’s husband had a stroke. She shared how her husband lost all his memories and has had to relearn everything. Together during his recovery journey they have been playing games. Some of the games he’s enjoyed and that have really helped have been UNO, Rush Hour, Zingo, and Color Code.
My biggest takeaway from this whole discussion is that our community here is full of wonderful people who work hard to connect with their loved ones through all ages and stages of life. May we all be blessed to be loved by our family in this way.
If you are in need of a game to play with your elderly loved one, here are some wonderful suggestions from those in similar situations.
50+ Dementia Friendly Board Games: Fun Games for Elderly Family Bonding
Spots
Connect Four (Classic Style — Wooden — Modern)
31 (Rules)
Blink
Uno
Ticket to Ride First Journey
Simon
Scrabble
Rush Hour
Rummikub
Hoppers
Zingo
Rat-a-Tat Cat
Color Code (“It’s good for spatial awareness”)
This or That Cards
Shape by Shape
Kanoodle
Chocolate Fix
Guess in 10
Old Fashioned Bingo
Racko
Heads Up
Yahtzee
Shut the Box (Single Player — Four Player)
Go Fish
Classic Card Games
Tetris Board Game
Scattegories (“with some adaptations”)
Rook (“We played with my father-in-law, it’s a game he loved from when he was more capable.”)
Simple kids card games (Froggies — Eye Found It — Nuts About Mutts)
Sequence Dice
Cover Your Assets (“works for my aging mom who is forgetful and struggles to process things”)
Dixit
Family Feud
Blank Slate
Hues and Cues
Qwixx
Sorry
Ouisi “I heard it’s pretty awesome”
Strike
Play Nine
Bananagrams “with added difficulty for everyone else”
Dominos “My grandma loves it — the only one she can play now.”
Tri-ominoes “My grandma has dementia (still remembers us) and love Tri-ominoes.”
Left Center Right (A very popular response!)
Suspend “My dad loved the Melissa and Doug game Suspend!”
Classic Memory Game “We always played memory with my grandma! The super easy one for little kids with big cards.”
5 Crowns “For early dementia.”
Qwirkle
Clack!
Puzzles under 1000 pieces (100 — 150 — 200 — 300 — 500)
“Math Activities for Kids, Learning Resources has a bunch!”
