We’re thrilled to officially launch our free carers resource hub designed for care workers, PAs, and staff looking for fun, interactive activities to keep your clients engaged. Our carers resource hub provides an essential resource of activities and games available for instant download.
These options are also ideal for anyone who is looking for some entertainment or seeking new ideas.
Being a care worker means your day looks different every day. Sometimes you’ll provide treatment and administer medication. Other days you’ll be a companion, friend, and supporter for your clients.
Whether you’re looking for a rainy day activity to do with your clients, want a fun game to get a group engaged, or are in need of some inspiration, this ultimate resource hub for care workers has everything you need.
We’ve created this hub to provide a one-stop resource of games, activities, songs, and more, for any care worker in need of inspiration.
Who is this resource hub designed for?
Providing care for your clients can look like a lot of different things. You may be assisting your client with medication and day-to-day tasks for the majority of the day. Other times you might be more focused on boosting the mental well-being of your clients. That’s exactly what this resource hub is for.
These resources for carers are designed to provide some entertainment to your clients, whether you’re in a 1-on-1 setting or keeping a group of clients engaged. This online platform is designed to provide a complete list of activities and ideas, and is updated regularly to ensure there’s always something for everyone.
Games
We’ve created a wide range of classic games and brain teasers that you can download and print off at your leisure. From word searches with a nostalgic touch to bingo, these are guaranteed to keep your clients engaged and entertained.
Word Searches
We have put together a pack of word searches with a range of topics to cater for everyone. These include:
– Baking
– Common pets
– Flowers
– Elvis Presley
– Garden Tools
We’ve also included a set of instructions and a page at the back with all the answers!
Bingo
Bingo is a classic game of chance that requires no skill or strategy, making it easy to pick up and play. Bingo is also a great social game, allowing people to interact with each other.
Players must listen for the numbers that they have on their sheet to be called out. Once they have marked off a row they can shout Bingo! Then the next aim is to get a whole box. Once a player has reached a full box and called Bingo the game is over and you can hand out the prizes!
Music Activities
Music has proved to have significant benefits for people with dementia in particular. With that said, these musical activities can be useful in any client setting as a way to reminisce about the good old days.
Finish The Lyric
Music is a great way to get everyone involved and help those to reminisce about the past.
The idea of this game is to finish the lyric with the correct answer. To make it easier we have created a playlist of the songs that you can play to the participants on Spotify.
Download the Finish the Lyric Game
Guess The Song
Like the previous game, this game is also a music activity. The aim of this game is to guess the name of the song and the artist. We have created another playlist with a selection of songs ranging throughout the decades, so there should be something for everyone.
Download the Guess The Song Game
Memory Games
You can set these memory games up for your client to play alone or with multiple players. A great way to challenge the short term memory and encourage cognitive development, these quick games are both fun and mentally stimulating.
Match the cards
This match the card game is to encourage the cognitive function of the brain and challenge short term memory. For each picture, there are two of the same card. Players must place all the cards facing up and analyse their positions. Then after 2 minutes they should turn all the cards over and try to match them up based on their memory.
Match the picture with the word
This is a memory based game to help those who may be struggling with remembering basic items. There are a collection of cards with words and a corresponding picture. Players should place all of the picture cards face up on a table. Then players should shuffle the cards with the words on them and then choose the correct picture card and match them up.
Other Activities
Not quite found what you’re looking for? We’ve included some more fantastic ideas to do with your clients below. From relaxing chair-based yoga for all abilities to printable colouring sheets to get creative on a rainy day.
Chair yoga
Chair yoga is a great way to include gentle exercise into your client’s daily routine. It doesn’t have to be strenuous and can help their physical and mental health. It is a great form of exercise for people of all ages and abilities, as it can be adapted to suit any level of fitness.
Chair yoga is low-impact and can help improve flexibility, concentration, and strength, while also reducing stress and joint strain.
Decorate your walker competition
This activity is great for clients that have walkers. It can even be useful for helping to tell their walkers apart if you are in a care home setting with multiple clients. Some ideas for decorations include ribbons, bells, bunting, feather bowers, streamers, and fairy lights.
Scent guessing
Some clients may be experiencing memory loss issues, and a great way to entice some recollection can be through scent guessing. This is also an easy task to put together with items found around the home. Clients should be blindfolded and then another player should pass items under the other player’s nose to allow them to smell and guess. Good examples to use for this are garlic, lavender, cinnamon, perfume, lemon, vinegar, coffee, and mint.
Storytelling
Clients should be encouraged to reminisce about their past experiences as often their memory of the past may be better than the present. If this is in a group setting then clients can go around the room and discuss.
Perhaps they can start by picking an age they were and they can talk about what they were up to at that age. They can talk about their favourite music and how they listened to it. What they were wearing, what toys they were playing with and what their job was or what school year they were in.
Bird watching
This activity can be taken outside or if you are lucky enough to have big windows within the home and would rather, then it can be done from inside. Take a notepad or a piece of paper and note down the birds that you see. You can even make this into a chart to keep track of all the birds you spot.
Photography Club
Like bird watching, depending on what your clients are comfortable with and have access to they can either go outside to take photos or take photos around the home.
Ideas to photograph include flowers, animals, landscapes and one another. Clients can even start a scrapbook or photo album to store their photos once printed.
Questions for debate
Healthy debate is a great way to include clients/residents in conversations and to get them to bond.
We have put together a few questions and would you rather style questions to start off with and encourage others to come up with more questions.
Brain Teaser
Brain teasers are an excellent way to exercise your brain and keep it sharp. By stimulating your mind to think and act in new and creative ways, they can help you improve your problem-solving skills.
In addition, brain teasers can help you increase focus and concentration, as well as improve your memory.
We have put together a collection of based questions that are light hearted and to get participants thinking.
Colouring Sheets
Colouring is an all-time classic, however, in recent years colouring has become more popular for adults. There has been a lot of research done on the benefits of colouring and how it encourages mindfulness and relaxation.
Residents can use pens and pencils and even paints to complete the colouring sheets. You can even display them around the home once they are complete.
We would love to know how you and your clients get on with these activities. Feel free to upload some photos and tag Surewise on Facebook so that we can take a look! We also welcome any ideas for other activities you might like to see added here, please send any feedback to [email protected]
Surewise is a leading UK provider of carers and personal assistant insurance for self-employed carers, Direct Payments users, home employment staff, and more. Our policies are designed to protect you, your clients and members of the public should something go wrong while carrying out your responsibilities as a care worker.