Gardens are fun for seniors to work in, but they also inspire many craft ideas that they will enjoy making. Their handiwork might be used in their home garden, the garden at the facility, or given as gifts. Some garden crafts for seniors can be completed in one sitting, while some are ongoing projects.
Senior citizens can benefit a great deal from gardening and engaging in garden crafts. Although traditional gardening is therapeutic, know that there are many ways you can participate in gardening in non-traditional ways. Combining gardening and craft projects can prove very engaging for senior citizens and may even result in an activity that can bring the family together.
What Are Some Gardening Activities For Seniors?
Looking for gardening activities for yourself or the senior citizen in your life? Putting together easy craft activities to do with your loved one can be fulfilling and fun. Gardening activities can range from creating a DIY garden, a fairy garden, or even a garden art project.
You don’t even need outdoor space to have a garden activity.
- Chia Pets: Remember that old gift of a chia pet? While many people give them as a kind of gag gift, they really are an excellent easy way for someone with very little space to grow something.
- Container Garden: Painted terra cotta pots, buckets,, or other containers can be the growing site for seeds, bulbs, or starter plants.
- Flower Arranging: Many people enjoy flower arranging, and offering classes has become very popular. Offer a vast array of flowers with vases or even mason jars to use as holding vessels.
Herb Garden: Growing your own herbs to cook with is another option if you are limited in space. A small herb garden can even be grown on a windowsill.
Indoor Garden: There are many types of indoor gardens that you can plant in containers. Just pick your crop, from herbs to lettuce to flowers.
- Raised Garden Beds: For people with some outdoor space but don’t have the mobility to bend over to garden in the ground, raised garden beds are a practical option.
- Terrarium: Growing plants inside of a fishbowl-shaped vessel, or terrarium, is interesting to watch. Terraria are most often sealable, so they stay warm and moist inside.
- Trellis Gardens: Planting climbing items on a trellis creates a manageable garden that grows upward.
- Windowsill Garden: Whether your loved one has limited mobility or limited space, a window box in a windowsill can allow you to grow anything from flowers to herbs to veggies.
Any of these projects offer the tactile feel of soil, creativity, and the wonder of watching something amazing come about.
Type Of Garden Crafts For Seniors
Garden crafts can involve many different types of things. The crafty items you create can be added to the landscaping to add dimension and interest to the area. Some garden craft ideas:
- Bird Bath: Bird baths can be made from items found around the house, such as pans or planters, or you can find a ceramic one to paint.
- Bird Feeder: Although bird feeders are often constructed from wood, they can be made out of many found items. Fashion one from an old milk carton, a 2-liter soda bottle, or a bunch of wine corks glued together. You can even spread peanut butter on pine cones and then roll them in birdseed for an easy feeder.
- Bird House: Adding birdhouses to your garden does a few things. First, you get the joy of building and painting the birdhouse. Second, birds add beauty and sound to the garden.
- Painted Flower Pots: You can paint a flower pot, whether it is a clay pot or made of some other material.
- Watering Can Art: An old or brightly colored watering can is a great item to upcycle into a cute display for your garden. Consider planting some flowers inside of it, or put old, handheld gardening tools inside.
Any of these projects can be organized for older people and result is something of value for the garden.
Items for Garden Crafting
Are you looking for easy DIY craft ideas? Assemble a variety of items and allow people to choose from them. Some things you might gather include the following. When looking at the list, bear in mind that a creative mind will come up with an idea. Your garden decorations can be made from anything.
When searching for DIY garden craft ideas, consider searching Pinterest for fun ideas.
- Buttons
- Cans
- Clay Pots
- Clothespins
- Dishes
- Fishing Line
- Keys
- Markers
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Popsicle Sticks
- Ribbon
- Rocks
- Seashells
- Silverware
- Stained Glass Crafts
- Tin Cans
- Tools
- Wine corks
When working with a group of seniors, show them examples (online or in person) of what others have made and let them go to town. Always have specific projects in mind for those who can’t think of anything to make.
What Are Good Crafts For Older Adults That Are Related To Gardening?
If you feel like the list above is random, you aren’t really using your imagination. There are so many possibilities. Let’s look at wind chimes, for example. With some fishing line or ribbon and a few of the up-cycled items mentioned above, you can make a beautiful windchime.
Garden markers are another uncomplicated thing to make. A garden marker is just a small sign stating what is being grown in an area. A marker can be made from something as simple as painted tin can tops on popsicle sticks that are stuck into the ground.
Rocks can be painted into unique additions to a garden. Imagine a small garden with little ladybug rocks painted and added to the landscaping. See how a small project can brighten up an area?
What Crafts Might Be Appropriate For Dementia Patients
Dementia gardens help those with memory loss, but they may enjoy garden drafts as well. Activities for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia are particularly effective if there is no right or wrong way to do them. The approach of setting out items to incorporate and giving the person the freedom to decide how to work with the items might work with some seniors.
Having rocks and paints out so the individual can choose what to paint is a great option. Another thought is flower arrangements. Put some vases out with an assortment of cut flowers to choose from. No matter what the person adds to the vase, it will look pretty and can be enjoyed.
Planting small succulents into pots that can be painted is another easy activity. There are very few steps for the participant to follow, and someone leading the class can slowly walk everyone through the activity.