A great failure-free activity is sorting.   Everyone likes to create order out of chaos.  That’s what makes us human!  Occasionally I will be helping the seniors in memory care sort and one of them will ask me why they are sorting.   Good question!  Don’t we all want to have a purpose and feel like we’re using our time in a constructive way?  To just sort for the sake of sorting seems kind of futile.  That made me think – how can I create a way to make sorting an opportunity to give back to the community?   We can sort and then donate the items to local community groups.   It’s a constructive, social activity that also doubles as a community service project!

The items you can sort are endless and obviously need to be gauged to the skills of your seniors.   Here are some ideas:

Coupons

Sort coupons by type and put them in envelopes that are labeled for different areas of the grocery store, such as “Dairy Department” or “Canned Goods.”  Donate these to a local food closet or to military families.   (You can look online for local charities that accept coupons.)

Change (coins)

Sort and wrap change to donate to the American Red Cross.   When we did this activity, I brought in change that I had been intending to donate and the seniors helped me sort the change and put it in coin wrappers.  I took the wrapped coins to a Coinstar machine and easily pushed the coins into the machine from the wrappers.  The bonus was that we had the wrappers to use again another time!

Colored Pom Poms

Sort colored pom poms into snack-sized zipper bags and donate them to a preschool to use in their art program.

Baby Socks

Sort clean, gently used baby socks and donate them to a crisis nursery.

Buttons

Sort buttons by color, put them in a plastic tray with compartments and a lid and they can be used to mend seniors’ clothes.

Pinecones

Sort pinecones by size, put them in dollar store bins with lids and use in a craft project.

Legos

Sort bags of Legos by color and size to donate to a foster care program.   (Families will often donate huge bags of Legos that they find at yard sales for a great price.)

Newsletter Request

As you can see, you could sort just about anything.  The challenge becomes how to find the items to sort without breaking the bank.  That’s where putting an ad in your family newsletter may help a lot!  Many families want to contribute to their loved ones’ lives but they just aren’t sure how.    Ask for the coupon pages from the newspaper or for collections of stray buttons.     Some families will scour yard sales for you and gladly donate entire bags of items (such as baby socks) for your seniors to sort!

Music to sort by

Put on some nice, soothing music while you sort with the seniors and see if some conversation flows.  When the seniors begin to help each other match the items it creates a sense of teamwork and helps you find the joy!