Colouring activities for people with dementia

People with dementia will often find colouring a comforting and enjoyable activity.  It is the process of colouring that is important, not the final result. Sometimes people will get tired hands or eyes and will need to have a break.

1. It is important to give people a choice – they enjoy choosing and will often give their opinions about the pictures.

2. Offer a choice of materials – paints (watercolour), felt tips or soft pencil crayons.

• Paints: messy, can be attractive to some people, difficult to use and easy to get the paints muddy, need to change water a lot, needs more supervision and help.
• Felt tips: easy to use but can result in holes in the paper, some people have problems getting lids off, very bright colours.
• Soft pencil crayons: need to be good quality to be easy to use, the quality of a nice set of crayons can be appreciated.

3. Much discussion can be had about the choice of colours and the aesthetics of their choices.

4. Sometimes people will need encouragement to take part because they lack confidence in their abilities. If they appear overwhelmed it is a good idea to start helping them by colouring the picture in yourself and this can also be a good way to get them started. It may be helpful to suggest which area might be coloured in next.

5. People can enjoy showing each other what they’ve done and get a real sense of pride in their achievements.

6. Even people not taking part, but watching, will get enjoyment from what is going on and take an interest in other peoples work.

7. If people decide they no longer want to take part or if they become agitated, it is easy to stop and suggest it another time.

8. People will have different abilities from those who will colour quite intricately to those who will spread paint over a page with little control. The enjoyment people gain is not necessarily related to their capabilities, but relates to the process they are taking an active part in.

9. Finished colouring work can be cut out and used to make colourful collages and displayed on the walls. People will enjoy looking at the work even though they are unlikely to remember it is theirs. Some will enjoy being told that work is theirs, but some may become distressed if they are told that it is their work and they are unable to remember.