About this printable
Give your group a warm, welcoming hour without building a program from scratch. Dementia-Friendly Group Activities is a practical facilitator guide for people creating social sessions with adults living with dementia and their care partners.
This 16-page US Letter PDF is written for hosts, librarians, activity coordinators, and volunteers. It brings together clear planning guidance, six ready-to-run group activities, photocopiable support sheets, and links to free printable and online resources. The guide assumes no clinical training, budget, or special equipment, and every activity includes the materials, timing, group size, suitable comfort levels, step-by-step directions, adaptations, and a gentle response for moments when someone gets stuck.
Choose one activity, gather a few familiar materials, and begin. The emphasis stays on belonging, shared enjoyment, and participation without pressure.
What's Inside:
Five principles for welcoming sessions · Four comfort levels based on the support a person needs in the moment · Practical room setup guidance for sound, light, seating, tables, refreshments, and arrival · A repeatable 45-minute session plan · Preparation checkpoints for the week ahead, day before, and session day
The six activity plans offer a varied mix of conversation, sensory engagement, word play, music, and movement:
Music and Memory Minute · The Object Table · The Decade Circle, with ten conversation prompts · Sorting Together · Word Play Out Loud · Seated Movement and a Gentle Toss, with a six-step seated warm-up
Each plan explains how to adapt the activity across the guide's four comfort levels. Suggestions include enjoying music without questions, focusing on the feel and sound of familiar objects, using a photograph instead of asking for personal recall, sorting side by side, solving one word puzzle as a group, and replacing a ball with a slower-moving balloon.
The guide also includes a page on responding when someone becomes distressed, with common room and session triggers to consider. A photocopiable Volunteer Briefing pairs six helpful approaches with six things to avoid. A photocopiable Session Planner provides space for attendance, care partners, the activity and comfort levels used, what worked, what to change, and follow-up notes.
The final page points facilitators to free BrainFunHub large-print printables, browser games, and additional activity ideas. The guide clearly states that it provides activity guidance only and is not medical advice.
Perfect For:
Memory cafes · Public libraries · Recreation and community centers · Senior centers · Faith communities · Adult day programs · Volunteer-led social groups · Facilitators working with adults living with dementia and their care partners
Use the guide to prepare a first session, brief a new volunteer, keep the flow of recurring gatherings familiar, or record what worked for next time. Pages are clean, high contrast, and uncluttered, with color-coded sections and prominent headings. The complete guide may be printed, photocopied, and shared with volunteers and partner organizations for non-commercial community use, as stated inside the PDF.
Instant download. Print as many copies as you need. Yours to keep forever.
You will receive one 16-page printable PDF in US Letter size, 8.5 by 11 inches. This is a digital product, and no physical product will be shipped.
Common questions
Is Dementia really free?
Yes. It is free to download as a PDF, with no payment and no subscription. Sign in or create a free BrainFunHub account to download it.
How many pages is the PDF?
The PDF is 16 pages.
Can I print it at home?
Yes. It is a standard PDF that prints on any home or office printer, in black and white or colour. You can print the whole file or just the pages you want, and print a page again whenever you need a fresh copy.
Is the print large enough for someone with low vision?
It is set in large print with high contrast and generous spacing, designed to stay comfortable to read for older eyes. For very limited vision, printing at a larger scale using your printer's enlarge setting gives more size again.
Can I use this with a group or in a care setting?
This printable is made for caregivers, families, activity directors and senior living communities, and the pages are meant to be printed and used with the people in your care — one page for a short activity, or several for a longer session. Please do not resell or redistribute the file itself.
Designed for older adults and caregivers
Large print — Generous type sizes and high-contrast pages that stay easy to read in low light or with tired eyes.
Calm layout — Uncluttered pages with plenty of white space and one activity at a time, so nothing feels overwhelming.
Clear instructions — Plain-language directions at the top of every page, written to be understood without help.
Gentle challenge — Engaging enough to feel satisfying to finish, pitched to encourage rather than frustrate.