Holiday Gift Ideas

When you're considering gifts for your loved ones this holiday season, be creative in your choices.

Many seniors have accumulated years' worth of “stuff” so you don't want to add to the clutter. And before you think about clothing purchases, sneak a peek into the closet to see if the tags have even been removed from the sweater you purchased for Mom last year. With a little imagination, and maybe some help from your kids, you can come up with the perfect gift.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Create a fun and useful gift basket

Fill a colorful gift basket with useful items that might not make the perfect gifts on their own. If your loved one is an avid reader, include a large magnifying glass and a book light or better yet, a lighted sheet magnifier. Many seniors take prescriptions at different times of day. Include pill organizers that can be color-coded for morning and evening pills. Add grocery and pharmacy gift cards.

Other items could be an easy-to-use pill cutter, non-skid socks for wearing around the house, lotions, a jar opener, and compression socks, which are now available in a variety of colors and patterns.

Sign up for a class together

Local arts organizations offer a plethora of course options, such as painting, drawing or ceramics. Register yourself and your loved one to take a class together. You'll both have fun discovering new talents, and your loved one will benefit from staying active and engaged. In addition, research published in Psychological Science shows that learning new skills can help improve cognitive function.

An iPod

Load an iPod with music from your loved one's youth. Include comfortable headphones and/or a plug-in speaker. In addition to the entertainment value, music can have additional benefits. The Music and Memory program featured in the film Alive Inside introduces iPods loaded with personalized music to seniors with severe dementia living in residential care facilities. The simple and inexpensive intervention has a strong impact on the seniors, who become reconnected with their sense of self.

Make a Photo Memory Book

Photos are wonderful to share, but there's only so much wall and surface space for framed pictures, and digital photos are often accumulated and forgotten. A great way to make the photos – and the memories they conjure up – easily accessible is to create a photo memory book.

Does your loved one have catch phrases they use often? Use those phrases as inspiration and find photos to illustrate them. Or maybe you'll find inspiration in a vacation spot that the family returned to frequently – compile photos taken at the spot over the years and add special memories from each trip.

Services like Shutterfly allow you to create customized hardcover books, or you can create a book using scrapbook supplies from your local craft store.