4 Big Benefits of Coloring for Your Elderly Loved One

Elderly Care in Montauk NY

Art therapy has quite a few benefits for your loved one, but if you’re looking for a less formal solution, you might want to consider stocking up on some coloring supplies. Many people think of coloring as something that only kids do, but it has a lot of benefits for adults, too.

Coloring Relieves Stress and Anxiety

The very act of coloring helps your loved one to release both stress and anxiety. Coloring is a repetitive task, so it winds up almost meditative. Your loved one is able to lose herself in coloring for as long as she wants, and it’s a hobby that she can put down and pick up again whenever she is ready to. It’s also a fairly portable hobby, so your loved one can take pieces with her to appointments if she likes.

Coloring Is Empowering

As your loved one encounters different physical limitations and other health problems, it’s easy for her to feel that she just can’t do much of anything anymore. And if she’s relying heavily on you, other friends and family members, and home care providers as well, she probably feels that she’s more of a burden than anything else. Being able to tackle a coloring project from start to finish, no matter how long it takes, is something that she can do all on her own, giving her a new sense of empowerment and freedom.

Coloring Helps with Motor Skills

Along with helping your loved one to feel more empowered, she’ll be able to improve her motor skills as she colors. Chances are that she doesn’t use her fine motor skills very often, and coloring is excellent exercise toward that end. The more complicated the pages, the more she’ll need to refine her motor skills, too. You can try starting out with easier pages and gradually easing her into the more complex designs.

Coloring Helps with Cognitive Skills

The act of coloring can help your loved one to make new connections in her brain. It can also let her relax enough that she has less trouble with her memory due to anxiety. When your loved one colors, she’s able to focus on one task for a longer period of time and this is a skill that can transfer over into other areas of her life.

As much fun as coloring is, though, your loved one probably isn’t concerned about the other benefits she can reap.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring professional in-home elderly care in Montauk NY, please contact the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-6001.