Gentle Games
Free Printable Dementia Activities for Your Loved One
A free resource from Sweetwater Groves Residential Assisted Living — Scottsdale, Arizona.
Print in 2 minutesLast updated 2026-07-29
Sometimes what you need is not another article. It is a piece of paper you can hold, hand to your sister, leave with the afternoon caregiver, or take to your father's room and use right now.
Everything below prints from your browser. There is no signup, no email wall, and nothing to buy. Print it, copy it, share it at your support group. We would be glad if you did.
There is a free printable sheet at the bottom of this page — no signup, nothing to buy.
Jump to the printableWhy printed sheets work better than a screen
A phone or tablet asks a person to learn an interface — to understand that this glowing rectangle contains something, that a finger swipe makes it change. For many people living with dementia, that layer of abstraction is the barrier, not the activity itself.
Paper does not ask anything. It is a familiar object with a familiar weight. It can be picked up, set down, pointed at, and passed hand to hand. It also lets two people look at the same thing at once, which is quietly the whole point.
How to use these sheets well
- •Print in large type and don't shrink to fit. If eyesight is a factor, enlarge to 125% on the printer.
- •Cut the conversation cards apart and offer one at a time. A stack of twenty is overwhelming; one card is an invitation.
- •Print more than one copy. Leave a set with every person who spends time with your loved one — the weekend caregiver, the visiting grandchild, the neighbor who stops by.
- •Write on them. These are working documents, not keepsakes. Note what landed and what didn't.
For care professionals and support groups
If you run a caregiver support group, work as a home-health aide, or coordinate discharges for families across the Valley, you are welcome to print these in quantity and hand them out. Every sheet carries our contact information, so a family who needs more than an activity knows where to find a human being.
For families across Scottsdale and the East Valley
We built these for the families we sit with — in Scottsdale, North Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, and out toward Cave Creek and Carefree. The prompts lean on Arizona: the drive out, the first summer, the citrus trees, the mountains.
If you are caring for someone at home in 85260 or anywhere nearby and you would rather not wrestle with a printer, call us. We will run a set off and you are welcome to stop by the home and pick it up. There is no charge and nothing expected of you — just a set of sheets and, if you would like it, a cup of coffee and a few minutes to talk.
More for Valley families: memory care in Scottsdale, memory support in a residential home, and assisted living near Paradise Valley.
Scottsdale, AZ
Free printable
Conversation Cards & Sorting Sheet
Conversation Cards & Sorting Sheet
Cut the cards apart along the lines. Offer one at a time, and let the answer wander wherever it wants to go. There is no right answer on any card.
Conversation cards — early life
- What did your kitchen smell like growing up?
- Who taught you to drive?
- What was your first job, and what did it pay?
- Tell me about your street. Who lived next door?
- What did you wear when you wanted to look your best?
Conversation cards — work & hands
- What were you good at that people didn't know about?
- What tool did you use most?
- Who did you eat lunch with?
- What was the hardest day, and how did you get through it?
Conversation cards — music & celebration
- What song did you dance to?
- Who was the best cook in the family?
- What did a holiday look like at your house?
- Tell me about a wedding you went to.
Sorting sheet — things to sort
- Buttons by color · coins by size · playing cards by suit
- Silverware into a tray · socks into pairs · nuts and bolts
- Photographs into 'people' and 'places'
- Fabric squares by texture · paint chips by shade
- Rule: there is no finished. Sorting is the point, not the result.
One-page daily rhythm
- Morning — light, breakfast, one conversation card
- Late morning — the good window: photos, music, outdoors if it's mild
- Lunch — same place, same chair, unhurried
- Early afternoon — something in the hands
- Late afternoon — sensory and quiet; expect restlessness, plan for it
- Evening — low light, one familiar thing, no new information
Free printable worksheets
Sheets that go with this activity
Each one is tagged by stage, so you can pick the version that fits where your loved one is today. Large print, thick outlines, answer key on its own page.
- A Job That Is Still Theirs — Folding the LinensMiddle stage · 10–25 minutes
- A Job That Is Still Theirs — Sorting the Nuts and BoltsMiddle stage · 10–20 minutes
- A Job That Is Still Theirs — Setting the TableMiddle stage · 10–15 minutes
- A Job That Is Still Theirs — Sorting the MailEarly stage · 10–15 minutes
- Sunday Dinner CrosswordEarly stage · 20–30 minutes
- Fold, Stack, SetMiddle stage · 15–25 minutes