*Please be very cautious when using small items such as marbles, as they can be a chocking hazard. When sorting tasks with small pieces are in use by a person with dementia, please be sure that a caregiver is close by to supervise the activity.
With a little imagination, you can find all kinds of treasures at your local dollar store.
I have seen these 3 piece flower pot sets for sale online, however, the pot set that I used to make this sorting activity was only $3CAD at my local dollar store, which ended up being quite a bit more affordable than the online options .
If you are working with a small budget, I highly recommend checking locally before purchasing online. However, if you would rather save yourself the time of searching, I’ll provide links to the most reasonably priced online versions I could find on Amazon.com.
*Prices on Amazon do fluctuate, therefor I recommend scrolling below the product that the link will bring you to, and make sure that you are getting the version that is currently the best price.
At the time of this post, the flower pot set was listed at $7.99USD.
I have used a variety of supplies to create these sorting activities over the years.
Dice, clothespins, golf balls, golf tees, round shower curtain hooks, large beads, marbles, and plastic jewels are just some of the items that have worked well for myself in the past.
Once you’ve decided what you want the resident to use the pots to sort, you can label each pot with an image representing where the different items belong.
To begin, put all of the mixed items that the resident will be sorting, together in the tray.
Place the empty pots directly behind the tray, with the images facing the person who will be sorting them.
The person will then sort through the items, placing them in the appropriate pots.
Once the items have all been sorted, and the tray is empty, they will place the three posts back into the tray.
These sorting activities can be a great option for people who have poor vision, but enjoy keeping busy with tasks.
It can sometimes be challenging to find activities that are appropriate for people with poor vision, so it is nice to have one of these sets on hand.
Items with distinct shapes, or obvious size differences can make it possible for people with poor vision to use their sense of touch to sort the objects.
If you use “puff paint” to draw pictures of the items on the appropriate pots, a person with poor vision would be able to tell which pot the items belong in, simply by running their fingers over the image.
For those who only have mild vision impairments, I like to provide objects with vivid colours for visual stimulation.
The different textures between the smooth marbles, and jagged jewels, creates an interesting contrast to stimulate your sense of touch, as well.
The more personalized you can make your sorting tasks to meet the needs of your resident or loved one, the better!
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