Choosing Puzzles for Someone Living With Dementia

Start from the person, not the puzzle

The right activity depends entirely on the person — what they enjoyed before, what they enjoy now, and how this particular afternoon is going. The suggestions here are practical starting points drawn from common sense and care experience, not medical guidance; an occupational therapist or the person's care team can advise on their individual situation.

One principle carries most of the weight: choose activities where success is easy and failure is nearly impossible. The purpose is a pleasant, companionable time — never a test.

Formats that tend to work well

• Word searches: spotting a single word is a complete, satisfying success; there's no wrong answer, only more looking
• Memory match with few pairs: our eight-pair board keeps the game short and winnable
• Familiar themes: gardens, the seaside, baking — imagery from long-settled memory is friendlier than novelty
• Doing it together: 'shall we find KETTLE next?' turns a puzzle into a conversation with a prop

Small adjustments that help

• Larger print than you think is needed — our text-size buttons or the large-print printables
• One puzzle on the table at a time, with everything else cleared away
• Follow their pace and stop while it's still pleasant — ten good minutes beat forty declining ones
• If today isn't a puzzle day, it isn't; the puzzle takes no offence

What to quietly avoid

• Timers, scores, and anything that announces mistakes
• Puzzles that depend on recent memory rather than recognition
• Correcting for its own sake — if the word search becomes pointing at pictures of the seaside, that's a lovely activity too