One of the best things we ever did for my grandparents was get them an iPad and an average stylus. After seeing them play on their grandkids’ tablets, we knew that they should have one too, and boy did we get our use out of it. My grandma enjoyed it a lot more than my grandpa who was an old country farmer and could never sit still, but even he found some calmness and entertainment in this technology. They used it so much we had to constantly replace the styluses because they would rip or break from constant use. We would bring it to doctor’s appointments, long car rides, and even used it for when they geared down for bed. It was a great way to stimulate the brain and allow them to have fun without being too frustrated. Do you have some awesome app ideas you want to share? Feel free to comment about them down below in the comments section!
Here are some of the best free apps we found for my grandparents and helped us make them happy.
- Solitaire Price: Free Any form of a solitaire app was perfect for my grandma, but for some reason she always preferred this version. She played it all the time physically, but eventually got tired of setting up the cards, and found the app a lot more convenient. She could spend hours playing and distract herself from any stresses with ease thanks to this game! It is a great classic and go-to for anyone who is addicted to playing traditional solitaire.
- Giraffe’s Matching Zoo for iPad Price: Free Even though this game is technically meant for kids, my grandparents loved this game. It was very easy to navigate and didn’t require a lot of explanation besides: find the matching pair by flipping over cards to find the mate. The noises and sound effects were a nice touch too that made them laugh a lot, but even with no volume they were able to enjoy. This even helped with their memory and retention of information!
- Heads Up Price: Free Heads Up was another amazing game we were able to play with my grandparents to help pass some time. While we may not have followed the “traditional” rules, we were still able to play and have fun! This game really helped with making complete sentences, keeping them talking, and coming up with words to describe things constantly. It really was a great brain workout, plus with a “Make Your Own Deck” feature (for 99 cents) you can build your own deck with words or phrases that they could know or identify easier than a random movie or animal.
- Calm Price: Free Calm is a meditation app, one of the best out there in my opinion. If an elder in your life likes the sound of soothing voices, calm wisdom, and techniques to stay calm and composed, this app will be beneficial. We use this app all the time before we go to bed, and even got my grandma to try it a few times. (unfortunately, she passed away before she could really develop a pattern with the app.) This app was definitely a great find not just for her, but even for us. 10/10 would recommend!
- Jigsaw Puzzle Price: Free My grandpa was always a fan of jigsaw puzzles, but eventually grew frustrated with them because of the tiny pieces and his arthritic hands. Getting him introduced to this app was amazing, because of the many features it includes. There are numerous puzzles that are free (you can also buy some if you wish), and it allows you to choose how many pieces you want the puzzle to be, so it can be as big or small and as easy or challenging as they please. There is also a timer if they are into beating records or making puzzles a challenge to other family members, but you can always ignore that if you aren’t super competitive and work at your own pace.
DANIELLE JEAN BELVOIX 