Cooking Activities for Elderly People

Who doesn’t love cooking? There’s something therapeutic about the process, especially as you’re making delicious food for yourself or your loved ones. Finding good cooking activities for elderly people doesn’t need to be difficult either. There are always some enjoyable things they can do in the kitchen, even if they don’t have the same energy and ability that they once did.

Benefits of Cooking for Elderly Family Members

Cooking has some major advantages too.

It’s an obvious mood booster, as long as the cook is choosing recipes that match their skill level. Even just making cookies using the same recipe as a hundred times before can be relaxing, giving seniors the chance to relax and feel contented.

Then there’s the creative aspect to cooking. This is a fantastic way to stimulate a senior’s mind. They can experiment with recipes and the presentation of their food.

There’s a sense of purpose too. After all, cooking as an obvious end point – delicious food. This can be more appealing than tasks like an adult coloring book, as you end up with a finished product that other people will love too.

Besides, seniors need to eat each day and may have specific dietary requirements. So, there’s an obvious health benefit to learning how to cook delicious and nutrious food at home.

If all of this isn’t enough reason to look at cooking activities for elderly, then think about the social aspect. Cooking can be an amazing activity to do with family members. Grandparents may love teaching their grandkids new recipes or simply serving them delicious treats. Families and friends can cook together too.

While the social side of cooking is limited due to COVID-19, there are still ways to connect through food, even if that means the senior cooks something that is later delivered to their family members or families participate in a cooking lesson over Skype.

Cooking has also been linked to some specific physical, mental, emotional, and psychological benefits, including the following:

• Decreases stress: Cooking is an easy way to calm down and unwind. This is particularly true for repetitive recipes, like when you need to knead bread or individually shape cookies.
• Triggers memories: Most people have positive memories associated with cooking and the smell of good food. Making those foods again can often trigger some of those positive emotions, making people feel good and helping them to relieve precious parts of their past. Smell is a powerful way to stimulate such recollections and emotions, even for seniors with dementia.
• Can help with depression and anxiety: The positive emotions associated with cooking can be powerful for people with depression or anxiety. The process of cooking also helps people to get away from their emotions and struggles for a little while.
• Boosts the appetite: Appetite often decreases with age. Cooking is the perfect way to remedy this problem, as the smell of food is often enough to make the elderly person hungry. And, even if it doesn’t, many cooks sample their food as they go along. So, even if the elderly cook doesn’t want to eat what they cook, they at least ate something along the way.  
• Encourages inventiveness: There are many ways to be creative with cooking. This includes switching out different flavors, selecting colors and patterns for decorations, changing key ingredients, or playing around with quantities. Baking requires cooks to follow the recipe more closely than other types of cooking. But, even then, there’s room for flexibility. Being creative is important for mental stimulation and quality of life. Cooking is the perfect approach for people who don’t feel very creative.
• Keeps one socially conscious: Cooking is ideal as a bonding activity, as is eating food together. Eating together can be helpful even for people with dementia, as there is a familiarity and comfort to sharing good food. Research has found that we benefit from maintaining social activities when we grow older; pair this with having fun making something together and cooking is a guaranteed winner.
• Preserves a sense of independence. Seniors often feel like they are losing themselves and their independence as they age. They may not be able to do many of the things that they once could, which can be incredibly frustrating. Being able to still cook some dishes can help to ground seniors. Plus, even if their abilities are limited, there should still be some things that they can do well in the kitchen.

Cooking Activities for Elderly Family Members

So then, let’s dive in with the cooking activities for elderly people. Some of these are things that they may be able to do on their own, while others are tasks that you might complete together.

Baking

Who doesn’t love the aroma of freshly baked cookies, soft, hot bread, and all sorts of goodies? Baking is a fantastic option because seniors end up with delicious food that can easily be given away.

Independent Baking

The simplest option here is for seniors to bake on their own. Many will have baked throughout their life anyway and may already have the tools, along with plenty of ingredients.

Family members can spur seniors on by asking them to bake something specific, like a fresh batch of cookies.

While baking can be complicated, it doesn’t need to be. If your family member isn’t very experienced with baking, they could try using mixes for cupcakes or cakes. They might even play around with dough or biscuits from a can. The experience can still be good and enjoyable even if all the processes are simple.

Baking Together

If the elderly person can’t bake on their own anymore, why not turn this into a family activity? You can designate tasks to different people based on their ability. There are plenty of easy tasks, like mixing ingredients together, shaping cookies for baking, or decorating cupcakes.

Having multiple people working on the same recipe can be pretty fun too. You might even make this a multigenerational tasks by getting the grandkids involved.

Baking Parties

A baking party could involve just your family or a more extended group of people. The idea is to bring people together and bake a variety of foods. Cakes, cookies, pastries, bread, and cupcakes could all be on the menu.

The holidays could be the perfect time for this type of event. You might even turn some of the baking into gifts for people.

To take things further, why not host some games and competition as part of the event? Put on some good music too and let everyone enjoy themselves.

Think about what to do with all of the baking too. Some charities would be excited about home baked food. Just be sure to scope this out first. You don’t want everyone to spend a long time baking, just to find that there’s no demand for what they created.

Baking Club

A baking club is another social way to take advantage of baking. This could be as simple as a couple of friends coming together to bake every few weeks. They would be able to learn new techniques together and have fun along the way.

Remote Baking

Baking food together works well if you all live in the same house. But, the current COVID-19 situation means that coming together to cook food mightn’t be a good plan.

If this is the case for you, then you’ll need to get creative.

Here are some ideas:

• A remote baking competition. Different family members can all try their hand at baking the same recipe. They can show off their results and share their experiences through a video chat service like Zoom. The elderly person might even act as a judge. Or, if possible, how about delivering samples of the finished baking to the senior?
• Teaching via video. Why not use a one-on-one video chat as a teaching session? Perhaps the senior could teach you one of their favorite recipes or just a cooking technique or too? You could make this a regular thing, where you regularly swap tips and recipes, encouraging each other to try new things.
• Making a recipe book. This time the senior isn’t actively baking. Instead, they’re making a book of their favorite recipes. The process can still be stimulating and will often bring back good memories.

Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are a fun way to bring a spark back into cooking. These tend to ship out a collection of ingredients and instructions. The recipient gets to try out new recipes and ideas, while being guided every step of the way.

Some fun subscriptions include the following:

• Baking Fun! from Red Velvet NYC. From $49.42/month. Ships out 2 baking kits per box. The kits include pre-measured ingredients and a recipe card. There is a gluten-free and a nut-free option
• Mix Box by Homemade Bakers. From $24.95/month. This box also focuses on baking and comes with pre-measured ingredients. You end up with 12 to 32 servings per box, depending on the type of dessert you’re making.
• Whisk Takers. From $24.99/month. Here’s another similar baking box. There are some options when you order, including the type of dessert You can also order bundles on the Whisk Takers site if you’d rather not sign up to the subscription.
• SpiceBreeze. From $8.90/month. This kit focuses on meals rather than baking. Subscribers receive the spices and instructions for two meals or desserts each month. The subscription is inexpensive because you need to buy the rest of the ingredients yourself. Still, the company prides itself on using no rare ingredients, so getting the ingredients you need shouldn’t be too difficult.
• Fikabröd. From $46.95/month. This unusual baking box sends you 5 to 7 ingredients each month, along with recipes and baking-related products. But, unlike other boxes, you’re not getting all the ingredients that you need to make desserts. Instead, you’re getting a selection of unusual ingredients that can be used in a variety of ways.
• The British Bash. From $22.00/month. This box gives American audiences the chance to make British desserts.
• EatTiamo. From $74.00/month. This box sends out seven full-size authentic Italian ingredients, along with instructions. This is one to keep an eye on, as it does sell out.

Cooking without Cooking

Cooking tends to require heat, which often means using the stovetop or the oven. This might be a problem for some seniors, including those with cognitive limitations.

To keep everyone safe, why not look for recipes that don’t require any actual cooking? There are plenty of these to choose from. No-bake cheesecakes can be a fun place to begin. Or, how about bliss balls or muesli bars? Many of these don’t require baking either.

Salads and sandwiches don’t require cooking either, nor do many desserts. I’m sure you can think of countless other examples.

Traditional Cooking

Cooking can be a fantastic way to tap into traditions – whether they’re your traditions or someone else’s.

Holidays are an easy place to start, as there are plenty of traditions surrounding food, including classic dishes. Plus, with so many different foods, there are likely to be some that the elder can help to prepare.

You can get the senior involved in other ways too, like getting them to help you decide on the menu or to serve desserts.

Why not look into foods from other cultures too? For example, there are some delicious Middle-Eastern foods, including  eggplant stew, traditional roasted lamb with rice and eggs, and even sweets such as honey candies and the famous Turkish baklava. Such foods can be a taste experience and expose your family to a completely different culture.

Outdoor Cooking Activities for Elderly People

Cooking and eating aren’t just indoor activities. There are plenty of outdoor occasions too, including a simple picnic or a 4^th of July BBQ.

BBQs are a casual approach to outdoor cooking. They can be hosted in a yard, on a patio, or as an outing to the park. Destination outdoor elderly activities are very popular and they’re great ways to keep everyone enjoying themselves.

If you want to keep it simple, do a potluck. This way people can bring their own food, even if it is just a sandwich or a fruit punch. They could even buy something from the local store, if cooking isn’t their forte.

The same is true for picnics. You can prepare simple food or have everyone bring their own. Either way, it’s easy to create an event that everyone loves.

Fishing is another outdoor option, one that many seniors enjoy.

Sharing fishing tips and stories can be popular too. Whether on a pier or pontoon, fishing boat or from shore, fishing is a relaxing way to get outdoors and socialize. Bring along some food and drink. Make sure there is someone present who knows how to handle the gear, hooks, and fish.

In addition, what about a fish fry afterwards? Bring your picnic gear too.