Activities When Your Parent Can't Get Out Much

Where to start

What to try today, and what is worth planning ahead

Activity lists tend to assume a family has more time, energy or money than they have on a hard day. It helps more to know what needs nothing at all, and what is worth a phone call, so you can start with what fits today.

1

Right now, nothing to arrange

Sit together and talk, or just hold a hand
Put the radio on, or a favourite record or film
Look through old photographs together
Look out of the window and talk about what is outside

2

A few minutes to set up

An audiobook, a large-print book or a talking newspaper
A crossword, sudoku or a jigsaw with bigger pieces
A video call with family, propped where they can see it
A small craft laid out on a tray: knitting, photo-sorting, simple painting

3

Needs another pair of hands

A short walk outside, on foot, with a frame, or wheeled
Baking or cooking something together
An old hobby adapted to sitting down or reduced mobility
Company at a mealtime, rather than eating alone

4

Worth booking or asking a professional about

The right walking aid or wheelchair, assessed by a GP, OT or physiotherapist
A session with an HCPC-registered art or music therapist
A hydrotherapy or aquafit class at a local pool
RNIB's free Talking Books service, if failing eyesight is making ordinary reading tiring

The bottom tier is not a todo list to work through at once. It is a note of what is worth asking about when the moment is right, whether that is a fall that has changed how your parent gets about, or a bad night that has you wondering about light therapy. The sections below go into each of these in more depth.

Keeping the body moving

Adapting activity as walking becomes harder, rather than stopping

Movement still helps mood, strength and balance even once your parent's walking has changed. What usually needs to change is how an activity is done, not whether it happens at all.

Get the right aid assessed, not guessed

A physiotherapist or occupational therapist can say whether a stick, a frame or a wheelchair suits how your parent gets about today, rather than the family working it out alone. A short-term wheelchair can be borrowed rather than bought while that is being sorted out.

GP, OT or physiotherapist

Keep old hobbies, made smaller

A hobby like craftwork can be simplified to something done sitting at a table. A sport such as football can be adapted too: the ball on the ground for a walking frame user to kick, or your parent in goal from a wheelchair while someone else takes the shots.

Adapt rather than replace

Get outside even when walking is hard

A park, a duck pond or the end of the road, reached with a wheelchair or someone's arm, still helps mood and health even when it is not exercise in the strict sense.

A wheeled walk still counts

Ask before building anything up

A GP or physiotherapist should say what level of activity is safe to try, especially soon after a fall or a stay in hospital.

After a fall, a hospital stay or a new diagnosis

Five older adults sitting together at a table, painting small mosaic tiles as a shared craft activity — A craft simplified to sit at a table: painting mosaic tiles together, with company.

The British Red Cross runs a short-term wheelchair loan service for anyone who needs one while a longer-term assessment or purchase is sorted out, and the NHS guide to walking aids and wheelchairs sets out how to get assessed. If a recent fall is the reason walking has changed, mobility and falls care and how to deal with a fall cover what to do next, and the elderly exercise guide has more on what activity level suits different stages.

Mostly at home or in bed

Activities that still work when leaving the house has stopped being an option

Families often assume there is little left to try once someone rarely leaves the house or spends most of the day in bed. In practice most of the activities on this page still work, they just need bringing to your parent rather than the other way round.

If confusion or memory problems are part of what has changed, 37 activities for people with dementia has ideas built around what still has personal meaning for that person. A companionship carer can also help set any of this up and stay for the activity itself, which matters most when family live too far away to visit often.

Structured therapies

Named therapies that are worth knowing about

A handful of activities on this list are delivered by a trained professional rather than tried at home. Two of them, art therapy and music therapy, are regulated in law. The others are worth asking about, with a clearer sense of what the evidence does and does not say.

Music therapy

Uses playing, singing or listening to music to support emotional and psychological wellbeing. "Music therapist" is a title protected by law, and only someone registered with the Health and Care Professions Council may use it.

HCPC-regulated

Art therapy

Uses art materials as the main way of expressing something, alongside talking with the therapist. No artistic skill is needed, and "art therapist" is protected in the same way as "music therapist".

HCPC-regulated

Hydrotherapy and aquafit

Exercise in a warm pool, where the water supports the weight of the joints and adds gentle resistance. Often used after a fall, a joint problem or surgery, and many local leisure centres run sessions aimed at older adults.

Ask a GP or a local pool

Light therapy

Sitting near a bright light box for a set time each day is being studied for sleep problems and sundowning in dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society says the evidence so far is too limited to recommend it, so it is worth raising with a GP rather than trying alone.

Still being researched

Hydrotherapy in particular has good evidence behind it. Arthritis UK's guide to hydrotherapy explains how warm water reduces the strain on painful joints, which is why it is often recommended after a fall or a flare-up as well as for long-term joint pain.

Carers and activities

How a carer's visit can carry an activity, not just the care

A carer's time is often where a lot of this happens, especially when family are exhausted, live too far away to visit often, or simply cannot be there every day.

1
Write down two or three things they still enjoy
Today
An old hobby, a favourite walk, a type of music. This becomes the plan a carer works from rather than a guess made on the day.
2
Search carers near you
Free
Look for companionship or hourly carers by postcode. Every profile shows the carer's rate, experience and reviews, and every carer has interviewed online, with identity, right to work and an enhanced DBS checked before they appear.
3
Ask about the specific activity, not just cover
This week
Message carers with what you wrote down. A carer who already enjoys gardening, music or crafts themselves is often the easiest match for that kind of visit.
4
Book a visit and let it adjust
Week 1
Start with one visit a week if that suits, and change the day, the length or the activity once you see how it goes. There is no fixed package to renegotiate.

If your parent is still fairly independent and simply wants more to do, activities to do in later life is a better starting point, and activities for elderly parents matches ideas to four levels of ability if you are not sure where your parent sits.

Questions

Questions families ask about activities at home

Reading or an audiobook, puzzles, the radio or television, a video call with family, and a simple craft on a tray all work without leaving a chair or a bed. Company at mealtimes and a hand held while talking count as real activity too, not just a way to pass the time.

Ask a GP, occupational therapist or physiotherapist for an assessment rather than deciding alone. They will say which aid suits how your parent gets about today, and it is common to use a frame indoors and a wheelchair for longer distances outside. The British Red Cross runs a short-term wheelchair loan service while a longer-term choice is being worked out.

Some NHS mental health and hospice services offer both, but availability varies a lot by area and often needs a referral. You do not need one to see a private therapist yourself. The British Association for Music Therapy and the British Association of Art Therapists both list therapists registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Early studies are promising for sleep problems and sundowning, but the Alzheimer’s Society says there is not yet enough good evidence to recommend it as a standard treatment. It is worth raising with a GP rather than buying a light box and trying it without guidance.

Often yes, and it is one of the gentler ways to stay active because the water supports the joints. Ask a GP or physiotherapist first, especially soon after a fall, and look for a session or hydrotherapy class aimed at older adults or people with limited mobility rather than a general public swim.

Common, and not a sign that nothing will work. Offering something specific and familiar, such as a particular photograph or a favourite piece of music, usually works better than asking an open question. How do you get someone to accept care? covers this in more depth.

Yes. A companionship carer's visit can be built around an old hobby, a walk, or simply company and conversation, matched to how your parent is feeling that day. Companion carers on PrimeCarers charge £15 to £20 an hour with our fee included. Activities to try with a companionship carer goes into what a visit looks like in practice.

Activities for when your parent can't get out much