Forum Discussion

Hi Samantha, ‘fixing things’ can be one of the most successful activities you can offer a client so inclined. Repairing and mending things was usually the way in the past; nothing was thrown away in the olden days. As a matter of fact, there are new resources about ‘repairs’ being open in many countries like ‘Men’s Shed’, ‘Remade in Edinburgh’, ‘Free Geek Chicago’, and others. Perhaps your client would be happily restoring an old chair(sanding and painting), or replacing a wheel in a child’s bike, or fixing any other broken toy. Some people may enjoy gluing a broken terracotta pot, mending clothes, repairing games consoles, cameras, and many other things. Talk to your client and find out what would he like to repair/restore.

Are you doing this in a group or is it for an individual ?
Are they mentally and physically able to do repairing or does this need to be modified and adapted to their needs ??
You have to consider their safety and the safety of others
Are they able to use tools??
Sometimes people think they can do things but cannot in reality
The ideas Solange had were good
Think about a place you can have this activity that is safe
Think about a place for storing items needed for repair and restoration
Start out small and see how it goes

Solanges ideas are great for those resident's who are more able.
If your resident has cognitive or physical impairment I would recommend that you have a look at Montessori tasks. There are various books with plenty of ideas but I just prefer to look at Montessori pages for children and either buy the least childish or make one.
Construction sets are great, my residents enjoy building with a organic chemistry set that I got from Alibaba. I have people who like 'making things right' so i give them a complicated model to undo and put back in the box in order.
But as Susan said is a question of seing what works for each individual.