10 Indoor Activities for Seniors to Help Beat Boredom

Spending more time indoors? It doesn’t have to be boring. Engaging in interesting pastimes is important for everyone, but finding  indoor activities for older adults that enrich and enliven well-being is especially important. Keeping your mind occupied and your spirits high will repay you in lots of ways. You’ll see the emotional benefits of keeping things bright and positive. You’ll feel better physically and mentally, too. Fun indoor activities for seniors can keep your gray matter healthy and sharp. You may even find that you sleep better after engaging in these interesting indoor activities for older adults. Watching TV is fine, but if you’re looking for something a little more stimulating and rewarding, or if you’re wanting to learn something new, check out these fun indoor activities for seniors while you’re beating the heat inside or social distancing at home.  

1. Explore your family tree. Try a little genealogy research. There are many free, helpful tools available online. A good place to start is the National Archives. There are also paid services such as MyHeritage.com. You can even explore your origins at the DNA level with a test kit from AncestryDNA.
2. Stretch the possibilities with yoga. More and more seniors are embracing the benefits of this ancient discipline from India. In addition to keeping bodies flexible, practicing yoga can be calming and help improve overall well-being. Begin by learning about these three poses that provide low-impact, highly valuable benefits for seniors.
3. Do you enjoy board games? These fun indoor activities for seniors (or anyone) are a great way to spend time while keeping your mind sharp. Classics like Scrabble, Yahtzee, chess and dominos are fun options, but there are also some fantastic newer games such as  Qwirkle and  Apples to Apples you should try as well.
4. Start an indoor garden. Did you know you can grow plants of all kinds — even tomatoes — indoors on a table or windowsill? Some low-maintenance, indoor-friendly options include peas, green beans, peppers and strawberries — all small enough to garden indoors and reward you with time well spent and tasty nutrients.
5. Learn a new language. All it takes is time and practice. But the hours you commit are worth the investment. Here are six of the best language learning apps you can try while you’re sheltering in place at home: Rosetta Stone, Babbel, Duolingo, Drops, Memrise, and Busuu.
6. Make yourself some jewelry. Making necklaces or bracelets is another fun craft for older adults that can help improve fine motor skills and provide an outlet for creativity. Bonus: You’ll get to wear, gift, or possibly even sell your beautiful creations. Here’s a Beading 101 article to get you started.
7. Appoint yourself chairman (or chairwoman). Chair exercises let you sit and be fit. Maintaining muscle strength is important as we age, because it helps improve balance and prevent falls. Try these chair exercises for a good workout at home that just about everyone can do. All you need is a chair!
8. Write your life story. There may be no more meaningful indoor activity for older adults than capturing their own unique narrative, either in written form or by gathering photos and mementos in a scrapbook. You’ll have the chance to reflect on your own life experience, and you’ll be preserving a slice of history for your family and future descendants.
9. Visit the Blanton Museum of Art — virtually. UT’s Blanton Museum holds the largest public collection in Central Texas with some 19,000 objects. Recognized as the home of Ellsworth Kelly’s “Austin,” the museum’s collections focus on modern and contemporary American and Latin American art, Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, as well as drawings and prints. Explore it all from home right here.
10. Dive deep into Texas history. The Bullock Texas State History Museum lets you continue to learn and explore through its digital Artifact Gallery. Search the database for everything that’s helped define Texas, and read in-depth Artifact Spotlight stories on historical clothing and dress, artworks and maps, sporting equipment, journals and more.

Embracing aging. Celebrating you.

There are always interesting, rewarding activities for seniors to make the most of their time — indoors and out. Especially at Querencia at Barton Creek. This beautiful community has been named a Center for Successful Aging by the nationally renowned Masterpiece Living® initiative, offering a culture of wellness with innumerable options to lead a healthy, stress-free lifestyle. In fact, you can read more about keeping stress levels low right here.

And if you’re hoping to stay active and fit while we’re all indoors, don’t miss this interesting, useful information on indoor, equipment-free stretches and exercises.

Querencia is the most celebrated senior living neighborhood in Austin. Feel free to reach out to us through our website, or by calling 1.888.607.5995.