Paint a Canvas! (Alzheimer’s Activity)

The simple act of painting a canvas is both interesting and soothing for a person who is living with Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia. Most people have a memory of painting something (a wall or piece of furniture) in the past, and there is no right or wrong way to do it on the canvas. It is easy to be successful and relaxing to do something repetitive.

There can also be conversation and reminiscing around the subject of painting. “Did you ever do any painting projects around your house?”  “Would you have used this color in your living room?”….etc.  I had purchased a large canvas that was going to be the backdrop for another group art project that we were about to work on and realized that painting the canvas was actually a great activity in itself! I had a couple of my senior artists sit on opposite sides of the table and gave them paint and a brush.  They figured out the rest.  (Even a person with Alzheimer’s who can no longer remember that they have to continually dip the brush in the paint can do this with some one-on-one help.) It is cost effective because the activity can be repeated over and over again on the same canvas. Paint it a color, then paint it white…paint it a color, then paint it white again.  This is an activity that someone in the later stages of Alzheimer’s or another dementia can do but be sure to supervise. (see SAFETY NOTE below)

HERE IS WHAT YOU’ NEED:

• LARGE WHITE CANVAS:   (It should be smaller than the width of the table you are working on)
  I used a 30″ X 40″ canvas from Amazon and it was a great size for two people to paint on opposite sides of the table. You could use any size really. The size I used took my seniors about 45 minutes to cover.  It depends on the brush and the capabilities of each person.
• ACRYLIC PAINT:  I used aqua because blues and greens are calm and relaxing  but any color is fine.
• PAINT BRUSH:    1″ Craft Brush.  Do NOT use the foam ones as they often break when moving back and forth in a painting motion.

SAFETY NOTE:  Acrylic paint is water-based and does not come out of clothing or fabric but washes off hands and most smooth surfaces.  It goes onto the canvas better than washable paint though. Obviously, use caution as it would be dangerous if ingested.