Hobbies for Seniors
Walking – Almost all seniors are routinely reminded by their primary care physicians or cardiologists of the importance of regular exercise. A good way to respond to your doctor’s suggestion is to start exercising regularly by making a hobby out of walking.
Seniors in search of a healthy habit and an enjoyable hobby will find walking a choice easily compatible with almost any lifestyle. Seniors who choose walking as a hobby do not have to learn a new skill or invest in a new wardrobe or expensive equipment. When walking is your hobby, you can enjoy it almost anywhere . You can take a long walk or a short one; go alone , in pairs or with a group. You can walk along busy city blocks or in a pristine Audubon preserve.; you can walk with equal joy day or nigh, inside or out.
For seniors who want a hobby that is a little more intense or competitive, walking lends itself easily to being ratcheted up a notch or two. When a senior choses waling as a hobby, he or she can determine to adjust their pace from a casual stroll to a more paced adventure. Seniors who take on walking as a hobby can begin to keep a continuous record of their walks , plot their progress and plan ever more demanding walking activities.
Not all hobbies for seniors provide as many levels of participation as walking does. The walker can saunter along at his or her own pace on a deserted beach or participate in a walkathon every week. Walking is an ideal hobby for seniors because it bows to the personal likes and dislikes and respects the individuality of the participant.
Cards and Boardgames While some hobbies for seniors can require a certain amount of physical effort , some hobbies for seniors are remarkably sedintary. those preferring to relax in a sitting position might choose to get involved with a specific card game such as cribbage, whist, canasta or bridge or partake of competitive board games like chess, Scrabble, Up words or Chinese Checkers. Many community senior centers provide materials and a community playing area reserved for play at predetermined times. In most such centers participation is free or offered at a minimal f ee.
Those seniors who choose independence over large group settings may decide to establish game nights or afternoons to which they invite friends, relatives or both. Some such groups may eventually become institutionalized and turn into the Tuesday Afternoon Whist Party or Friday Night Scrabble game with regular and limited participants .
Getting involved in games as a hobby can help to keep your mind alert and your temperament mellow. When looking through possible hobby options for seniors, no one should hurry by board and card games.
High School Boosters If you enjoyed sports, music, drama, debating or almost any other group or club when you were
in high school, you may be surprised to discover that a great hobby for seniors can be enlisting as a booster for some of those same kinds of activities at your local high school today. You may not play the tuba anymore, but your chocolate cake, sold at the band bake sale, will help by new instruments or uniforms. You won’t be asked to argue pro or con any more but the school debate team could really use a timer or an extra judge. Almost every high school group in fact will gratefully receive your assistance and support whether your cheering from the stands or selling tickets at the door.
Hobbies for seniors that can keep you active and involved with young people are great mood enhancers. Choosing to support high school youth activities as a booster group will keep busy and pleasantly connected with young people . this hobby is very likely to become a two way street where seniors and teens are utual beneficiaries.
Greeting Cards. Among the many hobbies for seniors there certainly are some that are perfect for seniors who are somewhat restricted in the activities they can take on. Some seniors take great enjoyment from preparing and sending out greeting car ds to friends, relatives, friends of relatives and relatives of friends. The lists of recipients keep growing. This hobby can be taken up at the participants convenience but many spend a few hours each week going through and updating their lists of cards that need to be sent for birthdays anniversaries, bon voyage, retirement, congratulation or just a greeting across the miles.
Certainly this hobby involves some expense for stamps and cards but some seniors cut costs by creating and fashioning their own cards, watching for car sales and letting relatives know that boxes of ca rds or rolls of stamps are most welcome gifts.
Plant Care Taking care of plants really can be listed amon the many hobbies for seniors because this hobby can involve much more than occasionally sprinkling gsome water on a hanging ivy. In fact plant care as a hobby can take over your hose and a lot of your life.
Plants and their care can fill retirement time all year round, indoors and out. when seniors are not busy digging, planting, watering, weeding or transplanting, they can fill hours poring over the endless reading material guaranteed tomake next years plans even better than this year’s. What you they can’t find in books seniors can now find on cable television, on line, in garden shops, workshops and adult ed. classes. IF you have always loved guarding but never had the time , the freedom of senior living may allow you to select plant care as a new and much dreamed about hobby.
For seniors, choosing a hobby shouldn’t be just an attempt to kill time. Hobbies for seniors can and should be life enriching because if they are well matched to the interest, abilities, or delayed desires of those who pursue them .
