My dad said find him a hobbie

He has Parkinson's fairly bad, but, not as bad as it could be.

His arms shake a lot and his legs a little. I need some ideas to get him occupied to keep his ass from just sitting in a chair and watching the paint on the walls.

Most things he loved are off limits now as we don't let him drive and the activities he loved (golf, etc) only frustrate him since he can no longer physically do them.

I need ideas to entertain, possibly stimulate, but not frustrate.
Building model airplanes is out, but putting puzzles together may be ok.

Give me some ideas, please!

 

Painting. MY F-I-L painted as an occupational therapy in assisted living up until three weeks before he passed at the age of 98 some three weeks ago. He enjoyed it and it got him to talk about events in his life. We would ask him about his life experiences, then suggest that he paint a memory picture.

He liked watercolors and pastel drawing. His memory was very good, for the fine details. He was a portrait photographer who took pics of Einstein, JFK, Cardinal Spellman and many NYC mayors and NYS governors, as well as hundreds of Broadway stars, pro athletes, etc. His watercolor of Einsein captured the man's personality very well. The painting really brightened his days and made him look forward to each morning.

 

^ good idea. Sculpting clay as well, keeps muscle tone and dexterity.

 

My father has parkinsons.
My mom and my wife got him into gardening and painting. He is in love!

 

I like the idea of painting. It doesn't have to be realistic, it can just be splotches of color done for an abstract. Might help get some pleasure if it doesn't have to be something everyone recognizes. Oh and maybe Mongo needs a sidekick to continue ruining racing in the U.S.? Kind of like the Dred Pirate Roberts gig?

 

There's a WMRRA racer with Parkinson's. Does he want to take up racing?

 

Gardening (flowers) is really more fun then it looks to be.

What about RC cars? It takes more concentration than I thought at first and is really a lot of fun.

 

Gardening (even building him like maybe a couple 10 x 2 plots for veggies or something like that or some plants to spruce up outside even if it doesn't need it, etc), painting for sure, what about a Wii? To pass some time (my buddies dad has the same issue and he bought him a Wii and his pops loves it and apparantly its good therapy), some working pre made kits where you just finish sanding (light job)and paint by hand, RC car sounds good, buy him a low hammock if he's mobile enough and some books, puzzles also sound good as it helps with coordination.

 

He hates gardening, mom loves it.

He had a R/c airplane, until it made an emergency landing into a rock

I'll suggest painting to him and maybe toss my old r/c car his way.

The only problem with the car is chasing it when it flips.

I bought them a Wii, years ago, they have never used it.

 

Does he have any buddies or people in the area where you can help organize maybe some card games or something like that?

 

A Gigolo... Think About it .

 

I told my wife that when parkinson sets in with me that she should take me to Home Depot for a job as a paint shaker.

Could also pump me full of viagra and rent me out as an amusement ride to all the single ladies.

Not making light of your situation, making fun of myself because when the wheels fall of me, I'm going to get ALL the old dude diseases.

 

Is he into firearms at all? Making kydex holsters seems to be a hobby that might be a good distraction for him. The guys all seem to support each other and exchange information freely.

http://kydexpro.com/

Supplies are readily available too.

http://www.shopdiyholster.com/

As a bonus he could make a little side money doing this for cigars and booze.

 

Is there a Senior Center in your area? If so, they may provide free/cheap transportation to/from and he could participate in activities there.
Do you have a bunch of unorganized photos stored in boxes? Give them to him and have him arrange photo albums.
Learn to play bridge.

 

This is a great idea ^ and of course the painting thing

 

http://www.pdf.org/creativity

 

Human bingo ball mixer!!!

Just kidding. My grandmother had Parkinson's and it sucks.

With the love of golf could he translate that into coaching or mentoring kids at a local club?

 

Small planted aquarium or reef aquarium.

 

Being active walking dogs at the local shelter is an awesome thing too but not sure how that would work out for him.

 

Buy him a "used up" GSXR or similar engine and have him rebuild it.

When he's done with that, get him another. Or a small block chevy engine.

Shit, get him some car to redo. MG, Nova, a C10 pick up. . . something that takes months/ years to do.