Hi,I am an older OT--over 50 and have been practicing only five years in long term care after 5 years in the schools. You have to have the confidence to do what works for each individual pt. With dementia pts I'd say if pegs ingage them, then do pegs. You can do what ever you what with a pt while you are working on standing. I have people fold towels, laundry, take things out of the cupboard and rearrange it, sort silverware, sort cards, play cards with me or someone else, play a board game, plant flower bulbs, water plants, do simple crafts, do peg activities, do activities on an easel so it is vertical, play catch and yes--bat balloons. Everyone even people who want respond to anything else will smile and try to hit a red balloon.I also like throwing activities--bean bags filled with a pound of beans is a nice weight. I have purchased one pound bags of the cheapest beans from someplace like Aldi, put the bag they come in, inside a zip lock bag, fold it over and wrap duct tape around it and then put in another bag and wrap several lengths of colored electrical tape around it. Yes, I do sometimes use colored cones for reaching activities--also individual sized water bottles with the water still in are good--you can vary the grasp required by using different amounts of water in each bottle. Makes it more random--learned that in UE course. Pin clothes pins on someones slacks, shoes and have then reach over, remove them and reach up, across or whatever to put them back in a box. ALso if you have a washer/dryer or diswasher have pts load and unload. Have them wash the towels. Fix a hook or tension rod and have them put clothes on the hangers and hang and unhang them. Hope this helps Chris
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