My father is in excellent physical health for 81. He is widowed and retired. I am in search of an activity he can do that he enjoys. He likes to problem solve, to build things, to work with his hands, to help others even. It would be great if he could go work somewhere a few days a week doing something he liked but he is hesitant to try new things. I would like to find something he can enjoy here at home that maybe can be a give back activity. I have scoured the internet for senior activities but all the activities assume someone is old and inactive. I have an active senior who can be useful if I can find the right thing to plug him in to. Any ideas welcome!
Your local Senior Center might have lists of people that need little jobs done around the house.
The Hospice I Volunteer for is always looking for new Volunteers and there are a variety of jobs that can be done.
How about checking with the local school to see if they need help. (not sure if you would want him around unvaccinated kids...)
Local animal shelter. They need people to walk dogs, play with cats (as well as clean cages the unglamorous aspect of that)
Local Food Pantry might need volunteers.
What kind of problem solving does he enjoy? Solving puzzles? Math problems? I believe that approaching math problem solving has changed since the days when I took math, but I think the underlying principles are still the same. He might want to volunteer to help students in junior or senior high school, or community college.
Salvation Army stores could probably use help; I don't know if it's paid or not.
My thoughts on out-of-home volunteering were change of surroundings, and meeting new people. But if that's not possible, does he have a woodworking shop at home charitable organizations for sale? Would he be interested in something like helping local organizations support the troops by sending cards?
I don't recall the organizations, but there are ones which collect and mail cards to troops stationed in country. He could complete the cards and you could deliver them to the organization's location (which sometimes is someone's home as I recall that many folks involved in doing this during the Gulf War worked out of their own home).
What did he do for a living?
Perhaps you could find out if there is anything similar around where you are. Or even give a little push to see if you can encourage one to start up!
Or he can start a new one. The local volunteer Fire Dept here sets up a fund raiser every year where you can “purchase” a 4 ft lighted angel in memory of someone for $20 and they set up an Angel Garden. It’s beautiful, but takes manpower and organization to pull it off every holiday season.
Call a Senior place to see about him going for a half day to meet others for lunch and play bingo or cards, ect.
Arrange dates for a few friends to come over for pizza and Cards.
See if he would be interested in building model airplanes or cars.
See if he could sign up for being a Grandfather to kids without one.
Start a small community garden.
See about a Church that has Senior Activities.
Maybe he can help at a Homeless Shelter or Food Pantry.
Go by the Dollar Store and Buy a dozen or two of helium balloons and take him to a Shelter to pass out to kids or older people to cheer them.
I wonder if there is something else going on. For example, if he likes to build things and work with his hands, why isn't he? My grandfather at 80 made the rounds of his children, doing small repairs and building bird houses, then moving on to the next one. He was a very welcome guest.
You say he is hesitant to try new things. What about doing things he has done before?
im 81 and have a parttime job so dont do it anymore but when i wasnt working i volunteered collecting lunchmoney at a local senior center four days a week and one day a week i walked patients to various areas in a local hospital.
i got free lunches and met a lot of nice people.
also hospitals have information desks if his walking isnt that good anymore.
or if he likes working with younger people there are various boys and girls clubs.
I love to hear from active seniors because so often we have assumptions and miss out on their perspective and what people are capable of. My dad is 86 and he still does carpentry work on his own home including hanging drywall and electrical work.
Here we have community gardens. It may be late in the year but could get involved in it now.
With Christmas season approaching see if any community groups need help setting up Christmas displays.
Why not join a local seniors center, they have all kinds of activities.
Why not join a trail hiking club and join in the maintenance of the trails?
If he wants to be at home ( which is not good for him to be alone ) why not make bird roosting to be put on trails and parks. Why not build raised gardens ( they are very easy to do and I am not inclined to do such things so it must be easy if I can do it ) and donate them to community gardens.
Why not volunteer to cut the grass for seniors who cannot do it or shovel their driveways in the winter?
The list goes on and on.
Maybe you can join him and find bonding time together.
The sponsor would come to the school and have lunch with the child once a week. They may play a board game or just talk, etc. If he likes kids, that's an idea as well as volunteering to help in the school maybe assisting teachers or coaches or helping with some behind-the-scenes stuff for sports teams, field trips, etc.
As a single mother I was thankful both my kids had a sponsor for a short time during their formative years.
Another idea is helping out at a shelter or food bank. They need people to paint, sort food/clothes/supplies, etc. Same with thrift stores operated by shelters or non-profits.
And is he a member of a church? At my congregation the ministries have a lot of seniors in them since they have time to call, visit and volunteer during the work week.
Kudos to you for trying to help your dad stay productively occupied. God bless you!