Tips for Maintaining Traditions and
Creating New Ones as Loved Ones Age
As our loved ones age, they can become less capable of participating in all of the season’s
activities. Whether your loved one is homebound or in the care of an assisted living and
memory care community such as The Kensington, it is important to keep them involved in your
holiday traditions.
Use Your Imagination to Combine the Old with the New
With a little creativity and ingenuity, you can maintain seasonal family traditions for your aging
love ones as well as create new ones that fit their current circumstances. For example, if there
is a holiday serving dish handed down by your great grandmother that the mashed potatoes
always go in, you can bring it with you for a special private dinner with Mom.
Creating new traditions could include decorating holiday ornaments together, opening gifts
under a small tree in your loved one’s room or singing favorite Christmas carols with the
schoolchildren who visit the community instead of at Granddad’s house.
Other Ways of Sharing the Holidays with Your Loved One
According to the Mayo Clinic and other sources of expertise on aging and memory care, there
are also various ‘holistic’ activities you can use that have proven effective in raising the spirits
and improving the sense of well-being in older loved ones. These include the use of music, art,
reminiscence and more. For example:
• Music – Singing favorite holiday songs, carols and hymns and listening to the music of the
season together.
• Art – Painting or drawing pictures of favorite holiday scenes and making decorations.
• Reminiscing – Looking through old photographs together, retelling stories and watching
holiday classics on TV or DVD such as Miracle on 34th Street or A Christmas Carol.
• Preparations – Helping you to send out cards or wrapping gifts together.
• Holiday Sight Seeing – Taking your loved one for a drive at night to view the beautifully
decorated houses and shops in the area.
• Aromas – Providing familiar holiday scents, such as holly, nutmeg, and scented candles, can
have a soothing effect and also help your loved one recall pleasant memories.
• Assisting with Holiday Baking – Helping to make Christmas cookies if they are capable.
We Promise to Love and Care for Your Family as We Do Our Own
The Kensington is an enhanced Assisted Living and Memory Care residence located in the
heart of White Plains, N.Y. Here, residents are regarded as members of our own family, so
hugs, laughs, companionship and patient support are routine parts of every day.
TheKensingtonAL.com | 100 Maple Avenue | White Plains, NY 10601 | 914-390-0080
We help our residents feel loved and secure by delivering heartfelt excellence in Assisted
Living and Memory Care services in a warm, beautiful environment that offers comfortable
elegance and is staffed by loving professionals.
We believe the comfort of familiarity is precious, so our enhanced program enables us to offer
care beyond what the traditional assisted living community can deliver. We offer a full
spectrum of clinical support, rehabilitation, wellness and social engagement activities as well
as end-of-life care. No resident needs to move out if their healthcare needs ever change.
For those with memory loss, The Kensington offers levels of care in specially designed
neighborhoods. Connections is for residents in the early to middle stages of memory loss.
Haven is for residents in the middle to late stages. We understand that memory loss is a family
affair, so our multifaceted program is geared to support not only our residents but also those
who love them.
Click to contact us for further information or call us directly at 914-390-0080.
TheKensingtonAL.com | 100 Maple Avenue | White Plains, NY 10601 | 914-390-0080