Creative and Meaningful Gifts for Seniors

I share a birthday with two fabulous seniors...my sweet  Grandmother-in-love and neighbor  (pictured here), and a dear lady from my church, who always takes the time to give me a call if she isn't able to speak to me personally on Sunday!

Our family is blessed to have an above average number of senior adults in our lives. While we cherish a simple approach to Christmas gift giving, I find that this time of year is an ideal time to be an extra blessing to the older adults we cherish. Many of  the following gift ideas can be given with little or no monetary expense on the part of the giver, but they go a long way to show that you care for the needs and happiness of the recipient.  Here are some of the things we keep in mind as we consider gifts to seniors:

* Gifts of Service: Think of the areas where the senior is limited and attempt to meet a need around the home or yard. This can be done with labor you personally provide or in the form of a gift certificate to hire someone else to do the job.  Ideas include: gutter cleaning, computer maintenance, cell phone updating/lessons ( my son updates my contacts for me for Mother's Day every year and I love it!), snow shoveling, garden tilling, window cleaning, car washing/cleaning....and much more!

*Paying for a Regular Expense: Gift certificates for hair cuts, car maintenance, vet visits for pets; paying their phone or electric bill for the month.

*Gift From and For the Kitchen: If a senior is still living at home and able to cook for themselves, consider giving them a gift for their freezer.  Containers of pre-chopped vegetables ( items like celery, peppers and onions that are often used in cooking) can  be a real luxury for someone who has arthritic hands and finds chopping difficult. Freeze them individually on a tray ( thus avoiding a frozen hunk of peppers that are hard to separate!), then place in small zip lock bags in small amounts. Homemade soups can be frozen in ice cube trays ( for easy defrosting) and divided into freezer bags ( 4 cubes per bag) for single serving size portions.  Who doesn't love easy access to a hot cup of homemade soup on a cold day?  Freezable containers can be bought that hold meals "T.V. Dinner style" and filled with delicious, complete meals from your kitchen. Homemade cookies can be frozen and given as a gift for the freezer, or you gave a rolled "log" of homemade cookie dough for slice and bake cookies. Seniors can bake just one or two cookies at a time in their toaster oven for a warm and tasty treat! Homemade bread can be frozen after slicing so the bread can be defrosted and eaten one slice at a time. Remember to label everything  in large print, with defrosting/reheating instructions and expiration dates clearly visible.

*Favorite "Old Fashioned" favorites:  Seniors may not be comfortable ordering from the Internet themselves, but you have access to many of their "old favorites" that cannot be found in local stores. Perhaps they have a favorite cleaning product, like Bon Ami or Fells Naptha soap that is hard to find, or a favorite kind of candy (like Neco wafers,horehound candy, or Boston Baked Beans) that is not commonly found locally. Check out Internet and catalog options such as The Vermont Country Store, Mast General Store, or Lehman's and see what kind of things you can come up with that will feel familiar and be appreciated. If you are not sure, ask another senior for ideas! Place a collection of products together in a gift basket.

*Homemade Gifts: Grandparents and great grandparents love gifts that connect them to their grandchildren.  Frame some of your children's artwork, make a calendar for the new year with family photos, decoupage items using family photos ( jars for pencil holders,wooden trays, paper mache boxes...).  You can also have your older children write a 30 day devotional using their favorite Bible passages. Younger children can decorate the book with their artwork or you can add in some family photos. What a joy for a grandparent to be able to see the spiritual growth and maturity of their children's children!  

*Donations: Consider giving a gift to someone in need in honor of a senior.  Make it as personal as possible, perhaps giving to an individual or family your know personally. If appropriate, provide the senior with a prayer card for the recipient of the donation so they can be in prayer for them, and perhaps even with an address so they can encourage the recipient with a note or card as time goes on.

*Special idea for those in Assisted Living Facilities and Nursing Home Settings: Audio books or uplifting music; something to share with visitors: chocolates, instant coffee, hot chocolate, or tea bags if they have a microwave; pretty paper napkins to use with visitors or to brighten up their meal times; something in the way of room decor to personalize their room ( check with the facility for regulations); boxed cards and stamps so they can send birthday cards to loved ones; small photo books they can show to staff and visitors.

Enjoy blessing those wonderful senior adults this Christmas and let me know what ideas you have for blessing this special group of people!