30 Ways to Show Kindness to a Senior
Below you will discover 30 ways to show kindness to a senior.
When was the last time you experienced a random act of kindness? Odds are the occurrence placed a lasting smile on your face.
There exists an often-forgotten group who’d appreciate a kind gesture. They are the ones who laid the footwork for our world today, seniors.
Remember, kindness is not about monetary spending or planning. It is about taking a moment to make a small difference in another person’s life.
Today, you are invited to brighten a senior’s day with a random act of kindness.
30 Ways to Show Kindness to a Senior
- Send older relatives a card. Include a kind message.
- Ask advice from a senior. Their wisdom is knowledge through experience.
- Pay a visit to an older friend who lives alone. They often have insightful stories.
- Surprise them with a meal. They will enjoy a home-cooked or baked item.
- Help them by running your errands in tandem with your own. Offer to pick up their groceries during your weekly run.
- Assist them with a chore that becomes more difficult with age. For instance, take their dog for a walk or offer to clean their cat’s litter box.
- Music is the great uniter. Download music from the era of their youth and create a CD or a playlist. Distribute these to friends, family members, or senior centers, nursing homes, and retirement communities.
- Take a trip down memory lane. Use your laptop or iPad to reference items from his or her past that come up in conversation.
- Surprise your elderly neighbor by planting flowers.
- Wash an older person’s car. Everyone loves a fresh car.
- Offer to help with some chores, like changing lightbulbs or changing batteries.
- Sit and talk. You will find out if you share an interest with an elderly neighbor. Use your shared interest to build a friendship.
- Volunteer to take an older person who no longer drives to where they need to go.
- Help a senior go through their mail. This makes managing bills, personal mail, and junk mail stress-free.
- Spend an afternoon talking with an older person. They are the owners of many tidbits of wisdom.
- Help with their household chores. Rake their yard, prune their bushes, and pick up detritus.
- Help with easy tasks. Take a neighbor’s trash to the curb or take the newspaper to his or her door.
- Give them something to enjoy. Set up a bird feeder outside an older person’s window. Refill the seed often.
- Invite a senior over for quality time. Invite them for a cup of tea or coffee, a holiday meal, or a summer cookout.
- Watch a movie. They very well might show you a classic that will become your favorite.
- Exchange recipes. Have a senior join you in the kitchen to foster a bond.
- Ask an older adult about times past. They will provide you with insights you will have never known before.
- Put together a gift of personal care items. Anyone at any age deserves self-care. Women will especially enjoy the primping.
- Become buddies. Invite a senior over to watch a game. He will have a good story about back when he could play.
- Take them on a ride-along. Offer a Sunday afternoon drive around town or in the neighborhood where they were raised or raised their kids.
- Archive their life stories. Record their memories and stories on video or tape. Family members will love their preserved memories.
- Show some love. Give an older loved one a hug to brighten their day.
- During inclement weather, clean off their car or driveway, or offer to help them with their vehicle.
- If you are a good cook, drop off a meal. Something they can re-heat will be appreciated.
- Ask them to be your mentor. Confide in a trusted elderly for help with career, relationship, and personal advice.
About the author:
Grant Zwicke is the lead content writer at RF Technologies and a member of the marketing team. His varied experience includes pharmaceuticals, medical device, specialty chemicals, public health, scientific research, publishing, television entertainment and news media.
