Christmas Carol Matching Game Printable for Seniors
Make a Christmas Carol Matching Game for seniors and Alzheimer’s/dementia patients! UPDATED
My mom, who has Alzheimer’s, loves music! And even though she has trouble remembering just about everything, lyrics to familiar songs are the exception. Singing along to oldies is one of her favorite activities.
The Mayo Clinic says music can help relieve stress, anxiety, and agitation in Alzheimer’s patients. And research suggests the area of the brain that is linked to musical memory is “relatively undamaged” by Alzheimer’s disease.
I believe it! There’s just something about music that relaxes and calms my mom. And her memory of song lyrics is pretty amazing given her current cognitive level.
With Christmas just around the corner, I decided to make mom a matching game using the lyrics of Christmas carols. We incorporate listening to music and sing-alongs into her activity plan, but I had never tried anything like this with song lyrics. I wasn’t sure how it would go over. She’s a very picky little old lady. ?
Well, she loves it! I’ve been kicking myself for not thinking of this earlier! She’s been matching and humming and singing and toe-tapping all day!
How to make a Christmas Carol Matching Game
This game is super easy to create!
Make a list of Christmas carols your loved one knows. I created Mom’s list from carols I remember her singing when I was a child. I came up with 32 sets of Christmas carol song lyrics and matching song titles. You could do more or less depending on your loved one’s functioning level.
Create the matching sets by either writing or printing the song titles and matching lyrics onto cards. To set my mom up for success I chose lyrics that led into the song title or lyrics that were super familiar.
And that’s it! Time to match! My mom, who is in the middle stages of Alzheimer’s, is able to do this activity independently with great success. What a boost for her self-esteem!
Download my sample version of the Christmas Carol Matching Game – FREE Printable Version
A sample version of the cards I created is available to my subscribers in my Resource Library! This free version contains 8 song pairs and is my “printer ink-friendly” version. The full game with 32 song pairs in both the full color and ink-friendly versions is available seasonally! Get on my email list so you’re notified when it’s available!
I used super familiar Christmas carols and lyrics to ensure success. And there’s an answer key, just in case.
This is such a fun activity! After the holidays, I may just make some additional song lyric matching printables using my mom’s favorite oldies.
UPDATED! By popular request, I have updated and expanded the Christmas Carol Matching Game! This new version has 32 pairs of familiar holiday songs and lyrics. I’ve also added a color border to help with card sorting. I only make this game available seasonally. Subscribe to my email list to get notified when it’s available.
Want to remember this? Save this Christmas Carol Matching Game Printable for Seniors to your favorite Pinterest board.
Hi Anne.
Thanks for this great idea. My mother’s Alzheimer’s is still in the early stages, but this is something she would really enjoy now. I firmly believe in “use it or lose it”, at least until the disease has its way.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for stopping by! I think this game can be appropriate for seniors without memory loss all the way to the middle stages of Alzheimer’s. I hope your mom enjoys it!
This is so wonderful. As a recreation therapist I am overwhelmed with joy to see you providing such a stimulating and fun activity for you mom and others. So great! Thank you!
Sara, Thanks for stopping by, and thanks so much for the sweet comment!
What a lovely idea! I know from past experience that music seems to be the last to go for many Alzheimer’s patients so this is such a great activity. Thank you for this. I don’t have anyone who can use this right now (thankfully) but will pin your post when I’m next at my computer (my phone is finicky about Pinterest).
Hi Dawn,
Thanks so much for stopping by and for saving my resource. There is definitely something about music that sticks with my mom. I love doing musical things with her because I get a glimpse of who she was before this nasty disease.
Hi Anne,
Thanks so much for this matching game. I had run out of card stock for the computer so I glued the paper to the back of old Christmas cards which I had cut in half. Mom gets 2 matching games out of it. I had made more titles with more hymn like carols and she is enjoying it .Mom is almost 90 and we have to go back to the 30’s and 40’s.
Hi Linda,
So glad you found the Christmas Carol Matching Game helpful. And I love your idea to use old Christmas cards to make a matching game out of the backs. Brilliant! Thanks so much for commenting and sharing your idea. ❤️