Are you struggling to come up with a good gift for your forgetful parents?

Finding a nice gift for your parents is a special challenge – chances are they already have or had most of the things you can think of and the pressure to make it a good gift is much higher.

If you need a quick idea for a practical, useful gift for a forgetful parent or senior, here’s a short list of things we think will be a great choice!

Brain games

Training your brain like a muscle helps your memory stay sharp and can sometimes even improve it when it’s already in decline.

A pack of crossword puzzles or sudoku magazines is a great gift for someone who likes to pick up a pen and solve mental challenges the old-school way.

Alternatively, get your parents a 1-year subscription to their favorite sudoku magazine and keep the fun and mental gymnastics coming all year long.

Motion-activated lights

This one’s a little more complex, but ultimately very useful, especially around the bed, in the bathroom and around stairs. Turning your indoor lighting fixtures into motion-detected ones will make it easier for elderly parents to move around their home at night, and it will also turn off any lights your forgetful parents may leave on accidentally.

Key or TV remote finder

How much time do your forgetful parents spend looking for their glasses, keys or their TV remote? How much time do you spend helping them search for it?

As far as gifts go, this one might not be as exciting as some of the others on our list, but it is one of the most useful ones.

A colorful key finder attached to their keys or glasses case or TV remote will keep them stress-free every time they forget where they left it. It works both ways, so they can also use it to find their lost phone.

It will even send an alert to their phone when they forget to take their keys with them!

You might want to get one of these for yourself too…

A restored old photo

Ok, this one might not help with your parents’ forgetfulness, but it will jog their memory with loving flashbacks.

A quick search on the internet will give you some free program options you can use yourself, or you can contact a professional who can restore it for you, if you’re looking for something with a higher quality feel.

These are not necessarily for parents who are forgetful, but they’re still useful and will make their lives easier.

A long-handled shoehorn

Shoes can be tricky, and for some elderly people with health problems, they can even pose a real challenge. A long show horn will make it easy for them to put on and take off their shoes without bending down or risking their balance.

A subscription box for their pet

Not exactly a gift for them, but it will still put a smile on their face. A new toy, treats, and pet accessory every month will keep both your parents and their pets more active.

Robot vacuum

This one is a little pricier and takes some research to make sure to get a good fit for your parent’s home, but who wouldn’t love a machine that would vacuum so they don’t have to?

When you’re little, getting gifts is one of the most exciting things in the world, but as you get older, gifts lose their charm, since you’ve been around long enough to get quite a few of them.

Decorative is easy, but try to make the gift for your parents something practical, something they’ll actually find useful. Come up with something to make their life easier, their day less stressful, something that will help them keep their good mood going.