Training: Supporting Seniors Differently — Playing to Stimulate and Share
What if play was the best medicine? This DYNSEO certified training gives you the keys to transform every interaction with a senior into a moment of stimulation, pleasure, and connection — whether you are a healthcare professional or a family caregiver.
Why "supporting seniors differently" is a necessity
The traditional view of supporting elderly people often focuses on deficits: what the person can no longer do, what needs to be compensated, the care to be provided. This view, although essential from a medical standpoint, overlooks a fundamental dimension of human well-being: joy, pleasure, laughter, cognitive challenge, social connection. "Supporting differently" means shifting the perspective — from disabilities to abilities, from dependence to preserved autonomy, from care to shared pleasure.
Play — in all its forms — is the most natural vector for this shift. A senior playing cards does not think about their joint pain. A person with Alzheimer's singing a song from their childhood regains, for those few minutes, an identity, a memory, a joy that the disease seemed to have erased. A group of nursing home residents competing around a board game share emotions, laughter, memories — of life.
What Science Says About Play in Seniors
Cognitive neuroscience and gerontology studies converge: regular cognitive stimulation through play slows cognitive decline, improves mood, reduces agitation, and maintains social engagement. Play simultaneously activates several neural networks — memory, attention, planning, language, emotions — creating connections that strengthen cognitive reserve. And it does so in a context of pleasure, which maximizes engagement and regularity of practice.
DYNSEO Training: "Supporting Seniors Differently"
Supporting seniors differently: playing to stimulate and share
This DYNSEO online training teaches you to use play as a tool for cognitive stimulation and building connections with seniors — whether they are healthy, have mild cognitive disorders, or are supported in Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's. Accessible at your own pace, from any device.
Discover the training →Who is this training for?
The training is aimed at a very broad audience, reflecting the reality on the ground: playing with seniors takes place in very varied contexts. The professionals involved are home helpers, nursing assistants, activity coordinators in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, occupational therapists, psychomotor therapists, coordinating nurses, speech therapists, and any caregiver wishing to enrich their practice with playful tools. Families accompanying an elderly parent at home will find concrete answers to everyday questions: what to play with dad who has Alzheimer's? How to propose an activity without causing failure? What to do when the person refuses to play?
What you will learn
The training covers a wide spectrum from theoretical fundamentals (why play is neuroprotective, which cognitive functions it stimulates) to very concrete practical applications (which games to choose according to cognitive level, how to adapt the rules, how to manage difficult situations). It uses DYNSEO games and tools as practical learning support, but the principles taught apply to all games available on the market.
The benefits of play for seniors: understanding to act better
On cognitive functions
Play is a natural and motivating cognitive exercise. Depending on the chosen activity, it can target very different functions:
Memory
Memory, photo recognition games, song recall, guided reminiscence — stimulate episodic and semantic memory with an emotionally positive context.
Attention
Vigilance games, sequences to reproduce, adapted "Where's Waldo?" — maintain the ability to concentrate and filter distractions.
Language
Adapted crosswords, riddles, proverb games, nursery rhymes and songs — maintain vocabulary, verbal fluency, and language pragmatics.
Executive functions
Simple strategy games, dominoes, playing cards — mobilize planning, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility at appropriate levels.
Creativity
Art activities, collage, creating stories from images — stimulate imagination and expression while maintaining fine motor skills.
Social link
Group games, collaborative activities, shared quizzes — create moments of connection, laughter, and belonging that are essential for well-being.
On social link and dignity
Play does something that few activities can do in the context of care: it restores an equality, at least temporarily, between the cared-for person and their surroundings. When a caregiver plays cards with a resident, they are no longer caregiver and cared-for — they are two players, with their strategies, their strokes of luck, their laughter. This restoration of reciprocity, even partial, has a profound impact on the dignity and self-esteem of the accompanied person.
To measure the emotional impact of the proposed activities, the DYNSEO Emotion Thermometer is a simple and visual tool that the caregiver can use at the beginning and end of the session — allowing them to see if the activity has improved the emotional state of the person, and to adjust the upcoming sessions accordingly.
DYNSEO games: tools designed for seniors
The uniqueness of DYNSEO training is that it relies on tools specifically developed for elderly people and for the professionals who support them. These tools are not generic games adapted afterward — they were designed from the outset with the needs of seniors in mind: simplified interface, large touch areas, positive feedback, progressive levels, culturally familiar content.
🎮 SCARLETT — the reference app for seniors
The app SCARLETT is at the heart of training. It offers dozens of cognitive activities tailored for seniors — memory games, attention games, language games, visual stimulation — in a clean and intuitive interface, accessible even to elderly people who are not comfortable with new technologies. It is specifically adapted for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's profiles: large buttons, simple instructions, automatic progression based on performance.
Discover SCARLETT →Beyond digital applications, the training teaches how to use analog games (cards, dominoes, word games, puzzles, Memory) with rules adapted to the participants' abilities. The richness of the approach is precisely this complementarity: digital for its automatic progression and accessibility, analog for human contact, shared emotions, and tactile pleasure.
How to adapt the game to different cognitive levels
One of the most important skills taught in the training is adapting activities to the cognitive level of the person. It is a skill that can be learned — and it can transform the experience for both families and professionals. Because the worst mistake with elderly people is to offer an activity that is too difficult, which generates failure and shame, or too easy, which generates boredom and disinterest.
Assessing the level to adapt activities
Before proposing an activity, one must have an idea of the person's current cognitive level. The DYNSEO cognitive tests allow for an initial accessible assessment — memory test, concentration test, mental age test — which provides a baseline to adapt the proposed activities and track progress over time.
The DYNSEO Skills Tracking Table allows for documenting the person's abilities in different cognitive areas and tracking their development over sessions — a valuable resource for professionals who need to justify and adapt their interventions.
The principle of the "zone of proximal playful development"
Inspired by Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development, this principle applied to senior play states: the best activity is one that the person can almost succeed at alone. Neither too easy (boredom) nor too difficult (frustration and failure). The facilitator adjusts the level by modifying the number of cards, the speed of instructions, the duration of the session, the level of guidance. This ongoing micro-adaptation is a skill that can be learned and that the training helps you develop.
When words fade, the game remains
In advanced Alzheimer's disease, when verbal language is greatly reduced, the game takes different forms but remains possible and valuable. Sensory stimulation (materials, textures, sounds), familiar music, objects from the past, simple motor activities (stacking, sorting, coloring) maintain engagement and presence even when complex cognitive functions are severely affected. The training teaches these specific adaptations for advanced stages.
Playing in groups vs playing individually: advantages and limits
The training addresses both modalities of play with seniors — individual activities and group activities — with their specificities, advantages, and challenges.
Individual play
Individual play — one person with their companion, or one person alone with an application — has the advantage of maximum personalization. It can be adapted in real-time, without group constraints. It creates a privileged relational space between the companion and the accompanied person. The application SCARLETT is perfectly suited to this context: the person can use it alone, at their own pace, or with a loved one who guides and encourages.
Group play
Group play, on the other hand, adds the social dimension — and with it, motivation, friendly competition, shared laughter, and a sense of belonging. In a Nursing home or in an independent living residence, collective play sessions are often the most lively and appreciated moments of the week. They break isolation, create bonds between people who might not otherwise speak to each other, and give everyone a role and a place in the group.
The DYNSEO Choice Wheel is a simple and engaging tool for group activities: participants spin the wheel to choose the next activity, which maintains collective autonomy and everyone's engagement.
Difficult situations: when the senior refuses to play
Anyone who accompanies seniors knows this situation: you propose an activity, and the person refuses. "I'm too old for this nonsense." "I'm not here to play like a child." "I don't feel like it." The training dedicates an entire module to these situations, with concrete strategies to transform refusal into gradual engagement.
Understanding resistances
A refusal to play can have multiple origins: fear of failure (a difficult past relationship with academic or professional performance), a culture that associates play with childhood and therefore with regression, depression or apathy that reduce interest in everything, fatigue, pain, or simply a bad day. Understanding the origin of the refusal is the first step to adapting one's response.
Transform refusal into curiosity
The key strategies taught in the training: never force (the result would be contrary to the goal), start with a familiar and non-threatening activity (a song, an object from the past), present the activity as a favor ("you would help me a lot if you explained the rules of this game"), value the person's expertise (a former gardener on plants, a former teacher on history), and rely on past successes to build trust.
Cognitive stimulation and well-being: the body-mind connection
The training is not limited to purely cognitive activities. It integrates a holistic view of senior well-being that includes the physical dimension (gentle motor activities, fine motor games), the creative dimension (artistic, musical expression), the social dimension (collective games, sharing stories) and the emotional dimension (identifying and validating emotions related to activities).
For residents of nursing homes or seniors at home who have difficulty verbally expressing their well-being or discomfort, the DYNSEO Facial Expression Decoder helps the caregiver interpret non-verbal signals — essential for individuals whose verbal communication is reduced by dementia or aphasia.
The training in practice: organization and content
Format and accessibility
The training is fully accessible online, from any device — computer, tablet or smartphone. It is available 24/7, allowing everyone to progress at their own pace, according to their availability. Whether you have 20 minutes on Tuesday evening or an hour on Sunday morning, the platform adapts to your schedule — not the other way around.
The educational pathway combines explanatory videos (to understand the concepts), practical demonstrations (to see how activities are implemented concretely), interactive exercises (to test understanding) and downloadable resources (practical sheets, activity guides, tools) that you can use immediately in your practice.
Supporting seniors differently: playing to stimulate and share
Online training at your own pace · Video content + practical resources · Interactive exercises · Certificate of completion · Available support · Unlimited access to content
Target audience: Care assistants, nursing aides, activity leaders, supporting families, any professional working with seniors.
Register for the training →The training modules
The training is structured into progressive modules that allow each participant to build their skills step by step:
✔ What you will learn in each module
- Module 1 — Why play with seniors: scientific evidence, play as a non-drug tool, representations to deconstruct
- Module 2 — Cognitive functions and play: understanding what is stimulated, choosing the right game for the right objective
- Module 3 — Adapting the game to cognitive level: assessing abilities, adjusting difficulty, managing heterogeneity
- Module 4 — DYNSEO games in practice: using SCARLETT and DYNSEO digital tools with seniors
- Module 5 — Group games and facilitation: organizing engaging collective sessions, managing group dynamics
- Module 6 — Specific situations: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, depression, behavioral disorders, refusal to participate
- Module 7 — Traceability and coordination: documenting sessions, communicating with the care team, tracking progress
The DYNSEO tools that complement the training
The training is based on a range of DYNSEO tools that can be used immediately in professional or family practice. They are accessible in the complete DYNSEO catalog:
Trace, communicate, adapt
The Session Tracking Sheet allows for simple documentation of each session — proposed activities, level of engagement, clinical observations. Valuable for coordination with the care team and adapting future sessions. The Skills Tracking Table provides a longitudinal view of the cognitive evolution of the person being supported.
Testimonials and feedback
Professionals and families who have completed the DYNSEO training report concrete transformations in their way of supporting seniors. What often comes up in the feedback: a regained confidence in their ability to propose activities without specialized training in speech therapy or neuropsychology, an improved relationship with the person being supported (less tension around care, more moments of shared pleasure), and a better understanding of difficult behaviors related to cognitive disorders.
Since I took this training, I no longer see my visits to my mother as "guard duty." I prepare activities, I bring my tablet with SCARLETT, and she says goodbye to me with a smile. It changes everything — for her and for me.
Digital play in the toolbox of the active senior
For active seniors — those who do not yet have diagnosed cognitive disorders but wish to maintain their mental abilities — digital play is a powerful prevention tool. The training also addresses this preventive dimension, showing how to offer DYNSEO applications to autonomous seniors in a "fit brain" approach.
The application SCARLETT offers progressively difficult levels that adapt to all situations — from the active senior looking to maintain their abilities to the senior in a Nursing home with advanced Alzheimer's disease. This versatility makes it a preferred tool for professionals who support very different profiles.
🔍 Evaluate to better stimulate
Before starting a stimulation program, it is valuable to have a baseline of the cognitive abilities of the person. The DYNSEO cognitive tests offer accessible online assessments — memory, concentration, mental age, executive functions — that allow for objectifying abilities and measuring progress over time. These tests are not medical diagnostic tools, but they provide useful indicators to personalize activities and track evolution.
Practical tips to start tomorrow
The training will give you all the keys — but here are some principles to start "playing differently" with seniors today:
✔ 10 principles for playing with seniors
- Start with the person's interests: what game did they enjoy before? What is their story?
- Never set up for failure: adjust the level so that the person succeeds at least 70% of the time
- Value effort, not results: "You tried well" is better than "You won"
- Sit at eye level: not from above — next to them, at the same height, in the same dynamic
- Allow time: do not rush to answer for the person
- Accept "modified rules": if the person changes the rules, support takes precedence over conformity to the game
- End on a success: stop the session when the energy is still good, not when everyone is exhausted
- Name emotions: "you look happy", "did you enjoy this activity?"
- Vary modalities: alternate digital, analog, creative, motor
- Enjoy yourself: your enthusiasm is contagious — really play!
Conclusion: playing is caring differently
Supporting seniors differently means recognizing that life is not just about medical care and managing deficits. It is about offering each elderly person moments of pleasure, cognitive challenge, social connection, and regained dignity. Play is one of the most natural paths to this goal — provided you know how to use it with intention and kindness.
The DYNSEO training "Supporting seniors differently: playing to stimulate and share" gives you all the tools to do so — whether you are a health professional or a family caregiver, whether you support active seniors or people with dementia. Certifying, accessible online and at your own pace, it is available now.
Join the training now →FAQ — Your questions about training and supporting seniors through play
Who is the training for?
For all professionals working with seniors (home helpers, nursing assistants, activity leaders, occupational therapists…) and families supporting an elderly relative. No prerequisites are necessary.
Is the training certifying?
Yes — DYNSEO is certified Qualiopi. A certificate of completion is issued at the end of the training, recognized in the context of continuing professional education.
Can DYNSEO games be used with people with Alzheimer's?
Yes. The SCARLETT application and DYNSEO tools are specifically designed for Alzheimer's profiles — simplified interface, activities adapted to all stages, automatic progression. The training teaches how to use them according to the stage of the disease.
How to know which game to offer to a person?
The training teaches you to assess a person's cognitive level and choose appropriate activities. The DYNSEO cognitive tests (memory, concentration) provide a first baseline to personalize activities.
How long does it take to complete the training?
The training is accessible at your own pace. You can spread it over several days or follow it more intensively. Access is unlimited, you can revisit the modules whenever you wish.
Can play really slow down Alzheimer's?
Studies show that regular cognitive stimulation slows cognitive decline by 30 to 50% in Alzheimer's. Play, practiced regularly and appropriately, is one of the most effective non-drug levers.
