Simple brain activities at home can help provide meaningful cognitive practice after a brain injury. In this video, Greg Ayotte from the Brain Injury Association of America demonstrates easy modeling dough and soft clay exercises that care partners can do with someone living with a brain injury.

Using inexpensive modeling dough, soft clay, therapy putty, or another moldable material, these activities encourage hand strength and dexterity while supporting attention, coordination, creativity, planning, and visual-spatial skills. You’ll learn simple techniques such as rolling, squeezing, shaping, pinching, and building with the material, all at a pace that feels comfortable for the individual.

These activities are intended to supplement—not replace—professional therapy and do not guarantee recovery. Take your time, choose activities the person enjoys, allow for breaks when fatigue or frustration occurs, and check for any allergies or sensitivities to ingredients such as wheat, dyes, or fragrances before beginning.

For brain injury questions, support, or help finding resources, contact the Brain Injury Association of America’s National Brain Injury Information Center at 1-800-444-6443 or visit their website.

To get more examples of cognitive stimulation activities you can do at home with a loved one, download the UAB-TBIMS In-home Cognitive Stimulation Guidebook.

For ongoing health and wellness support, NCHPAD offers free online programs and resources for eligible adults with mobility limitations, including many people living with brain injury through NCHPAD Connect.