Last updated: · Written by Marcus Richardson, founder of Paint A Moment
Paint by numbers can work well in care settings for some people living with early or moderate dementia. It suits people who enjoy colour, structure and company. It does not suit everyone. This guide covers choosing kits, running a group session, adapting for tremor and sight changes, and being honest about who should be offered something else instead.
I run Paint A Moment, a small UK paint-by-numbers business. I am not a clinician, and this is not clinical guidance.
Does paint by numbers suit people living with dementia?
For some people, yes. It gives a clear structure, an obvious next step and a result that looks like something. Alzheimer's Society lists using an outline or a paint-by-numbers kit as one recognised way to help a person with dementia enjoy painting. Suitability is individual, and depends far more on the person than the diagnosis.
The appeal is the scaffolding. A blank sheet asks the person to decide what to make. A numbered canvas removes that decision and leaves the enjoyable bit.
Be clear about the evidence. NICE quality standard QS184 says people with dementia should be supported to choose from a range of activities to promote wellbeing tailored to their preferences, and lists the arts among them. That supports offering art as an option. It does not validate any product. The 2018 Cochrane review of art therapy for dementia found only two eligible trials with usable data on 60 participants, and rated the evidence very low quality. Better supported is personalised activity in general: the WHELD trial across 69 UK nursing homes found a small quality-of-life improvement from about an hour a week of tailored activity plus staff training. Treat this as one option on the board. It is a hobby, not a treatment, and will not slow, treat or improve anyone's dementia.
Who it does not suit
It is a poor fit for several groups, and offering it anyway risks a frustrating hour for the resident and for you. The barriers are visual, motor and emotional. Where any of these apply, choose a different activity rather than adapting this one past the point where it still resembles painting.
- Significant visual-perceptual difficulty. The task depends on reading small numbers inside pale outlines. Research on visual function in Alzheimer's disease has found selective losses in contrast sensitivity, colour discrimination and stereoacuity (Cronin-Golomb and colleagues, 1991). Faint grey digits on off-white primer sit exactly where contrast sensitivity fails first, and reduced depth perception makes judging where one shape ends and the next begins harder than it looks.
- Advanced dementia. Where someone can no longer hold a multi-step instruction in mind, the numbering becomes an obstacle. Free painting or a water-reveal product will usually go better.
- Severe tremor. Sections a few millimetres wide produce overspill on every stroke. Some people do not mind. Others will.
- Anyone for whom a "wrong" result would cause distress. A numbered canvas gives a very clear standard to fall short of.
- Anyone likely to put brushes or paint in their mouth. No adaptation changes this.
If two of your twelve residents are well suited, that is a good result, not a failure.
Choosing a kit for this setting
Buy for the largest sections and the fewest colours, not for detail. The instinct to order the premium 48-colour version is exactly backwards here. Colour count and section size are linked: to use 48 colours in the same picture, the design is broken into far more and much smaller regions, and the numbers shrink with them.
Adjacent digits like 3, 8 and 9 then become hard to tell apart at low contrast, and glossy wet paint adds glare on top. So:
- 24 colours, not 36 or 48. The Standard tier gives the largest sections and biggest numbers of the three.
- The largest canvas the table takes. Sizes run 20x30cm to 60x70cm. Choose 50x60cm or 60x70cm.
- High-contrast, non-abstract subjects. A dog, a cottage, a fishing boat, a vase of flowers. Nameable from across the table. Try our animals and landscapes ranges, or the easy kits collection.
- Avoid abstract work, heavy shading and portraits. Subtle tonal work is where tiny sections and near-identical colours live.
- Avoid anything that could distress. Skip religious imagery unless you know the person's beliefs, and anything war-related.
- Order No Frame for group work. A rolled canvas tapes flat to a board, easier to work on and to store.
Our beginner's guide covers the method itself.
Running it as a group session
Keep the group small, the table well lit and the session short. Four to six people is the practical maximum for one facilitator, fewer where abilities vary. Plan 45 minutes of painting inside a one-hour slot. Most people will do less, and stopping while someone is still enjoying it beats stopping when they have had enough.
Table and seating. A firm table at a height where forearms rest comfortably, and chairs with arms so people can stabilise. Seat people so nobody reaches across another canvas, and leave each place clear except canvas, water pot and cloth.
Lighting. The single biggest thing to get right. Alzheimer's Society advises improving lighting levels and reducing visual clutter for people with perceptual difficulties. Set up near a window with light over the shoulder, not into the eyes. Keep direct sun off the canvas, because glare on wet acrylic makes numbers unreadable. Add a task lamp per two people in a dim room, angled so no hand shadows its own work.
Mixed ability at one table. Do not keep people at the same stage. Give everyone their own canvas and let them work at their own speed. For those needing more support, hand over one open pot at a time and point out the matching sections. Nobody needs to know that different amounts of help are happening.
What "finished" means. You stopped for today, not that every section is filled. Very few group canvases get completed and it does not matter. Say so at the start. If one person only manages the sky, that is their contribution and it is complete work.
A one-hour session plan you can follow
This is a plan for four to six participants with one facilitator. Copy it, adjust the timings, and keep it with the kits. The preparation the day before is what makes the hour itself calm, so please do not skip it.
The day before. Unpack each kit. Tape each canvas to a stiff board along all four edges. Loosen every pot lid, then close finger-tight. Write each pot's number on its lid in thick black marker. Sit where a resident will sit, under the lighting you will actually use, and check you can read the numbers. If you cannot, neither will they.
0 to 10 minutes. Settle everyone, aprons on, water pots half filled, one board per person.
10 to 15 minutes. Say something like: "Every shape has a number and every pot has a number, and you just match them up. There is no wrong way to do this and nobody has to finish. If you would rather watch and have a cup of tea, that is absolutely fine."
15 to 50 minutes. Painting. Start everyone on the largest single colour area. Give out one pot at a time. Move round the table, top up water, wipe brushes, and chat about the picture rather than the technique.
50 to 60 minutes. Close the pots, collect brushes, hold each canvas up and name what each person did. Store boards flat. Say when the next session is.
Per person: canvas on a board, that kit's pots, one brush, one water pot, one cloth, one apron, the reference sheet.
Adaptations worth making
Small changes remove most of the friction and nearly all are free. The aim is to reduce the number of separate things a person manages at once, so all that is left is brush, colour and shape. Prepare them in advance rather than improvising mid-session.
- Tape the canvas to a board. A canvas that shifts under the brush is the commonest cause of frustration.
- Build up the brush handle. Foam pipe lagging, grip tape or a triangular pencil grip reduces the pinch strength needed. Alzheimer's Society similarly suggests large paintbrushes with grips where mobility is limited.
- Work one colour at a time. One open pot, find every section with that number, then swap. This turns a 24-decision task into 24 one-decision tasks.
- Pre-open the pots. Nobody should fight a lid in front of other people.
- Offer a magnifier on a stand, but ask first, as some people find them disorienting.
- Split one large canvas. Turn a 60x70cm canvas so each person paints the region in front of them.
Using the picture for gentle reminiscence
A familiar scene often starts a conversation on its own. A harbour, a steam train, a garden, a particular breed of dog. Let the picture do the work and follow whatever the person offers. The aim is a pleasant conversation, not recall. Never turn it into a memory test, and never press when someone does not want to talk.
Open remarks land better than questions about the past. "That looks like a nice spot" invites a response without requiring one. "Do you remember going to Whitby?" puts someone on the spot, and if they cannot answer, they know it. The Cochrane review of reminiscence therapy (2018, 22 studies, 1,972 participants) found inconsistent and often small effects, possibly a slight quality-of-life benefit in care homes, and no evidence of harm. Do it gently, and be ready for a subject to bring up something sad.
Practical realities: safety, cleaning, storage and cost
Acrylic paint is water-based and washes out of most fabrics while wet. The materials are straightforward, but a few care-setting specifics are worth planning before the first session rather than after it. Check anything here against your own home's infection prevention and control policy, which takes precedence.
Safety and washability. The pots are pre-mixed acrylic, not intended to be swallowed. Ask any supplier for the product safety information and file it as your COSHH or art materials policy requires. Wet acrylic comes out of clothing with cold water; dried acrylic generally does not. Use tabards and cover the table.
Infection control and storage. Simplest is one canvas, one set of pots and one brush per named resident, stored in the original box with their name on it. That removes shared-equipment questions almost entirely. Rinse brushes, dry them bristle-up, return them to that box. Water pots and boards wipe down with your standard cleaner. Store boards flat, never stacked face to face.
Cost and funding. Standard kits start at £21.99 with free delivery, so a 50x60cm kit used across several sessions works out at a few pounds per hour of activity. Most homes use the activities budget. Other routes: the relatives' committee, local Rotary, a supermarket community fund, or a small local authority grant. If cost is the only barrier, email me. Details are on our care homes resource page.
FAQ for activity coordinators
These are the questions activity staff and family carers ask most often. Short answers, and honest ones where the honest answer is "it depends". If yours is not here, email hello@paintamoment.shop and I will answer it directly.
Is paint by numbers good for people with dementia?
It suits some people and not others. It gives structure and a visible result, which can be enjoyable for people in the early or moderate stages who like colour and detail. It is a hobby, not a treatment. It will not slow, treat or improve dementia, and nobody should be told that it will.
Which kit should I buy for a care home?
Choose a 24-colour Standard kit in the largest size you can fit on the table, either 50x60cm or 60x70cm. Fewer colours means larger sections and larger printed numbers. Pick a familiar, high-contrast subject such as an animal, a garden or a coastal scene, and avoid abstract or heavily shaded designs.
Why not the 48-colour version, if it is better quality?
More colours means the same picture is divided into many more, and therefore much smaller, sections with smaller printed numbers. That is harder for anyone with reduced contrast sensitivity or a hand tremor. The 48-colour kits are excellent for hobbyists at home. For most care settings the 24-colour version is the better tool.
How long should a session run?
Plan a one-hour slot with about 45 minutes of actual painting. Many people will do 20 to 30 minutes and that is a good session. Stop while people are still enjoying it rather than waiting for them to tire. Finishing the canvas is not the goal and should never be presented as one.
What if someone paints outside the lines or uses the wrong colour?
Leave it. Correcting someone turns an enjoyable hour into a test they are failing. The canvas is theirs. If the finished piece looks nothing like the reference image, that is a perfectly good outcome, and in my experience those are usually the ones families ask to keep.
Do you supply care homes directly?
Yes. I am a one-person business in North Yorkshire, so there is no trade portal, but you can email hello@paintamoment.shop and I will reply. I am happy to discuss bulk orders, and I keep a small number of donated kits for settings that cannot fund them.
Also worth reading: are paint by numbers good for anxiety? and do creative hobbies reduce stress?
