Dabblesack Provides Engaging Activities for Homebound Seniors

Rebecca Strichman and Robyn Martin didn’t have their company Dabblesack for a full year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. But to their surprise, they found their business and its mission was needed more than ever.

Dabblesack, an online business launched in 2019, provides engaging and useful products and activities for senior citizens, such as puzzles, board games, crafts, adult coloring books, and more. Customers can buy from a list of individual products or they can choose to have a package customized to their own needs.

The idea stemmed from Strichman and Martin’s years of experience working as occupational therapists. They spent decades working in home-care settings such as hospitals, private homes, and assisted living facilities, and noticed their elderly patients often didn’t have a lot to do during the day aside from napping or watching TV.

“There wasn’t really anything else to keep the mind engaged,” Strichman says.

They were often asked by their patients’ families and caretakers for resources to help keep their minds occupied and active. Eventually, Strichman and Martin decided to start Dabblesack to directly provide helpful games and activities to seniors.

At first, the concept mostly focused on finding products for people with Alzheimer’s or dementia. But after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they expanded to all senior citizens as a way to help those who were isolated in their homes or assisted living facilities.

“The activities are very easily modifiable,” Strichman says. “The vast majority of things on our website are not designed just for seniors; they’re made for all people.”

Dabblesack gets most of their inventory from toy fairs, but they obtain items from vendors all over: a publisher from New York provides coloring and craft books, a wholesale handbag store supplies bags for different kits, and they use colored pencils from a craft company that’s been around since the 1700s.

Strichman says many of the vendors are happy to supply their products once they learn about the company’s mission, often sharing their own personal stories about a loved one affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“Everybody really is out there to help,” Martin says.

When choosing products for Dabblesack, Strichman and Martin say they must follow a specific criterion: it must be safe, and the design can’t look too childish. They should be able to be modified if needed, and of course, they have to be fun.

On the Dabblesack website, the products are divided into three different categories: for those with dementia/Alzheimer’s, for seniors, and for agencies, facilities, and group programs. This is where Strichman and Martin’s years of occupational therapy experience comes in handy; they know which activities would work for best for certain groups of people.

In addition to games and crafts, Dabblesack has also partnered with nonprofits and community projects to give their patients the opportunity to volunteer. One of them is Enchanted Makeovers, dedicated to helping and empowering women and children living in homeless shelters. Dabblesack provides everything needed to make and design superhero capes for homeless children in the Capes for Kids program, a project within Enchanted Makeovers.

Another nonprofit, Operation Gratitude, accepts handwritten letters and notes to include in gift boxes intended for deployed troops, veterans, and first responders.

Strichman says partnering with these programs is a great way to prevent their patients from equating being homebound with being worthless.

“We want people to feel like they can still volunteer from home and have a purpose,” Strichman says.
 

Strichman and Martin have even created virtual party kits to help their patients celebrate with family members over Zoom. The kits come with a group game, a party hat, and more party favors to provide a fun activity that keeps the conversation going during video calls.

With Dabblesack functioning as an online business, it allows their mission to reach more people. Martin says they have spoken to people from all over the country, like Wisconsin, Kentucky, and even California, who have bought products from them.

While networking has been challenging during the pandemic, “Feedback is what keeps us going,” Martin says. She and Strichman constantly hear stories about how their products have helped people bond with their elderly family members, whether it is a normally quiet loved one talking and laughing while doing a puzzle, or a granddaughter bonding with her grandmother through a board game.
 

“Any time you can incorporate people into an activity, it’s important for people to be active and involved and part of the bigger picture,” Strichman says. “We’re hoping for more intergenerational face-to-face interaction.”