Activities a Companion Caregiver Can Help With

What counts as a companion care activity

The federal regulation on household workers, 29 CFR 552.6, describes companionship as "fellowship and protection". Its own examples of fellowship read like an activity list: conversation, reading, games, crafts, and accompanying the person on walks, errands, appointments and social events. Protection is simply being present, at home or out, watching over the person's safety and well-being.

The regulation also allows some hands-on care (help with dressing, bathing, meals, light housework, driving and similar tasks), but only alongside the fellowship and capped at 20% of the hours worked per person in a workweek. The full rule, and why it changes pay, is set out in companion care cost; the line between the two kinds of help is drawn in companion care vs. personal care. In practice: build visits around the activities below and track time on personal or household tasks separately.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) notes that loneliness and social isolation are "not good for your overall health" and suggests activities that give a sense of purpose, such as hobbies, volunteering or time with family and friends.

Conversation and reading activities

1. Life-story conversations

A guided talk about one chapter of the person's life each visit: a first job, a childhood home, a wedding, a move. The companion asks, listens and writes down a few lines the family can keep.

Materials: A notebook or phone voice memo, and one prompt card per visit (for example "Tell me about your first car").

Steps:

1. Agree on a theme for the visit before you sit down.
2. Ask one open question and wait; let silences run.
3. Write down names, places and dates the person mentions.
4. Read the notes back at the end and ask what to add.
5. File the page in a folder so the story builds over weeks.

• Approximate cost: Free.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Write prompt cards in thick marker, a few words per card; play back voice memos instead of reading notes aloud.
• Make it easier: Use a single photo as the prompt and ask about what is in it.
• Make it harder: Ask the person to sketch a map of the old neighborhood or draft a letter to a grandchild about the memory.

2. Reading aloud and the news hour

The companion reads a newspaper, magazine, letter or chapter of a book aloud, then the two talk about it. Reading is one of the fellowship examples the regulation names.

Materials: A newspaper, a library book or audiobook, and a comfortable, well-lit seat.

Steps:

1. Let the person choose the section or book.
2. Read for about one article or a few pages at a time.
3. Pause to ask what they think, or what it reminds them of.
4. Mark the place so the next visit can pick up the thread.

• Approximate cost: Free with a library card; low if you buy a paper.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Large-print editions and audiobooks from the library; NEI also advises more light and a magnifier for reading up close.
• Make it easier: Short items: headlines, letters to the editor, a poem.
• Make it harder: A book club for two, with the person leading the discussion questions.

Games and crafts during companion visits

3. A regular game afternoon

One familiar card or board game at the same time each week. NIA lists playing cards or other games with friends among activities that keep people connected.

Materials: A deck of cards, dominoes, checkers or a favorite board game; a pad to keep score.

Steps:

1. Start with a game the person grew up playing, on a clear, well-lit table.
2. Keep a running score sheet across visits.
3. Stop while it is still enjoyable rather than at the point of fatigue.

• Approximate cost: Free to low: most homes already have cards.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Jumbo-index playing cards and high-contrast boards; more ideas are in large-print games and puzzles.
• Make it easier: Play open-handed and cooperatively, or switch to matching games.
• Make it harder: Move to rummy, cribbage or a strategy board game, or invite a neighbor to make it three players.
• Safety: Watch small game pieces with anyone who tends to mouth things; they can cause choking.

4. A simple craft project

A project that can be finished in one or two visits: a greeting card, a photo collage or a painted pot. What each project needs is spelled out in crafts for seniors.

Materials: Depends on the project; start with paper, glue stick, safety scissors and old magazines.

Steps:

1. Pick one project and lay out only the supplies it needs.
2. The companion prepares the fiddly parts in advance.
3. The person makes the design choices: colors, pictures, words.
4. Display or post the finished piece.

• Approximate cost: Low: things already in the house plus a few craft basics.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Dark paper under light materials for contrast, and a lamp over the table.
• Make it easier: Pre-cut pieces so the task is arranging and gluing.
• Make it harder: A multi-visit project such as a quilt square or a scrapbook.
• Safety: Supervise scissors and keep paints and glues labeled; art materials sold in the US carry an ASTM D-4236 conformance statement (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

Walks, errands, appointments and outings

5. A walk together

A short, regular walk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults 65 and older aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus muscle and balance work, and advises doing as much as health and ability allow when that is not possible.

Materials: Supportive shoes, water, a phone, and any walker or cane the person already uses.

Steps:

1. Choose a level route with benches or places to rest.
2. Walk at the person's pace, on the side they prefer for support.
3. Turn back before they tire; the return trip is the same length.

• Approximate cost: Free.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Daylight walks on familiar routes; anti-glare sunglasses, which NEI suggests for low vision.
• Make it easier: Walk indoors along a hallway, or sit outside instead.
• Make it harder: Add a gentle hill, a longer loop or a walking group.
• Safety: According to CDC, no injury kills more adults 65 and older than falls do, and falls can be prevented. Check the route for uneven paving and ask the person's doctor before stepping up activity.

6. Errands and appointments

Going along to the pharmacy, bank, grocery store or a doctor's visit. The regulation lists accompanying someone on errands and to appointments as fellowship; it lists driving with the care tasks, so if you rely on the companionship exemption, ask the Department of Labor or your state labor agency how drive time is counted.

Materials: A written list, the person's ID and insurance cards for appointments, and a notebook.

Steps:

1. Write the list together before leaving.
2. Let the person do the choosing, paying and talking where they can.
3. At appointments, sit in if invited and note what the clinician says.
4. Pass the notes to the family.

• Approximate cost: Free to low: fuel, parking or a bus fare.
• Large-print / low-vision option: A large-print shopping list in thick marker; ask the pharmacy about large-print labels.
• Make it easier: One stop per outing, at a quiet time of day.
• Make it harder: The person plans the route and the order of stops.

7. A social outing

A visit to a senior center, library talk, place of worship, museum or café. NIA suggests community and senior center events among ways to stay engaged.

Materials: A local events calendar and transport.

Steps:

1. Look through the calendar together and let the person pick.
2. Check access: parking, steps, restrooms, seating.
3. Arrive a little early to settle in.
4. Afterwards, decide together whether to go again.

• Approximate cost: Free to some purchase: many community events are free; tickets and meals are extra.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Sit near the front at talks; ask venues about large-print programs.
• Make it easier: A short visit to a quiet place, such as a library reading room.
• Make it harder: Join a regular club or volunteer slot the person attends weekly.

Kitchen-table activities, and where care time begins

8. Cooking a shared snack or lunch

Making something simple together: a sandwich, soup or a family recipe. Note that 29 CFR 552.6 lists meal preparation among the care tasks, so this time counts toward the 20% limit if you rely on the exemption.

Materials: A recipe the person knows, ingredients, and utensils already in the kitchen.

Steps:

1. Read the recipe through together.
2. Give the person tasks such as washing, stirring or setting out plates.
3. The companion handles hot pans and sharp knives.
4. Eat together and talk about where the recipe came from.

• Approximate cost: Low: ingredients from the kitchen cupboard.
• Large-print / low-vision option: Copy the recipe in large print; use a cutting board that contrasts with the food.
• Make it easier: No-cook recipes: salads, sandwiches, yogurt bowls.
• Make it harder: Bake from a handwritten family recipe and adjust it together.
• Safety: Supervise the stove and knives; watch for food the person must avoid on medical advice.

What is not companionship: cleaning or cooking mainly for other people in the household, and medically related tasks that would usually fall to an RN, LPN or CNA (29 CFR 552.6). If a visit is drifting toward bathing, toileting or transfers, you are looking at personal care.

A sample four-hour companion visit

An example, not a rule; fit it to the person's best time of day.

In that example, 45 of 240 minutes go to a care task, under a fifth of the visit. If your plan regularly tips past that, see the pay rules in companion care cost, and remember that agencies cannot use the companionship exemption at all (29 CFR 552.109).

Doing these activities with a companion caregiver

• Write the activities into the job. List the ones your relative enjoys and any they dislike; a companion can then plan each visit instead of filling time.
• Ask for a short visit note. What they did, mood, anything new or worrying.
• Agree on outings. Whose car, insurance, mileage, and which places are fine without asking first.
• Review every few months. If memory changes, see activities for people living with dementia; questions for interviews are in interview questions for families.

The Eldercare Locator, an Administration for Community Living service reached at 1-800-677-1116, can tell you about senior centers and programs near you.

Find a companion caregiver near you

On CaregiverConnect, posting a companion job is free and caregivers apply to you directly, each showing the hourly rate they set. You interview and hire the person yourself, becoming their employer; CaregiverConnect does not employ caregivers or run background checks, though some caregivers add proof of their own check to their profile (safety). Optional premium plans are on pricing.

• Start with companion care to see the service and city pages.
• Then search caregivers in your area.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. 29 CFR 552.6, Companionship services (LII, Cornell Law School)
2. 29 CFR 552.109, Third party employment (LII, Cornell Law School)
3. National Institute on Aging, Participating in Activities You Enjoy As You Age (web.archive.org capture, July 30, 2026)
4. CDC, Older Adult Activity: An Overview
5. CDC, About Older Adult Fall Prevention
6. National Eye Institute, Low Vision
7. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Art Materials business guidance
8. Eldercare Locator (Administration for Community Living)