[For Seniors] Add Enjoyment to Everyday Life: A Compilation of Activity Care Plans
Activity care refers to care for older adults who need assistance, aimed at improving physical and cognitive functions while ensuring they have fun.
Care in this context spans a wide range of activities, including exercises and games that involve movement, arts such as crafts and music, and outings like walks.
By providing this variety of care, we can bring out smiles and motivation in older adults and energize their overall daily lives.
That’s the idea.
As people age, it’s common to see them become reluctant to go out or communicate with others, but it’s wonderful if their everyday life can become even a little more colorful and enjoyable.
Please use this article as a reference and enjoy lively, engaging times.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
- For Seniors: Enjoy Every Day! A Collection of Senior Recreation Ideas
- [For Seniors] Have Fun! A Collection of Group Game Recreation Ideas
- [For seniors] Turn negatives into positives: Ways to interact that inspire motivation
- [Evolving Daycare Services] A summary of engaging recreational initiatives that excite older adults
- [For Seniors] What's in the Box? A Collection of Exciting Content Ideas
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- For Seniors: Fun Entertainment That Excites at Nursing Homes
- [For Seniors] Fun Riddles That Stimulate the Brain
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Day Service: A Collection of Fun Event Ideas
- [For Seniors] A Collection of Fun Classic Caregiving Activities
- Recommended recreational activities to help seniors enjoy their time in care facilities
- Liven up the Respect-for-the-Aged gathering: A roundup of recreational activities everyone can enjoy.
[For Seniors] Add Fun to Everyday Life: A Summary of Activity Care Planning Ideas (1–10)
Spring-searching walk recreation
To truly feel the changing seasons, the best thing is to look around outside—you can clearly sense temperature shifts from nature itself.
This recreation incorporates relaxation by encouraging participants to search for seasonal elements during a walk.
Rather than focusing on the game-like aspects, it’s more important to experience the season: have participants carefully scan the surroundings for things unique to that time of year.
Let them relax by connecting with nature, and enjoy the activity with an eye on their concentration as they observe their environment closely.
Mito Komon Exercise
This is an exercise routine that moves the whole body to the theme song of Mito Kōmon, a staple of period dramas.
Because it uses a song everyone knows, the music itself is enjoyable.
Despite its powerful feel, the song’s gentle tempo is another key point; moving your body while catching the rhythm helps you generate strength.
Once you get used to moving along with the music, doing it while singing is also recommended, as it is expected to help improve cognitive function.
Funny Clapping Exercise
Clapping exercises where everyone follows the model in the same way can stimulate the brain by requiring you to judge movements from the example.
As you proceed with clapping in various rhythms, people are likely to become more aware of the speed of their movements and how much force they use.
It’s also recommended to speed up the clapping and then stop suddenly—you might even get some laughs when seeing whether everyone can truly freeze their movement at that moment.
In addition to focusing on the model and controlling speed and force, patting the body can also help promote blood circulation.
[For Seniors] Add enjoyment to everyday life: A compilation of activity care plans (11–20)
365-Step March Exercise
This is about moving your body energetically to the rhythm of Kiyoko Suizenji’s song “365-Step March.” By matching the powerful yet steady tempo characteristic of a march, you can put real strength into the exercises.
The routine mainly involves moving the upper body while seated in a chair, and by keeping proper posture in mind, it can lead to a full-body workout.
Incorporating steps and hand claps, and even singing along as you go, will make it more enjoyable to move—highly recommended.
duct tape rose
A vivid rose with appealing three-dimensionality made using duct tape.
You’ll craft individual petals and then assemble them, so it really tests your focus on detailed handwork.
It’s important to leave adhesive areas on the petal and stem pieces; aligning these while wrapping them around a bamboo skewer gradually forms a natural rose shape.
Don’t just wrap tightly—be mindful of how the petals spread as you wrap.
That little bit of technique is key to maintaining concentration and achieving a beautiful result.
Apple Song Exercise
While singing “The Apple Song” (Ringo no Uta), which is remembered as the first hit song after the war, this activity involves moving the body slowly.
The song has a uniquely calm atmosphere, so it gives the impression that you can move at an unhurried pace.
The movements mainly focus on the upper body, but by adding steps and singing, you can also stimulate brain activity.
Even if you’ve heard the song before, you might not remember the lyrics perfectly, so in that case, following along with the lyrics also adds a focus and concentration element.
Milk carton tower
This is a game where players compete to see how high they can stack cross-section slices of milk cartons within a time limit.
Since you’re stacking square cartons, your strategy—such as the angle at which you place each piece—and your ability to concentrate are put to the test.
The time limit is a key element: balancing speed with accuracy can help stimulate the brain.
If the carton widths are random, choosing which pieces to use also demands focus, making it an even more challenging and enjoyable experience.