[For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
Have fun moving your body together while giving your brain a workout, too! If you’re looking for games that train balance, indoor recreation is highly recommended.
We’ll introduce ideas you can fully enjoy even while seated, such as the Chopstick Pick-Up Game, the Balance UFO Game, and Ping-Pong Ball Transfer.
In particular, the actions of carefully pulling out chopsticks and placing items on a disc naturally build concentration and a sense of balance.
These ideas are perfect for seniors to enjoy together, so why not give them a try?
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- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [For Seniors] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [For Seniors] Enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic: Seated activities
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [November Health Topic] Indoor Recreation Ideas for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
Finger play that trains dexterity and the brain at the same time (1–10)
2525 calisthenics
Let me introduce a finger exercise that also helps with brain training and fall prevention.
While saying “Niko niko nī,” you raise two fingers and five fingers.
You can add hand claps between raising the fingers, and make 2 and 5 with the fingers on each hand separately.
Mixing different movements increases the difficulty, right? Thinking about multiple things activates the brain.
Moreover, doing two or three things at the same time is said to help prevent falls.
As we get older, we tend to laugh less, but it seems this exercise can also help bring out richer facial expressions.
Plastic Bottle Cap Scavenger Hunt
It’s a game where lots of paper cups are lined up upside down, and you try to find the one with a red plastic bottle cap hidden underneath.
You split into teams and compete.
Each team discusses where the red bottle cap would be hard to find and then hides it under the other team’s paper cups.
Players take turns flipping cups over one by one, and the team that finds the red cap first wins.
All you do is pick up paper cups, but it’s a bit thrilling—like a treasure hunt.
Count numbers alternately
Aren’t there many senior and welfare facilities that incorporate finger exercises? Counting with your fingers is said to be a simple yet very profound exercise.
Make a fist with one hand and, with the other hand, raise the same number of fingers as the number you say out loud.
Alternate between left and right.
Once you get used to it, try adding movements such as clapping in between or crossing your hands.
This increases the difficulty.
Performing multiple actions at the same time is also said to help prevent falls.
Brain-training hand game drawing different shapes with each hand
In everyday life, we rarely make different movements with our left and right sides.
So when we do, the unfamiliar motions stimulate the brain and help activate it.
This time, try making a right triangle with the fingers of your right hand, and move the fingers of your left hand up and down.
It’s a simple motion, but surprisingly challenging.
Your right and left fingers might end up doing the same thing.
Still, by thinking through the movements, you activate your brain.
When you’re doing something you’re used to, the brain supposedly doesn’t get activated.
Rock, paper, scissors
Movements of the hands and fingers are closely connected to the brain’s nerves, so they have a deep relationship.
It’s said that moving the hands and fingers can help prevent dementia and reduce the risk of falls.
Many senior care facilities likely incorporate activities that move the fingers, such as the rock–paper–scissors exercise.
So, let’s add a little twist to your usual finger exercises.
Try doing rock–paper–scissors gradually faster, or go in reverse—paper, scissors, rock—while speeding up.
It’s also great to add handclaps in between, or make a fox shape with your hand.
It’s okay to make mistakes with this exercise, and not doing it perfectly will probably bring some laughs.
It’s a finger workout you can enjoy while having fun.
Gesture Game
Spring is the season when warmth returns, so I think more animals will start showing their faces outside.
This is a classic gesture game where you express various things—centered around such animals—through movement and have the people around you guess what they are.
It seems like it would be exciting to see each person’s unique way of thinking, such as what aspects of each theme they focus on and how they express them through movement.
Since it’s important to clearly imagine the theme, including the movements, the game helps develop creativity and concentration.
Finger-play exercises (11–20) that train both dexterity and the brain simultaneously
Gift-stuffing game
This is a game where players compete to see how many presents they can stuff into their own bag within a time limit, taking them from a table.
When pushing the presents in, they should use force while still being careful not to tear the bag—encouraging awareness of strength control.
To keep players from focusing only on the simple act of stuffing, it’s recommended to make the presents colorful so the visuals are enjoyable too.
If you randomize the sizes and shapes of the presents, you can also add an element of judgment in choosing which ones to put in the bag.