[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
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- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
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- [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
Simple DIY recreation using newspaper (1–10)
Newspaper juggling
Let’s enjoy a fun fall-prevention activity with chopstick-and-newspaper ring juggling! Take a sheet of newspaper and crumple it tightly from one edge, twisting it into a long, thin rod, then form it into a ring.
Firmly secure the joint by compressing it well or fixing it with cellophane tape.
Once your ring is ready, grab a pair of chopsticks and spin the ring around.
The keys are smooth wrist rotations and adjusting how much force you use.
Be careful not to spin too fast, or it may fly off.
This recreation also helps stimulate the brain, making it perfect for activities in senior care facilities.
Give it a try!
Newspaper Dart
Let me introduce Newspaper Darts.
Cut holes—circles, triangles, squares, etc.—into a large cardboard box and assign points to each.
To prevent the edges of the holes from tearing, it’s a good idea to reinforce them with vinyl tape or similar.
Roll up sheets of newspaper tightly to make long, thin sticks.
This recreation uses those newspaper sticks as darts! Compete by totaling the points of the holes you throw them into.
It’ll be exciting as a team competition, too! It’s a game that involves raising your arm and concentrating to aim for the holes—perfect as a recreation activity in senior care facilities.
Ball Grabbing Game
Let’s play a game where you grab balls using newspaper.
All the tools used in the game are made from newspaper.
Make the balls by crumpling newspaper into a sphere, and make the grabbing sticks out of newspaper as well.
You can create everything you need for the game using everyday materials.
Place several balls inside a circle, grab them with the stick, and put them into a basket.
If you set a time limit, the game gets more exciting.
Forming teams and competing for the best time will make it even more fun.
Daruma-otoshi
Many of you may have played Daruma Otoshi when you were children.
This version is a simple Daruma Otoshi you can make using empty boxes and newspaper.
Stack empty tissue boxes to form the “daruma,” then use a ball of rolled-up newspaper to strike and knock out the boxes one by one from the bottom.
The game ends when the stack collapses, and you compete to see how many boxes you can remove.
You might hesitate when it looks like the boxes are about to fall, but momentum is key.
Take the plunge and give the box a sharp, clean strike!
Newspaper-pulling-with-feet game
Walking is something we do so routinely that it can become “automatic.” When that happens, we stop paying attention and the risk of falling increases.
This activity uses a game to help you learn how to move your feet and develop the sensation of gripping the floor with your toes.
Sit in a chair and place a long strip of connected newspaper at your feet.
At the start signal, use forward-and-back movements of your feet to pull the newspaper toward you.
As you play, explore what works best for you: drawing it in little by little with small motions, or pulling it in quickly with bigger movements.
After trying with each foot separately, challenge yourself to use only your toes.
Focusing on this more delicate control is also recommended.
Simple handmade recreations using newspaper (11–20)
Ghost Scooping Game
Here’s a game that treats plastic bags like little ghosts.
Have older adults sit in chairs and use a stick made from newspaper to scoop up plastic bags placed on the floor.
Then have them place the scooped bags into a bowl set on the chair.
This game helps strengthen the biceps on the front of the upper arm.
It’s perfect for people who find it difficult to bring food to their mouth with a spoon, too.
Since it uses familiar items, it’s easy to do in short breaks.
Because they’re “ghosts,” it could be fun to add eyes and a mouth to the plastic bags.
It’s also great as a Halloween-season activity.
tug-of-war
Pull-the-paper is a simple game where you just tug on a sheet of newspaper.
Sit facing each other and hold the newspaper by its two ends.
At the start signal, both of you pull at once.
The newspaper will of course tear, but the winner is the one who ends up with the larger total area of newspaper.
There are probably tricks to how you pull and how you hold it, so it’s a good idea to play a few times and get the hang of it.
It doesn’t seem like brute force alone will do the trick.