[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] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- [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
Brain-training effects with brain teasers and quizzes (1–10)
The Character Discovery Game
It’s a game where you search for a single character in a newspaper.
Newspapers are filled with lots of characters and text.
For example, you look for the character “の” and circle each one you find; the person who finds the most “の” wins.
Each person takes half of a newspaper, and at the signal to start, you begin spotting the character and circling it.
Carefully searching for just one character among all the tiny, numerous characters takes persistence, but it’s an excellent game for brain training.
Hiragana Rearrangement Quiz
It’s a word rearrangement game where you create words from randomly ordered letters.
At first glance, doesn’t it feel like your brain goes into a brief panic? The more you rush, the harder it feels, so take your time and look at the letters calmly.
Three to four letters might be just right.
Once you get used to it, try increasing the number of letters—the difficulty goes up, making it even more fun.
Brain training effects with mind-challenging games and quizzes (11–20)
Quick brain training, “Ready, set!” game
Here’s a simple brain-training game you can do while seated, with no prior preparation.
Pair up in twos.
When one person calls out a number—like “Ready, five!”—both of you raise your hands or feet.
If the total number of raised hands and feet matches the number that was called, you’re correct.
You can make it more game-like by intentionally raising more hands or feet to throw off your partner’s guess, and enjoy training your brain as you play.
It also helps to create a cheerful atmosphere where mistakes lead to laughter.
Since raising hands and feet doubles as light exercise, try it together with older adults.
Matching game
This is a game where you look at the pictures drawn on the bottoms of arranged paper cups and find and match the ones with the same picture.
By searching for matching pictures, you can train concentration, and by quickly stacking the paper cups, you can also encourage awareness of hand movements.
It’s also important to decide what kind of pictures to draw; for example, limiting them to a spring theme lets players enjoy the game visually as well.
Adding trick elements, such as pictures that look similar but are slightly different, is recommended, as it helps players focus even more on their hands.
Whiteboard Game
Many of you are probably considering recreational activities that use a whiteboard.
Here are some unusual games you can play with one.
The first is a word-finding game: from a grid of Japanese syllables (gojūon) written on the whiteboard, players identify the missing ones.
For smooth play, the presenter should decide in advance which characters to omit.
Another recommendation is a variation where players look for missing numbers instead.
Be sure to write the letters and numbers large so they’re easy to see.
A game where you associate kanji with pictures
Let’s look at a picture and use our imagination! Here’s an idea for a game where you associate kanji with a picture.
It’s said to be popular as a way to help prevent dementia.
For example, prepare an illustration showing three trees in a row and think about which kanji it represents.
The answer is “森” (mori, meaning “forest”).
In this way, it’s a simple and fun game where you look at an illustration and answer with the kanji that fits.
Since it makes you think, you’ll likely feel refreshed when you figure out the answer! Give it a try!
Brain training?! Ear training? Listen closely
Listening skills are essential for enjoying conversations.
“Ear training” helps you develop them.
While it doesn’t improve your hearing ability itself, it involves training yourself to listen carefully.
One exercise I particularly recommend is distinguishing between similar sentences.
For example: “Eat strawberries” and “Eat mandarins.” Record these, play them simultaneously, and see if you can correctly tell them apart.
Once you get used to it, try increasing the length of the sentences.
A key tip when creating prompts is to make part of the sentences the same.