[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?
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [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
Senior games using beanbags (11–20)
Beanbag Five-in-a-Row
A gomoku game using beanbags, designed with large, easy-to-see visuals.
Players take turns tossing beanbags toward the grid spaces where they want to place a piece, and the first to make a line of five wins.
While it may seem difficult to land a beanbag precisely on the target space, a toss that misses a square isn’t invalid—people nearby can move it to the intended spot.
The goal is to enjoy gomoku while moving your body by tossing beanbags at the desired locations.
It’s a game that combines the strategic thinking of gomoku with physical activity.
beanbags
Beanbags used in various games can feel subtly different depending on the fabric and the filling.
How about testing whether you can accurately identify them under such varying conditions? Because it’s something we casually use, you might find yourself picturing it but unable to recall its name.
It’s also fun to mix beanbags of different weights and textures on purpose, so the differences in feel make people hesitate over their answers.
Beanbag darts
It’s “Beanbag Darts,” where you place a large target on the floor and toss beanbags into it.
Like regular darts, assign points to the target: the center is high-scoring, and the farther you go toward the outer rings, the lower the points.
Decide how many beanbags each player gets, then simply toss them at the target—this can be played while seated.
The player with the highest score wins.
It’s also fun to play multiple rounds and compete on total points.
beanbag kicking
If you’re looking for a leg exercise activity, how about “beanbag kicking”? Arrange sheets of paper with point values in a vertical line, place a chair on the opposite side, and sit down.
Then balance a beanbag on the top of your foot and kick it up so it lands on one of the point sheets.
Decide how many beanbags each person gets to kick; the player with the highest total score wins.
If balancing the beanbag on your foot is difficult, you can place it on the floor and kick it with your toes instead.
If you want to increase the amount of exercise, add more beanbags.
Adjust the rules to suit the players.
Stacking an otedama box
This game involves tossing beanbags and stacking them on top of boxes.
Instead of simply throwing onto a flat box, you aim for the empty spaces among stacked boxes.
Place the largest box on the bottom, then stack more boxes on top.
Each box has a different point value written on it, and you earn that many points for each beanbag you place on it.
If you’re playing in teams, it’s helpful to use different colors of beanbags for each team.
Can you land one on the small, high-scoring space at the very top?
pole toppling
Beanbags, which are very popular in games for seniors, shine in a game called “Stick Tumble.” It’s the beanbag version of the beach game where you build a sand mound, plant a stick, and scrape away the sand around it.
You gather lots of beanbags, squeeze them tightly together to form a mound, and stand a stick in the center.
Players then take turns removing one beanbag each.
The person who causes the stick to fall loses.
Kick Darts
This is a game where you sit in a chair and kick a beanbag into the air, aiming to land it on a high-scoring area of the dartboard in front of you.
It helps develop the leg strength needed to send the beanbag to a distant dartboard and the ability to control force to reach the target spot.
The farther the dartboard is, the more power is required, so have participants try at distances suited to their stamina and muscle strength.
If you run it as a face-to-face match, players will likely focus even more as they try to beat their opponent.