[For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games
We’d like to introduce autumn-themed activities and recreation games for seniors.
Autumn brings pleasant weather that makes you want to go out.
It’s great if you can just decide, “Alright, let’s go!” and head out, but some people find it difficult to go out as they’d like.
So in this article, we’ll introduce enjoyable recreation games you can play indoors.
There are plenty of crafts and team-competition games that are useful in settings like day service centers, so please make good use of them.
Let’s play and feel the autumn season!
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- [For Seniors] Enjoy September’s Autumn Fun! A Collection of Craft, Game, and Exercise Ideas
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- September Health Topic: Introducing Recreational Activities That Capture the Feeling of Autumn’s Arrival
- [For Seniors] Simple crafts that feel like autumn: a fun creative activity
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- [October Health Topic] Introducing Recreational Activities for Seniors!
- [For Seniors] Liven Up Your Day Service! Fun Beanbag Toss Activity
- [For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
For Seniors: Fun Autumn Activities. Recreation Games (11–20)
Making pumpkin kintsuba
Many older people prefer traditional Japanese sweets over Western-style desserts.
How about making kintsuba using pumpkin, a classic autumn ingredient? Eating it will boost your energy, and cooking it yourself will stimulate your brain.
Warm the pumpkin, remove the skin, add sugar and salt, and mash it.
Shape it, then let it rest in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, mix tapioca flour, water, cake flour, and salt to make the batter that will form the outer coating of the kintsuba.
Take out the pumpkin, cut it to your preferred size, and dip it into the batter.
Lightly oil a frying pan and cook over low heat, carefully browning all sides; it’s recommended to grill each side twice.
Let’s make and enjoy this perfect autumn snack to lift your spirits!
Ghost Scooping Game
When it comes to autumn events, Halloween comes to mind, and its main stars are ghosts.
Imagine a plastic bag as a ghost and scoop it up with a stick made by rolling up newspaper.
The idea is that the plastic bag floating and drifting down through the air looks like a ghost! If you stick or draw a face on the bag, it adds even more atmosphere.
It’s fun whether you do it standing or while seated.
Whiteboard recreation: “What comes to mind when you think of [month]?”
![Whiteboard recreation: “What comes to mind when you think of [month]?”](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vfWtKohGKlE/sddefault.jpg)
Let’s play a game called “What comes to mind for [Month]?” using September, October, and November, which are generally considered autumn months.
For example, for September you might think of moon viewing, cosmos flowers, or chirping insects.
Please list about 10 items for each month.
And we won’t stop there—next, we’ll match each word with an onomatopoeia, that is, a sound word.
There are no right answers, so imagine different motions or sensations from each word and respond accordingly.
For example, for chirping insects you might write “leen-leen” (chirp-chirp), drawing out the sound.
You’ll imagine lots of things, so it’s great brain training!
Acorn spinning top
Speaking of autumn, there are lots of cute, round acorns, aren’t there? Let’s have some fun by turning those acorns into spinning tops! What you’ll need: acorns, toothpicks, an awl or screwdriver for making holes, and scissors.
The key when drilling the hole is to make it straight.
Also, since acorns can contain insects, it’s recommended to prep them by boiling and drying them beforehand.
Cosmos bouquet
Speaking of flowers that are at their best from September to October, cosmos come to mind with their vivid and beautiful pink, white, and yellow hues.
How about enjoying the beauty of cosmos at home as well? You can make them using origami paper, tissue paper, or construction paper.
The center of the flower—the stamens and pistil—is especially well crafted and looks beautiful.
Since they’re made of paper, the great thing is that you can enjoy the flowers for as long as you like!
Origami Mushroom and Pumpkin Wreath Making
Let’s make an autumn-themed wreath by folding origami mushrooms—one of fall’s seasonal delights—and pumpkins that appear at Halloween! Up to a certain point, both models follow the same folding steps.
In the final few steps, you can decide whether to turn it into a mushroom or a pumpkin, so you can keep your options open until the very end.
Make eight pieces of each, then assemble them into a ring to complete the wreath! For mushrooms, we recommend using origami paper with various patterns.
If you choose pumpkins, have fun drawing faces on them like Halloween jack-o’-lanterns.
[For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games (21–30)
Let’s grill some pacific saury!
This is a game that tests balance and fine motor skills, themed around sanma (Pacific saury), a classic autumn delicacy.
Inspired by the scene of grilling sanma on a mesh grate, players place paper sanma mascots onto a mesh set on top of paper cups.
Using chopsticks to place the fish on the mesh requires precise hand movements, and balancing where each fish goes is crucial.
To add excitement, you might also have players attempt it within a time limit to deliberately make them feel rushed.
