[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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- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- 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
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
- [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 (21–30)
Halloween ball toss game
Participants form a circle and pass a balloon around while trying to get it into the Halloween tower in the center.
Be careful not to drop the balloon—watch the timing and aim for the tower.
When a balloon goes into the tower, flip over one panel on the whiteboard and try to guess the hidden word.
If you think you know the answer, raise your hand and check it.
If the answer is wrong, put the balloon into the tower again, flip another panel, and gather more clues.
Easy Homemade Halloween Ring Toss
How about enjoying a ring toss as a Halloween game? The rules are the same as usual, but you decorate the targets with a Halloween theme.
In this idea, toilet paper rolls are turned into ghost targets, and two pipe cleaners are twisted together to make the rings.
Make several targets and glue them onto a base.
Just cut slits along the edge of each roll, fold them outward, and attach them to construction paper.
Using purple and orange pipe cleaners can make it feel even more Halloween-like.
[For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games (31–40)
Paper Cup Fishing Game – Halloween
This is a game where you use an essential Halloween ghost mascot to fish up another Halloween essential: monster mascots.
The ghost mascot, which serves as the fishing rod, is covered all over with fluttering fabric, but its base is a paper cup with a magnet hidden inside.
You use this to fish up the other mascots.
The target mascots are made by attaching items like colored twist ties that stick to the magnet.
How easily they get caught depends on how strongly they’re attracted to the magnet, so fine-tuning that is the key to balancing the gameplay.
Making ornaments with origami
This is a craft activity where you attach various autumn-themed items made from origami onto a board to create an autumnal scene.
Rather than only making the specified items, it’s recommended to think about what fruits and plants are associated with autumn and incorporate those into your designs.
When making each motif, techniques like adding slits and layering are key—by giving the pieces a three-dimensional feel, the fun really stands out.
Your sense of style will also be put to the test in choosing which motifs to include and where to place them.
Moon-viewing game
Many people probably think that otsukimi is about enjoying the full moon in autumn.
However, strictly speaking, the fifteenth night isn’t always a full moon.
That’s because it’s based on the night of the 15th day of the 8th month in the old lunar calendar.
Just a little tidbit about moon viewing.
Enjoying a game themed around otsukimi also feels wonderfully autumnal.
You could play a game where you roll dumplings into perfect spheres, hold a contest for stylishly arranging pampas grass, or have everyone fold rabbit origami—there are plenty of fun ideas.
Pet bottle bowling could be a hit too, with the bowling ball as the moon and the pins standing in for pampas grass!
Chestnuts from the fire game
When it comes to autumn delicacies, chestnuts are one of the classics, and just the sight of picking chestnuts from among fallen leaves evokes the season, doesn’t it? This is a game everyone can enjoy, themed around that very situation of brushing aside leaves to find chestnuts.
Line a cardboard box with crumpled newspaper, place capsules inside to represent chestnuts, and use tongs to search for them.
Since you use only the hand holding the tongs to move the newspaper aside, smooth wrist movements are key.
Also, inside the chestnut capsules are notes that change the point values, adding an element of strategy to the fun.
Spot the differences
Spot-the-difference is a game where you compare two similar pictures and look for small differences.
The key point here is that the illustrations are autumn-themed, so while sharpening your focus to identify the differences, you can also soak in the seasonal atmosphere.
The pictures feature various autumnal elements, but they aren’t necessarily the differences, so don’t be misled—compare the entire images carefully.
It’s said there are various techniques, such as comparing block by block or taking a soft-focus look at the whole, so try tackling it in your own way.