[For Seniors] Handmade Game Ideas You Can Enjoy
Games and recreational activities are essential in senior facilities like day-care centers.
In this article, we introduce handmade games you can enjoy.
Some are made using recycled materials like milk cartons and newspapers, while others use items you can get at 100-yen shops, such as paper cups and disposable chopsticks.
All of them involve thinking, competing, and playing, so they serve as brain training—and best of all, they foster communication.
In team competitions, everyone might get fired up, focus on the game, and end up in a frenzy!
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[For Seniors] DIY Game Ideas You Can Enjoy (61–70)
Search and Combine! Foot-Foot Puzzle
This is a puzzle game where players combine various illustrations split into heads and feet to recreate the original form.
If the combined parts don’t feel cohesive, it’s hard to recognize the answer, so each part should be drawn in one continuous flow for consistency.
While aiming for the original form is an easy-to-understand rule, it can also be fun to deliberately aim for interesting shapes among the incorrect combinations.
Incorporating not only animals and people but also objects makes it easier to create amusing shapes.
[For Seniors] Handmade Game Ideas You Can Enjoy (71–80)
A 3D puzzle made from a milk carton
This activity involves making identical parts from milk cartons and having fun by combining the finished pieces in different ways.
It’s important to measure carefully so the parts are the same size; that consistency contributes to a unified look when they’re lined up and good balance when they’re stacked.
Try various games—like creating patterns by arranging the pieces or competing to see who can stack them the highest—to give the brain a solid workout.
You can also make use of the package designs and turn it into a game where you aim to reconstruct the original shape; that raises the difficulty level and is highly recommended.
Milk Carton Bowling
Let’s make bowling pins using milk cartons! It doesn’t have to be milk—any type of drink carton is fine.
Once the carton is empty, rinse the inside and reassemble it back into its original shape.
Before sealing the top, add a marble or a small amount of water as a weight.
Then decorate it however you like with construction paper, origami paper, or stickers, and you’re done! For the ball, crumpled newspaper or flyers, or a plastic play ball, are great options.
Get Excited! Beanbag Toss Bingo Game
It’s a cooperative game where everyone aims for bingo, incorporating the action of tossing beanbags.
Nine baskets are placed in the center of a seated circle, and players throw beanbags to land them on top of each basket.
If you place five or more beanbags, you clear that basket, and you work toward bingo using the baskets you’ve cleared.
In addition to adjusting the strength of each throw, be sure to focus on cooperating so your beanbags don’t collide with your teammates’.
It’s a game that lets everyone enjoy striving for a common goal while getting plenty of physical activity.
Association card game
It’s a game that tests your imagination and creativity by thinking of things associated with keywords written on cards.
You prepare three types of cards that represent “color,” “characteristic,” and “thing,” and place one card from each category on the table.
Then you think of something that fits all the conditions shown on the cards and share your answer.
Even a prompt like “a white, soft creature” could lead to multiple answers such as “rabbit” or “sheep,” so it could also be fun to compete on how many ideas you can come up with.
Let’s look for some fish and try catching them!
The fish-finding game played as a recreation activity for older adults is always a big hit.
It’s easy to enjoy not only for those who love fishing, but also for complete beginners.
The game involves placing various fish on a table and catching them with a rod.
A staff member calls out the name of a fish on the table, and the older adults look for it.
Because it requires split-second decisions, it helps develop their powers of observation.
Through this game, older adults can learn fish names, and it also serves as brain training, so it’s highly recommended.
PET bottle cap grab game
Here’s a game that uses plastic bottle caps to train fingertip skills.
Pick up the caps and drop them into paper cups.
However, you’ll use clothespins to grab the caps.
Handling clothespins requires a certain amount of strength.
Simply using them can also improve fine motor skills by encouraging dexterous finger movements.
Let’s use our fingertips not only for a brain-training effect but also to build finger and hand strength.
Turning it into a game may allow older adults to train while having fun.
Please give it a try!
