[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] Handmade Game Ideas You Can Enjoy (81–90)
Makimaki Apple Game
Let me introduce a recreation activity that makes great use of the hands and wrists: the Rolling Apple Game.
Attach a stick to a sheet of paper with tape, and place an apple on the paper.
Your goal is to bring the apple to your feet using only the motion of winding the stick—pulling is not allowed, so the winding action is key.
You need to use your fingertips and wrists, and if you wind too fast the apple will fall off, so you must decide whether to prioritize speed or focus on keeping the apple from falling.
Watching the apple make its way toward you is fun in itself, so spectators can’t help but cheer.
It’s enjoyable while also training the fingers and hands, making it a great recommendation for recreational activities in senior facilities.
Balance game
Using your fingertips while also using your head for balance—here’s a balance game to try.
All you need is a helmet, a tray, and beanbags.
You can substitute the helmet with something else.
Place the tray on top of the helmet, then put the beanbags on the tray.
The key is to keep an eye on the overall balance so it doesn’t tip to one side.
Decide whether to place each beanbag slowly or quickly and where exactly to put it.
This engages the upper limbs from fingertips to shoulders, and the brain’s decision-making processes, making it a promising brain-training activity to help prevent cognitive decline.
It’s simple, yet the setup changes every time, so you can enjoy it without getting bored.
Pita-to Ball
Here’s a game using a ball that you can play on a table.
Apply strips of tape from one end of the table, placing the point values on top and keeping the sticky side facing up.
From the opposite end of the table, have older adults roll a rubber ball.
If the ball reaches near a point value, it will stop thanks to the adhesive tape.
Making the higher scores farther from the rolling side makes the game more exciting.
Grasping and rolling the rubber ball also helps train the fingers and hands.
It’s a fun way to strengthen the hands and fingers.
Milk Carton Stacking Game
Introducing a milk carton stacking game you can enjoy with just a little preparation.
All you need are milk cartons.
Cut the cartons into many ring-shaped slices a few centimeters wide.
Stack the square-ring pieces as high as you can without letting them fall.
You can start with a “Ready, go!” or simply stack at your own pace—both are fun.
Deciding where to hold each piece, how to place it, and adjusting while watching the balance engages upper-limb movement as well as thinking and judgment, making it great brain training.
It’s easy to prepare and enjoyable with any number of players, from a small group to a larger one, which is part of its appeal.
Total Concentration PET-bottle Kendama
Did you know that May 14 is Kendama Day? It’s said that when older adults play kendama, it brings back memories and activates the brain.
Also, moving the arms and fingertips and guiding the body to a target position is very good for both the brain and the body.
Why not try making this kendama yourself and playing with it? It’s easy to make: tie a string to the opening of a plastic bottle, and attach a paper cup to the other end of the string.
That’s it! Hold the bottle by the body and try to catch the opening side with the paper cup to play.
Milk carton tower
This is a game where players compete to see how high they can stack cross-section slices of milk cartons within a time limit.
Since you’re stacking square cartons, your strategy—such as the angle at which you place each piece—and your ability to concentrate are put to the test.
The time limit is a key element: balancing speed with accuracy can help stimulate the brain.
If the carton widths are random, choosing which pieces to use also demands focus, making it an even more challenging and enjoyable experience.
Picture-matching puzzle from a 100-yen shop
It’s a puzzle game where you match picture tiles you have on hand to the same pictures shown in a grid.
Making it is simple: attach pictures to the compartments of a sectioned case, and attach the same pictures to plastic bottle caps.
A key point is that the bottle caps are just slightly larger than the grid squares—pressing them into the squares also helps train finger dexterity.
Because the activity develops decision-making by having players find matches based on the grid’s pictures, it’s also recommended to mix in some dummy pictures that don’t appear in the grid.