[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 (101–110)
Handmade Othello
Othello, as everyone knows.
This time, we’ll show you how to make a handmade version using plastic bottle caps.
Gather lots of caps in two colors and some cardboard.
Tape two caps of different colors back-to-back.
Draw a grid on the cardboard.
Then you can play just like traditional Othello.
The handmade pieces are easier to pick up, so even those who find fine finger movements difficult can enjoy the game.
Be sure to make it and give it a try!
Hexagonal Seven-Piece Origami Puzzle
It’s a puzzle game where hexagons are decorated with six colored triangles and arranged so that adjacent sides end up being the same color.
First, prepare seven hexagons folded from black origami and seven sets of triangles in six colors.
Then, carefully attach the triangles to the hexagons without repeating a color on the same hexagon, and the puzzle pieces are ready.
By figuring out how to arrange them so neighboring sides match in color and moving the pieces accordingly, it offers a solid brain workout.
Finger Dexterity and Coordination Training Goods
Isn’t the precise, delicate movement of chopsticks an important action in everyday life? This is a rehabilitation tool that trains fine finger movements through such chopstick motions.
First, prepare a wooden board and mark a border 1 centimeter inside the outer edge.
Insert pins with handles along the markings.
Once you’ve inserted a total of 16 pins, you’re ready to go.
Use disposable chopsticks to hook rubber bands onto the pins.
Freely loop colorful rubber bands around the pins to create various designs.
It also seems fun to use a sample as a reference and think about how to hook the bands to recreate it.
A plastic bottle that trains fine finger movements
To open a plastic bottle cap, you need a firm fingertip grip and precise rotational movements.
This product uses the bottle-opening motion to train your fingertips.
First, cut the bottle so that the connection between the cap and the body remains, then use screws to fix them onto a board.
Next, attach tape with letters or symbols to each cap, and it’s ready.
You can arrange the caps in the order of the Japanese syllabary or form specified words—by adding these thinking elements, you can effectively train both the brain and the fingertips.
Number puzzle
It’s a puzzle game where you use slits and folds on a sheet with numbers to line up four of the same number.
There are numbers on both sides of 12 squares—24 numbered faces in total—and there are three slits in the middle.
By cleverly folding and making good use of these slits, you complete square sets of four matching numbers in order, starting from the smallest number.
If you place the numbers incorrectly, the puzzle may become unsolvable, so be very careful to arrange them precisely when you create it.
Text Color Card Game
This is a karuta-style card game where players focus on the reading of the characters and the colors on the cards to find the one that matches what is read aloud.
It tests your ability to decide whether the cue refers to the character or the color, and your judgment in locating it among the cards in front of you—so your thinking speed is key.
Clear phrasing by the reader is also important; be mindful to use concise expressions like “the character is red and the color is green.” The more cards with the same character in different colors are mixed in, the harder it becomes to judge the correct answer, so it’s recommended to gradually increase the number of cards as players get used to the game.
[For Seniors] DIY Game Ideas You Can Enjoy (111–120)
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.