[For Staff] Energize Your Nursing Home Respect-for-the-Aged Day! Performance Ideas Full of Laughter and Emotion
Entertainment for Respect-for-the-Aged Day is a wonderful opportunity for residents and staff to come together as one.
Here are some fun ideas that are sure to make everyone smile.
From dances and two-person kyogen-style skits (futari-baori) to magic shows, every act will warm the hearts of both the audience and the participants.
You can choose anything from simple to more elaborate performances to suit your facility’s atmosphere.
The time seniors and staff spend planning and practicing together will surely become cherished memories.
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[For Staff] Liven Up Your Care Facility’s Respect-for-the-Aged Day! Ideas for Performances Full of Laughter and Emotion (31–40)
Lucky Daruma Dance
When it comes to daruma dolls, they’re strongly associated with good luck, and just having one there makes it feel like a celebration.
How about wearing a costume inspired by a daruma and expressing celebration and joy through dance? A big daruma costume can be hard to move in, so you can make people laugh by showing how you do your best to dance in it.
Since a daruma that’s hard to move in can lead to a simple, limited dance, we recommend appearing as a set with a more mobile costume as well.
Hanagasa Ondo
The Hanagasa Ondo is danced while holding hats decorated with artificial flowers.
The Hanagasa Ondo is also the main attraction of the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, which is held every summer in Yamagata Prefecture.
Incidentally, the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival is one of the four major festivals of the Tohoku region.
The Hanagasa Ondo, danced with beautiful flowered hats, is visually stunning and would make a wonderful performance.
Watching the Hanagasa Ondo while inviting older adults to clap along is likely to liven things up.
Some seniors may have danced it in the past, and others may feel nostalgic watching the performance.
It could even spark conversations from there.
Longevity Celebration Movie
Words given by cherished people—such as family members and grandchildren—are the most delightful for older adults.
How about planning a celebratory longevity video as a performance for Respect for the Aged Day? Of course, creating a video filled with congratulatory messages from the facility staff would be wonderful, too! You could include nostalgic photos along with words of thanks and celebration.
A surprise, moving celebratory video may bring tears of joy.
It’s also a great opportunity to express feelings that are hard to say in everyday life!
loach scooping
Dojo-sukui is a dance that can be called a traditional performing art, performed to the folk song “Yasugibushi” from Yasugi City in Shimane Prefecture.
With comical movements that suggest bending low at the waist to scoop up loaches, it expresses a sense of fun.
The costume is important for creating its distinctive atmosphere—wear a tenugui headcloth and a coin-shaped nose piece (modeled after an old one-mon coin), among other details.
While the loach-scooping motion is the classic motif, there are actually no fixed steps, so the performer’s ad-libbing is put to the test.
True or False Quiz
How about trying a true-or-false quiz that everyone—from children to adults—can enjoy? If you have a large group, you can play in a spacious area by dividing people into O and X sides.
But it’s often difficult for older participants to move around, right? In that case, you can make O and X cards, hand them out, and have people raise them while staying in place.
The quiz content can be general trivia, or since it’s Respect for the Aged Day, you could prepare health-related questions to encourage people to think about their well-being.
[For Staff] Liven Up Your Nursing Home’s Respect-for-the-Aged Day! Entertaining and Moving Performance Ideas (41–50)
Impersonation show
A impersonation show is an act that anyone can enjoy, not just seniors.
From serious singing impressions to more exaggerated ones, staff can use their personalities and strengths to delight participants.
However, the more familiar people are with the original, the more exciting it gets, so be sure to choose material that matches the generation.
It also works well as a quiz where participants guess who or what is being impersonated.
This makes it a recommended performance for a Christmas party.
sing a song
Songs, which have been closely connected to human life since ancient times, are surely suitable as a presentation for an event honoring seniors.
Singing not only soothes the heart but also energizes, so it’s something they’ll enjoy.
If you’re unsure what to choose, songs that have been beloved for generations or pieces that match the listeners’ age group—especially ones everyone can sing together—are recommended.
If you sing with feeling, you’re sure to bring smiles; it’s a heartwarming activity that never fails.