Recommended recreational activities to help seniors enjoy their time in care facilities

tea party

Spring Tea Gathering: At Okayama's Special Nursing Homes Nishi-Umi-so and Kenro-en

A tea gathering is an event where guests are entertained with tea, and it’s often associated with being held in harmony with each season.

This concept hosts the tea gathering with the current season as its theme, inviting guests to gently sense the transition of the seasons.

Seasonal sweets and surrounding decorations are key points for conveying the time of year, so let’s be attentive not only to how the tea is prepared but also to these details.

It’s also recommended to recreate tea ceremony etiquette as much as possible, and for those with experience, to have them try preparing the tea themselves.

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kappamaki

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karuta (traditional Japanese playing cards)

[Senior Recreation] Rec Craftsman Series Part 195: 'Song Karuta' [Songs/Lyrics/Intros/Quiz/Karaoke/Brain Training]

Karuta is a game where you listen to the reading cards and compete to grab the picture cards.

It’s recommended for people with dementia because it stimulates hearing and sight.

When playing with a large group, commercially available karuta sets may be a bit small, so it could be fun to make your own sets together, such as a “Popular Songs Karuta” or a “National Travel Karuta.” Karuta used to be a classic New Year’s pastime, and many older adults likely have one or two memories connected to it.

It would be wonderful to enjoy karuta along with those memories and the conversations they bring.

Goldfish Game

Goldfish game #nursingCare #nursingHome #careFacility #recreation #rec #elderly #game #KitasunaHome #dayService

At festival stalls, there’s usually a goldfish scooping game, right? Besides scooping, here’s a fun game that uses goldfish as the theme.

Two people hold the ends of a face towel, and place a goldfish plushie or a crafted goldfish on the towel.

While shaking the towel, they toss the goldfish into a basket that’s been set up in advance.

Assign points based on the size of the basket and the distance to the basket.

This innovative goldfish game should be enjoyable for older adults as well.

It also seems like it would be exciting to play as teams.

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Nakajima Junko

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fruit

What's inside the box?

Because fruit is sometimes sold as cut pieces and people tend to focus on flavor, we may not pay much attention to appearance or how it feels to the touch.

But can we tell what fruit it is just from the sensation of touching it? Since the texture varies greatly by type of fruit, the choice of which ones to use will likely affect both the accuracy rate and the reactions.

Most fruits basically feel smooth, so to introduce contrast, adding something like pineapple is recommended.

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kappamaki

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Kendama

The familiar “What’s in the box?”

The kendama’s unique shape, with the ball and handle connected by a string, seems like a promising hint.

Whether someone has handled one before, and how familiar they are with the toy, would likely affect the accuracy rate.

Since it’s hard to identify it from the feel of the wood alone, it might be better to touch and check the shape as you go.

If the shape and feel still don’t give it away, hints like “New Year,” “toy,” or playing with a ball might help some people figure it out.

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kappamaki

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Korokoro Push Game

[Cheerful Rec 🏀] Rolling Push Game #CheerfulManager

It’s a game where you use a stick to keep balls from falling as they roll toward you.

Since the field where the balls roll is far away, your ability to control a long stick that can effectively transfer force to the balls is put to the test.

The rules increase the number of balls gradually over time, which adds a decision-making element about which ball to tap.

It’s a game that can train various skills—judgment, speed, control, and how you apply force—by keeping all these factors in mind.

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Shiritori

Shiritori Anywhere

Shiritori, a word game many of us have played since childhood, is also a recommended recreation for people with dementia.

One of its strengths is how easy it is—no materials or preparation required.

It’s handy for filling small pockets of time, like on the bus when going out to the suburbs.

Another plus is that you can adjust the difficulty to match the person’s cognitive level.

You can customize freely with rules like “three-letter words only” or “food items only.” You could also set a goal, such as “finish after connecting 50 words.”