Various recreational activities are held daily at nursing care facilities such as day services to help maintain and improve physical function, relieve stress, and promote interaction with others.
However, many people may struggle with questions like: What kinds of activities will seniors actually enjoy? I can’t think of good ideas.
In this article, we introduce recreational activities that seniors can enjoy at care facilities.
We’ve gathered a variety of options, including light physical exercises, vocal activities, and hands-on crafting.
We hope you’ll use these ideas as inspiration for your daily recreational programs!
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Recommended Recreational Activities (1–10) for Seniors to Enjoy at Care Facilities
Letter rearrangement game
I’m sure there are many facilities that want to actively incorporate brain training.
However, we want to avoid brain training that older adults feel reluctant to do.
So how about trying a “letter rearrangement game”? Rearrange scattered hiragana to form words that have proper meaning.
Start simple with fewer characters, and gradually increase the number of characters.
Even if someone makes a small mistake while rearranging, the unexpected answer can be funny and spark laughter.
beanbags
Many people are familiar with otedama, a traditional Japanese juggling game.
Even simply holding one in one hand and tossing it involves multiple elements—throwing, watching, thinking, and grasping—making it a great activity for brain training and for exercising the fingers.
Start by getting used to the otedama: hold it and try tossing it.
Once you’re comfortable, increase the number—hold two with both hands, or try tossing three.
You can also enjoy it as a form of exercise by, for example, rotating one around your body while holding it, or placing one on your foot, kicking it up, and catching it.
Intro Quiz
How about trying an intro quiz that can also help train the brain? It’s a game you often see on variety shows, where you listen only to the intro of a song and guess the title.
A buzzer would definitely add excitement, but you can also have people raise their hands and answer when they know it.
Or you could hand a microphone to the person who knows it and have them sing the opening lines! If it’s too difficult, try playing a slightly longer intro or giving hints to keep it fun.
karaoke
How about trying karaoke that everyone can get excited about together? There’s a unique thrill you can only experience with karaoke—the exhilaration of holding a mic and singing loudly in front of others! Of course, some people might feel a bit embarrassed or not comfortable singing in public.
In that case, they can take on the role of hyping things up by adding so-called “noise-makers” like tambourines or maracas.
Mixing in different sounds really amps up the fun.
Let’s not leave it to just the person holding the mic—let’s all sing and have a great time together!
Bowling
Many people probably used to go to bowling alleys often when they were young.
How about incorporating bowling as a recreational activity that you can enjoy with things you have on hand? Use plastic bottles as bowling pins and a light, easy-to-throw rubber ball as the bowling ball.
You can set up the pins like real bowling and throw twice, counting how many pins you knock down, or assign scores to each plastic bottle and compete for the highest total score.
Filling the plastic bottles with water makes them harder to knock down and increases the game’s difficulty.
origami
Origami is easy to incorporate because all you need is origami paper, making it a familiar and accessible activity for older adults.
Even though we simply call it origami, there are many ways to enjoy it—from very simple models you can fold quickly to complex, three-dimensional creations—with a wide range of folding techniques.
Thinking through the sequence of steps and using fine finger movements can provide brain-training benefits, making it an effective activity for dementia prevention as well.
It’s also recommended to display the finished pieces on the wall.
ball toss (traditional Japanese beanbag/ball-throwing game)
Tamaire, the ball-toss game familiar from school sports days, is also a great recreational activity with lots of ways to enjoy it.
You can use rubber balls, tennis balls, or beanbags.
If you don’t have many balls, you can make some by crumpling newspaper.
Sit in a circle on chairs, place a basket or box in the center, and toss the balls in.
Setting a few rules—such as throwing while seated or limiting each person to three balls—can make it even more exciting.
Staff can also move around holding the basket to act as a moving target.