[For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
We’ve put together a collection of games and recreational activities that can be enjoyed at day care.
We introduce plenty of options, including simple games you can play while seated, brain-training games, and activities that help with hand and finger rehabilitation—so please use them as a reference.
Some activities require props, but they’re simple to make using recycled materials or items from 100-yen shops, making them easy for older adults to recreate.
Give them a try with everyone during recreation time or in small breaks.
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Today’s Recommended Activity: Fun and Engaging
- [Elderly Day Service] Let’s all have fun! Games and recreational activities
- [For Seniors] Fun! Games and Ideas to Boost Memory
- [For Seniors] Have Fun! A Collection of Group Game Recreation Ideas
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Easy to try. Fun, crowd-pleasing recreation
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
[For Seniors] Enjoying Day Care: A Compilation of Games and Recreational Activities (91–100)
Rock-Paper-Scissors Relay
This is a game where teams aim to pass a ring they’re holding by hand all the way to the last person, using rock-paper-scissors.
The rule is that you can pass the ring only when the next person wins at rock-paper-scissors, so both speed and luck are put to the test.
As you become more conscious of speed, you need sharper judgment to track who wins or loses each round and whether the ring can be passed.
Having teams compete against each other is key to making everyone focus on the game’s sense of speed.
Number Exercise
Here’s a fun number exercise where you get to learn movements, too.
For 1, touch your head with both hands.
For 2, cross your hands in front of your chest.
For 3, clap your hands and move your body.
The moves and rules are simple, but since you have to think, you might get a little confused at first.
Until you get used to it, say the numbers clearly and keep a slow rhythm.
Once it becomes familiar, try adding combinations where you call out two numbers, or speed up the rhythm for a challenge.
Let’s make it something you can enjoy while you practice.
[For Seniors] Enjoy at Daycare: Collection of Games and Recreational Activities (101–110)
Quick and easy! Whiteboard Bingo
How about trying Whiteboard Bingo, a game you can enjoy if you have a whiteboard? Preparation is simple: draw lines on the whiteboard to create a grid.
Draw lines so that it becomes 5 squares by 5 squares.
The rules are that players are split into O and X and take turns marking the grid.
The first person to place four of the same mark in a row—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally—wins.
It’s a game that gives your brain a real workout, as you aim to block your opponent from lining up their marks while also creating your own line of four, making it perfect for mental exercise.
Bamboo Shoot Digging Game
It’s a game where you use a stick with a paper cup attached to the end to stack and pick up paper cups with bamboo shoots drawn on them, and compete for speed.
The key to successfully picking up the bamboo shoots is to fit the cup on the stick perfectly over the target cup, so your stick control is put to the test.
If you do it well, you can stack multiple cups, so strategy matters—do you carefully stack and grab a bunch at once, or focus on speed and collect them one by one? The longer the stick, the harder it is to control, so adjusting the stick length is also a recommended way to set the difficulty.
Daruma Stacking Game
Let me introduce the “Daruma Stacking Game,” a game that trains finger dexterity, quickness, and concentration.
Prepare paper cups with daruma drawings, and compete to see how many tiers you can stack within 40 seconds.
You can stack them however you like, but because speed and caution are both required, it demands not only concentration but also creativity.
Additionally, the quick hand movements used to grasp the cups are similar to the reflex of grabbing onto something when you’re about to fall, so it may help prevent falls.
It’s also recommended as a recreation activity for senior care facilities.
Relaxed setting!
It’s a simple game where you stand a stick—like the core of a roll of plastic wrap—upright in front of you and stretch rubber bands to loop them onto it.
Within a time limit, you compete to see how many rubber bands you can place without knocking the stick over, so delicate hand movements are key.
By changing the stick’s thickness or lightness, factors like how far you need to stretch the rubber band and how much force you use when placing it will vary, allowing you to adjust the difficulty.
The motion of gently shrinking the rubber band and easing it onto the stick helps players focus on concentration and how they apply force.
Balloon holder bag with a string
Here’s a string-and-balloon game that’s sure to liven up spring events and gatherings.
Have several older adults sit in chairs facing each other, each holding one end of a string so that paired participants are connected and keep the string taut.
By moving the string up and down or sliding it side to side, they work together to carry a balloon to the goal.
Cooperation is key in this game.
Because participants call out to each other as they play, it naturally encourages communication as well.