[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 Daycare: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities (231–240)
Darts with magnets
Have you ever played darts? Basically, you just throw darts at a target, but it’s said there are more than 100 different game types.
Alongside karting and e-sports, it’s even being talked about as a potential new Olympic event.
Why not enjoy a casual version of darts using a whiteboard and magnets? All you need is a magnet-friendly whiteboard, a target that will serve for scoring, and darts with magnets attached to their tips.
Adjust the difficulty by changing the size of the target and the distance to it.
This might even inspire you to try real darts in earnest!
Who am I? Historical Figures Edition
Let me introduce “Who Am I?”, a game where you guess a famous historical figure using three hints.
Each hint becomes more specific—second more than the first, third more than the second—so both history buffs and beginners can enjoy it.
You can also project it on a screen to play with a large group.
Using a rule like “If you know the answer, raise your hand instead of saying it” prevents spoilers and keeps it fun, while a rule like “Discuss your thoughts together as you go” lets everyone enjoy thinking it through as a group.
Funny Gesture Exercises
A gesture game where you don’t speak, but watch movements and guess the answer.
Because it’s often played on TV shows and at parties, many older adults may already be familiar with it.
In gesture games, you watch the movements, imagine what they mean, and answer.
Imagining is said to help activate the brain.
What’s more, having older adults perform the prompted actions themselves boosts the brain-training effect.
Since you’re getting older adults to move, it’s like gesture exercise.
Expanding prompts from “eating a mandarin” to “peeling and eating a mandarin” also stimulates the imagination.
Adjust the difficulty to suit the older adults.
The more movements you add, the more smiles you’re likely to see.
Easy! Prefecture Bingo Card with a Milk Carton
A simple bingo game played by arranging nine cards with the names of prefectures dealt from a deck.
Write the names of prefectures on cards made by cutting up milk cartons and create two identical sets.
Since the dealt cards are random, you repeat the process of checking once each time whether the called prefecture is on your hand, while hoping to complete a line.
Keeping your eyes on your cards, it might also be fun to recall images or memories of the prefectures as they’re called.
A drill where you reel in a rope with your foot
This is a game where you use back-and-forth foot movements to reel in a rope at your feet and race to pull a distant basket closer.
While the basket is being pulled in, someone throws balled-up newspaper into it, making it heavier and requiring more effort to move as more balls are added.
Once the basket reaches your feet, count how many balls are inside; the person who pulled their basket in faster with fewer balls is the winner.
Decide on your strategy—whether to make big strides or move your feet quickly in small motions—and see what works best for you.
Just paper and pen! Number Bingo
It’s a simple game where you use a pencil to draw a grid and numbers on paper, then aim for bingo.
The grid is 3 squares by 3 squares, for a total of 9, and you freely choose numbers from 1 to 15 to fill them in at random.
Once everyone has finished writing their numbers, you’re ready to play: read out the numbers on the cards in order, and each player aims for bingo.
You can enjoy seeing whether a line on your own card completes, or you can turn it into a competitive game where you try to complete more lines than your opponent—either way, it’s sure to be exciting.
Flapping Paper Cups
Here’s an activity you can do while seated: the paper-cup flapper.
All you need are a paper cup and a handheld fan (uchiwa).
Place the paper cup upside down on the table, then fan it with the uchiwa.
The cup will move, pushed by the wind.
When you move the cup to a designated spot, you’ve cleared the challenge.
Timing it and competing can make it even more exciting.
A tip for moving it well: hold the uchiwa level, pointing toward the cup, and fan as if tapping the table.
