Lovely senior life

[For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities

Social worker / Care workermoko
My name is Moko, a mother of three who admired my mother and worked in the care industry as a care worker and as a medical social worker (MSW) in a hospital. I will be drawing on my previous experience to write mainly about caregiving. Thank you in advance.
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSICsasashina
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSIC. JFC-certified fact-checker. I’m Sasashina, a mom currently raising an elementary schooler and a preschooler. During my student years at Kyoto College of Science and Technology, I studied a wide range of fields including sound, lighting, and video technology, building a foundation in comprehensive stage production and creative expression. After graduation, I joined a music production company, where I still work, consistently building experience in production and engaging in a variety of music-centered tasks. Currently, I mainly handle articles for children, drawing on what I’ve learned about parenting and what I feel and discover through daily interactions with my kids. I hope my work can be of help to you, even in a small way!

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] Enjoying Daycare: A Collection of Games and Recreational Activities (241–250)

Stroke Count Guessing

[Senior Brain Training × Care Recreation] Stroke Count Guessing 8: Dementia and Nursing Care Prevention Video for Seniors [Fukukuru]

Stroke Count Guessing

Do you still handwrite characters? Many people may find themselves writing less if they don’t really need to.

In times like that, a fun recommendation is a stroke-order quiz.

For each kanji, guess which stroke number corresponds to the part drawn in red.

Start with simple characters that have fewer strokes, and then gradually increase the number of strokes or mix in kanji that make you think, “What was the stroke order again?” Don’t worry if you make mistakes—use those moments to learn or jog your memory.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Target shooting game

Play at home: a target-shooting game made with balloons and paper cups

Target shooting game

Some seniors may have played shooting gallery or target games at festivals, don’t you think? This time, we’ll introduce a simple “target game” you can make with paper cups.

Cut out the bottom of a paper cup, tie off a balloon, cut off its tip, and stretch it over the cup.

With that, you’ve created an easy tool to launch small balls at targets.

Line up paper cups to create the targets.

Drawing illustrations on the target cups or decorating them with stickers will enhance the atmosphere.

It’s also great to have seniors participate from the crafting stage.

You can expect benefits for finger dexterity and brain training.

It’s a game that may help them recall fond memories of playing target games.

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Exciting towel activity

Senior activities: 5 towel games that are a huge hit and guaranteed to get everyone excited #RecreationForSeniors #Towel #Lively

Exciting towel activity

This is a game that tests how quickly you can make decisions by seeing the outcome of rock-paper-scissors and taking immediate action.

Towels are placed on the table: the winner of rock-paper-scissors quickly pulls the towel, while the loser immediately presses down on it.

If the towel isn’t pulled out, the game continues, and this sequence repeats until someone successfully pulls the towel free.

To act quickly in line with the rock-paper-scissors result, focus and on-the-spot judgment seem to be crucial.

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Get Excited! Beanbag Toss Bingo Game

[Cheerful Recreation 🏀] An 80-year-old bends forward! Let’s do this for next week’s activity! Beanbag Bingo Game

Get Excited! Beanbag Toss Bingo Game

It’s a cooperative game where everyone aims for bingo, incorporating the action of tossing beanbags.

Nine baskets are placed in the center of a seated circle, and players throw beanbags to land them on top of each basket.

If you place five or more beanbags, you clear that basket, and you work toward bingo using the baskets you’ve cleared.

In addition to adjusting the strength of each throw, be sure to focus on cooperating so your beanbags don’t collide with your teammates’.

It’s a game that lets everyone enjoy striving for a common goal while getting plenty of physical activity.

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Funny Gesture Exercises

Recreation (brain training): Seniors smile and do gesture exercises — recommended for day service programs.

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.

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