[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 Collection of Games and Recreational Activities (31–40)
Finger exercises with plastic bottle caps
Here’s a recreational activity you can make using the many plastic bottle caps that tend to pile up.
Place the caps on a base sheet, matching each cap with the same kanji written on the sheet, making sure not to make mistakes.
Kanji sets that are hard to distinguish—like the fish or tree radicals series—are recommended.
Because players identify the characters while pinching the caps with their fingers, it trains both the brain and fine motor skills.
Give it a try—make it and play with it! You could also turn it into a game by pairing addition problems with their answers.
Paper core feed
Games that everyone cooperates on really get people interacting and create a lively atmosphere.
This time, we’d like to introduce “Paper Core Relay,” a game with simple movements that anyone can enjoy.
Prepare a long table, and have both teams sit along the sides.
Stretch a strip of plastic ribbon (suzuran tape) from end to end, and have the first and last players hold each end of the tape.
At the start signal, the first player begins threading paper cores onto the tape one after another.
The team that sends even one more paper core than the opposing team within the time limit wins.
It’s also fun to plan strategies together!
Picture shiritori
Picture shiritori on a whiteboard is a game where players take turns drawing pictures to continue a word chain.
For example, if the first person draws an apple (ringo), the next person draws something that starts with “go.” Because you connect words using only drawings without letters, it requires ingenuity to convey ideas accurately and adds the fun of guessing, making it an activity that keeps everyone engaged.
Even those who feel unsure about drawing can participate by thinking together—“What could this be?”—so it becomes a cooperative and enjoyable time.
What matters is getting the idea across, not artistic skill, which naturally leads to laughter and surprises and serves as a great conversation starter among older adults.
Shooting game
Here’s an idea for making a rubber band shooter from scrap materials.
You’ll need a plastic wrap tube, a toilet paper tube, rubber bands, and vinyl tape.
Connect two rubber bands together, then tape both ends of the rubber band to the rim of the toilet paper tube with vinyl tape.
Adjust the knot so it sits right in the center of the tube, and reinforce the sides by covering them with vinyl tape.
Cut small notches in the rim of the plastic wrap tube so the rubber band can catch there, and you’re done.
To fire, slide the plastic wrap tube through a toilet paper tube that will be your projectile, pull the projectile back, and let go.
The toilet paper tube will shoot forward with a satisfying burst of speed.
Smart ball made with 100-yen shop materials
How about planning the classic festival game “Smart Ball”? It’s very similar to pachinko, which many older adults know well, so playing it brings back nostalgic feelings.
You can buy a ready-made Smart Ball set, but they can be pricey, so it’s better to make one yourself.
For a small version, you can build it with materials from a 100-yen shop.
Attach wooden blocks to the four corners of a perforated board to make the base, and create a launcher at the lower right using a block of wood, a screw, and rubber bands.
Cut a large card case into a strip and install it along the inside top of the base.
Insert dowels wherever you like, hook rubber bands over them, and attach papers with point values.
Finally, add wooden legs to the back so the base is angled—and you’re done.