![[For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/mYZVGDr8M70/maxresdefault.webp)
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] Enjoy Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities (1–10)
Ping-Pong Ball BingoNEW!
At recreation events or parties, you may have chances to play bingo.
Many older adults are probably familiar with bingo as well.
Let’s enjoy a different kind of game from the usual bingo using paper cups and ping-pong balls.
Arrange paper cups on a table in a 5-by-5 grid.
Stand in front of the lined-up cups and throw a ping-pong ball so that it bounces once before the cups.
If the ball then lands in a paper cup, you score 1 point.
You get 5 throws, and if you make three in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, your score doubles.
Older adults, too, can focus, aim for the cups, and give it a try.
Rhythm de Mambo ~Music Therapy~NEW!
Let’s all face each other and keep the beat with instruments! For the performance, use rhythm instruments like tambourines, maracas, and drums.
You can also use everyday items such as buckets, washboards, or water dippers.
Have fun keeping time to Latin music like the “Mambo.” Instrument-based recreation not only stimulates the brain but is also effective for maintaining muscle strength.
If you attach castanets to your feet and tap out rhythms, you’ll move your lower body too, turning it into a full-body workout.
A ping-pong ball on top of a plastic bottle capNEW!
This is a game that can also be expected to train the hands and fingertips using chopsticks.
Line up several plastic bottle caps on a backing sheet.
Then place ping-pong balls on those caps.
You can use your hands and fingers, but try moving the ping-pong balls with chopsticks.
Picking up ping-pong balls with chopsticks requires concentration and strength in the hands and fingers.
It seems likely to help develop each of these abilities.
You can focus and do it alone, or pair up and compete—it sounds fun either way.
Kick CurlingNEW!
Let’s enjoy an indoor sport called “Kick Curling,” which uses the rolling properties of plastic bottles.
The game is played between teams, so please color-code the bottles in advance, such as by wrapping them with colored tape.
Once the game starts, use your foot to roll the plastic bottles toward the target house.
The house has points written on it, so aim for the highest-scoring areas.
Bottles with a duck inside are worth double points.
Boccia-style gameNEW!
Draw a square on the floor with tape, and the players face each other and throw balls toward the square.
Prepare balls in two colors so it’s clear which player threw which.
Each player throws the same number of balls, and after all throws are done, the player with more of their balls inside the square wins.
The key to this game is to aim for the square while also targeting the opponent’s balls to push them out.
When throwing, remain seated in a chair, lean your upper body forward, and roll the ball along the floor.
lacrosse shotNEW!
Catch the beanbag thrown by the staff with a racket, then throw it toward the small plastic pool and try to get it in.
In regular lacrosse shooting, speed is important, but here the goal is to land it in the pool, so focus on control.
Decide on the number of balls and see how many you can get in.
You can play this game while seated, and it helps strengthen your arm muscles and core, making it perfect for a bit of light indoor exercise.
Toss it with a towelNEW!
@amaririsu_care Towel activity! A simple rec using a towel and colored balls. Communicate with your partner, sync your timing, and use your whole body to catch!TranslationtranslationSmileFukuoka PrefectureKitakyushu CityYahatanishi Ward#WelfareCaregivingNursingElderlyTranslationRecreation
♬ Cubism – Ovall
A simple game that uses an ordinary towel to launch balls far away.
Place a colored ball on a towel fixed to the edge of a table and fling the ball.
The key is to launch it so it reaches your partner on the other side.
The partner catches the incoming balls and puts them into a basket.
The goal is to see how many balls you can launch.
The force needed to send the ball toward a target and the wrist action to move the towel can also serve as training.
Once you get used to the game, increasing the distance between the tables may make it even more exciting.
