Recommended Events for a Sports Day at Day Service Centers for the Elderly

Borrowed Item Race

Borrowed item race 🏃🏃‍♀️ Youth is bittersweet and wonderful… ❤︎｡･

How about a classic sports day event that people of all ages can enjoy: the “Borrowing Race”? Despite the word “race,” you don’t compete on speed to the finish, nor do you need a running track.

The items written on the lots participants draw add to the excitement, so it helps if the organizers bring a bit of playful spirit to the preparations.

Imagining the participants’ faces and coming up with ideas based on familiar objects—or even people—around you is part of the fun.

ball toss (traditional Japanese beanbag/ball-throwing game)

[Senior Recreation] Four Effective Activities for a Facility Sports Day [Preventive Care]

Let’s refresh our bodies with a sports day that everyone—from children to adults—can join.

One classic event is “tama-ire” (ball toss).

Normally, you throw balls into a basket attached to the end of a long pole, but it’s surprisingly hard to get them in.

As adults, the balls often don’t reach the basket, which can be tough.

So this time, everyone will sit in chairs while playing.

With the basket set lower, you can enjoy it in a way that suits your physical condition.

You can make it even more fun by attaching a string to the basket and pulling it to create a “moving basket” to throw into.

balloon volleyball

Day Service Kumagaya - Kōbōan of Happiness - Balloon Volleyball

Let’s try enjoying “balloon volleyball,” a twist on beach volleyball.

You can play it indoors, and the soft balloon ball is safe.

Here, it’s done while seated, so there’s no vigorous full-body movement, but when you hit the balloon back, you’ll naturally straighten your back, which is good exercise for the upper body.

Also, the balloon’s slow movement is easy to track with the eyes, so even older adults can enjoy it fully.

If the rally count increases and everyone gets excited, it could be fun to form teams and play matches.

footrace

Sports day, seniors, recreation, footrace

Footraces are a staple event at sports days, but for many seniors, standing up and running can be difficult.

In that case, prepare a long towel—or tie towels together to make one—and a plastic bottle.

Place the towel on the floor in front of the seated senior, and set the plastic bottle on the far end of the towel.

At the signal “Ready, go!”, the senior uses the strength of their legs to reel in the towel, pulling the distant plastic bottle toward them.

The person who pulls the bottle in the fastest and manages to touch it wins! You can do this while seated and without using a lot of strength, so give it a try.

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SAKI

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Spoon Relay

Day Service Gyoda Ai no Koubouan Spoon Relay

When it comes to events that really liven up a sports day, relays are the classic choice.

However, for older participants, running with a baton can be risky.

That’s why we recommend a relay using a spoon and a ping-pong ball.

The great thing is that it can be done while seated: participants sit in a circle holding spoons and pass the ping-pong ball to the person next to them.

It’s surprisingly tricky to hand it off without dropping the ball.

If you have a large group, divide into teams and compete—this really gets everyone excited.

Give it a try!

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Hamada Takuya

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bowling

[Recreation & Play Encyclopedia #3] Plastic Bottle Bowling Saves Both Money and Time

Since standard sports day events can be limiting, there’s also the idea of livening things up with highly original events.

So, how about enjoying bowling as a competition? Just like regular bowling, set up ten pins and have participants roll a ball to see how many they knock down.

You can use plastic bottles for pins and prepare a lightweight, easy-to-handle rubber ball.

Because it’s a sports day, writing point values on the pins and competing for total scores would make it even more exciting!

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utatane

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Giant Ball Relay

Giant ball relay 🏐

At elementary school sports days, you often see the big-ball rolling event.

This one, however, is not rolling but a game called “big-ball passing.” For older adults, events that require standing can involve risks, so activities that can be done while seated are preferable.

In this big-ball passing game, participants sit in a row on chairs, hold the ball above their heads, and pass it back to the person behind them.

Once it reaches the person at the very back, it’s passed forward again, and the team that returns it to the starting point the fastest wins.

Small balls are hard to pass this way, so try using a larger beach ball or an exercise ball.

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utatane

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