When organizing recreation at a day service, the activities are affected by the weather and temperature.
On sunny days, it’s ideal to enjoy recreational activities outdoors while getting some sun, but on rainy days, indoor activities become the main focus.
This time, we’ll introduce table games that can be enjoyed right on the table.
Since they’re played on a tabletop, they can be enjoyed while seated and are designed with safety in mind—another recommended point.
We’re introducing options ranging from team competitions to games that can be enjoyed individually, so please use this as a reference.
- [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] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic: Seated activities
- [For Seniors] Fun Even Without Sight! Recreation Ideas
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- Entertainment and Performances That Delight at Day Services for the Elderly
- Recreation Activities for Use in Day Services
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Day Service: A Collection of Fun Event Ideas
- [For Seniors] Liven Up Your Day Service! Fun Beanbag Toss Activity
Enjoyable at day service! Table Games and Recreations (1–10)
Table hockey
Air hockey at arcades is so much fun, isn’t it? It’s been around for a long time, so even older adults have probably played it at least once.
Let’s get moving with a table hockey game inspired by air hockey.
Only your upper body moves vigorously, so it’s suitable for wheelchair users too! Prepare two tables that are just a bit wider than a person’s body and place them together.
Next, make a rectangular paddle about 20 cm long out of newspaper—this will serve as the racket.
Using newspaper keeps it soft, so it’s safe just in case.
Then simply rally a ball back and forth across a center line.
It’s a really fun game—give it a try!
Ohajiki Pétanque
Do you know pétanque? It’s a game that originated in France and is the second most popular sport there after soccer.
Normally, players throw metal balls to compete, but metal balls can be a bit much for older folks.
So let’s have fun with a customized version called “Ohajiki Pétanque.” All you need is a sheet of paper with a circle drawn using a compass, some ohajiki (flat glass counters), and a jack.
The jack is the target in pétanque—it can be anything! The rules are simple: flick your ohajiki toward the jack, and the player whose ohajiki ends up closest to the jack wins.
You might even find that flicking ohajiki becomes the most fun part while playing “Ohajiki Pétanque”!
Ping-pong ball toss game
This game, “Ping-Pong Toss,” can be enjoyed anywhere with just paper cups and ping-pong balls.
It’s highly recommended because you can customize it in many ways and enjoy it over and over.
Make targets using paper cups, then bounce the ping-pong balls and try to land them in the cups.
It’s great fun gathered around a table, and in a larger space you could even scale up the game.
For a birthday party, you could write prize names on the bottoms of the cups, and anyone who lands a ball in that cup wins the prize! Since the game leaves plenty of room for creativity, it’s perfect for idea people.
Paper Cup Shooting Game
A classic shooting game you often see at festival stalls.
Since we don’t usually handle toy guns, it gets everyone excited, right? Some older folks might even remember getting hooked on these stall shooting games when they were young.
Let’s relive those days with a “paper cup shooting” game! All you need are paper cups, rubber bands, and small plastic balls.
Make a simple modification to the paper cup with rubber bands so the ball can launch, and you’re set.
Just place a ball inside the cup and snap the rubber band to shoot.
Stack the target paper cups high to make it even more exciting.
For birthday parties and the like, you could offer small candies as prizes, too.
Waitress Game
The “Waitress Game” involves placing beanbags on a piece of cardstock that’s intentionally made unbalanced.
It’s effective for improving seniors’ sense of balance and concentration, as well as for dementia prevention, so it could be a great addition when you want to expand your lineup of day-service activities.
You can also set a time limit and see how many beanbags participants can place within the time for an exciting competition! It can be done seated to match seniors’ physical conditions, but you can also level it up by having participants stand, hold the cardstock in one hand like a waitress, and place the beanbags with the other—making it even more fun.
Towel Rock-Paper-Scissors
How about adding the highly effective, dementia-preventing “Towel Rock-Paper-Scissors” to your day service recreation? It’s that game featured on an NHK program that became popular when a Johnny’s group took on the challenge! Sit across from each other with a towel spread out on the table.
Play rock-paper-scissors: if you win, pull the towel; if you lose, press down on it.
The first person to pull the towel away wins.
Because you play rock-paper-scissors with one hand and must grab the towel with that same hand, it really trains your reflexes! All you need is a towel and a table, so it’s easy to set up.
It’s great for activating the brain, and older adults really get into it—definitely give it a try.
Table curling
Curling is becoming one of the star events of the Winter Olympics these days.
In the past, the phrase “mogumogu time” even became a buzzword.
Why not take a cue from curling and get excited like the Olympics with “table curling”? Connect tables lengthwise to create a curling rink.
The stones are paper-cup stones made by placing a ball inside a paper cup.
Draw several lines on the table and label how many points you get for reaching each line.
Start with rules like: no good if it falls off the side, and no good if it goes too far and falls off.
Could this table curling become the star game for rainy days sometime soon?