[For Seniors] Liven Things Up With Different Left-Right Movements! Game and Exercise Ideas
It’s said that movements that differ between the left and right sides may help prevent dementia or slow its progression.
Doing asymmetrical movements or performing two tasks at the same time can help activate the brain.
Why not add some fun and try them as games?
In particular, this time we’ve gathered games you can play without any special equipment!
They’re easy to do, don’t take up much space, and anyone—men or women—can join in.
We’re also introducing exercises that incorporate asymmetrical movements.
Why not apply them to your games?
Even if you make mistakes with the movements, these games and exercises get everyone excited, so please give them a try!
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[For Seniors] Get the crowd going with different left-right moves! Game and exercise ideas (1–10)
The Fox and the Hunter
This is a hand game called “Fox and Hunter,” where you alternately make different movements with each hand.
With one hand, make a fox shape; with the other, make a gun shape to represent the hunter.
Perform these hand shapes in order, switching sides as you go.
If you make a fox with your right hand and a gun with your left, do the opposite next.
Repeat about 10 times.
It’s good to start slowly and gradually increase the speed.
Adding a clap at the moment you switch sides will make it a bit more challenging.
Games like this—doing different movements with each hand, alternately—provide good stimulation for the brain and may help prevent cognitive decline.
Let’s make shapes with our feet!
While seated, lift and move your legs, focusing on your leg muscles while also adding a brain-training element.
One leg traces a triangle, and the other moves up and down in time with the rhythm.
A key point is to clearly grasp the difference in counts: one leg completes a cycle in three beats, while the other completes a cycle in two beats.
Once you get used to it, switch legs and keep your attention on how you move them.
If lifting your legs is difficult, you can keep your feet on the floor and draw the shapes there instead.
Number Game! Odd and Even
This is an exercise performed while seated, moving the hands and feet in two patterns in response to cues.
In the odd-number pattern, you raise your left hand and right leg; in the even-number pattern, you raise your right hand and left leg.
Participants switch based on the cue.
Start with simple cues of “odd” and “even,” then progress to having participants determine whether a spoken number is odd or even.
Moving opposite hand and foot, and quickly identifying numbers to form the correct body shape, helps activate the brain.
It’s also recommended to add variety with simple arithmetic like addition and subtraction to increase the thinking component.
[For Seniors] Get Everyone Excited with Asymmetric Movements! Game and Exercise Ideas (11–20)
Get hyped—suri-suri ton-ton!
While seated in a chair, this activity has you perform different movements with each hand on your knees.
In time with the rhythm, one open hand rubs the knee, while the other hand is closed in a fist and taps the knee.
Doing forward-and-back and up-and-down movements on opposite sides helps activate the brain and can also provide a massaging effect for the legs.
It’s also recommended to swap hand shapes and actions within the rhythm to boost quick reactions and concentration.
Once you’re comfortable with the basic movements, gradually add rules to further enhance the brain-training effect.
Beanbag rock-paper-scissors
Even just tossing and catching a beanbag with one hand helps improve your grip strength and dynamic vision.
This activity adds another element that makes you move your body while thinking, offering potential brain-training benefits.
One hand tosses and catches the beanbag, while the other hand makes rock–paper–scissors shapes (fist, scissors, open hand).
It’s important to keep your attention on both hands so one doesn’t stop while you’re focused on the other.
Once you’re comfortable with each hand’s movements, try adding actual rock–paper–scissors play to increase the thinking challenge—highly recommended!
Different left-right movements for the rabbit and the turtle
This is an exercise where you move your arms widely to the left and right in time with the children’s song “Usagi to Kame” (The Hare and the Tortoise).
Since the exercise focuses on arm movements, if standing and moving your body is difficult, do it seated in a chair.
The basic action is simply extending your arms forward alternately, but by changing your hand shapes and switching movements at cues, it adds a brain-training effect.
With each signal, you’ll change your hand shape or the way you extend your arms, gradually adding elements so you think while you move.
Adding leg movements as well further increases the cognitive challenge, so that’s recommended too.
Training to move the limbs on both the left and right sides
This is an exercise performed while sitting in a chair, moving your arms and legs firmly as you consider different combinations of left and right.
First, start with a simple movement: open the arm and leg on the same side alternately to the side, and check how each part moves.
From there, gradually add elements such as changing the arm–leg combinations and moving not only sideways but also forward.
When focusing on more complex movements, your range of motion can sometimes become smaller, so it’s important to add movements gradually and let your body get used to them, ensuring you can keep your attention on making clear, deliberate movements.