[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!
- [Brain Training for Seniors] Recommended Hand-Play Recreation for Dementia Prevention
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Brain Training! Finger Exercises That Help Prevent Dementia
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Brain-Training Recreation
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Extremely Effective Brain Training! A Fun Collection of Hand Games
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Hand and finger play roundup: Finger exercises that lead to brain training
- For seniors: Enjoyable stick exercises. Easy workouts.
- Recreation Activities Effective for Long-Term Care Prevention for Seniors
[For Seniors] Get the crowd going with different left-right moves! Game and exercise ideas (1–10)
Lift one leg using numbers and kana!
It’s an exercise where you sit in a chair and make large marching movements, while adding elements like thinking about numbers or speaking.
First, march in place while counting 30 steps, and on multiples of 3, lift your feet and pause.
Once you’ve got that movement down, you can add variations, such as switching from counting numbers to pronouncing the Japanese syllabary.
By combining not only body and mouth movements but also elements like numbers and vocalization, let’s effectively enhance the brain-training benefits.
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.
Ear, Nose Game
Pinch your nose with one hand, and with the other hand crossed over, pinch the ear on the opposite side.
At the cue, switch that configuration, aiming to swap hands smoothly.
The key points are that each hand is pinching a different spot and that one hand is crossed over.
Thinking carefully while moving your hands helps activate the brain.
Even just the hand-switching action is challenging, but adding a clap before switching, for example, makes it even harder and further enhances awareness of movement and concentration.
[For Seniors] Get Everyone Excited with Asymmetric Movements! Game and Exercise Ideas (11–20)
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.
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.
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!
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.