[For Seniors] A Fun Sports Day! Recreational Activities You Can Do Safely
In spring and autumn, many senior care facilities, such as day service centers, hold sports festivals.
Because residents have a wide range of physical conditions, we recommend sports day activities that everyone can enjoy together.
This article introduces sports festival recreation ideas tailored for senior care facilities.
Choose activities that prioritize safety so everyone can have fun, while also promoting physical and mental stimulation.
We’ve also included seated activities so that wheelchair users can participate easily.
We hope you find this helpful.
- [Nursing Home] Recommended for Sports Day! Lively Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Guaranteed to Liven Things Up! A Collection of Brain Training Activities That Will Spark Laughter
- [Elderly Care Facilities] Let’s Have Fun Together! Exciting Sports Day Events
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- [October Health Topic] Introducing Recreational Activities for Seniors!
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
[For Seniors] Fun Sports Day! Safe Recreational Activities (71–80)
Balloon kick
This is a balloon kick game where you kick balloons into a target frame! Attach the cut-off bottom of a milk carton to the balloon’s knot as a weight so the balloon doesn’t drift around.
Then just kick the balloon so it fits neatly into a frame made from twisted newspapers or similar! Because balloons are light, they travel far even with a small amount of force, so older adults can kick them while seated and still send them flying nicely.
You can also prepare multiple frames and set rules to score the total points of the frames the balloon lands in, or try other variations to enjoy the game in different ways.
Balloon Baseball Game
It’s a game where you swing a stick vigorously to send a balloon flying as far as possible.
What you aim the balloon at also matters—there are various rule sets, such as aiming for a target or trying to clear obstacles.
It’s a game that can train many parts of the body in the instant of the swing: grip strength on the stick, awareness of transferring power to the balloon, and twisting movements of the body.
To make the balloon fly in the intended direction, it’s important to keep your eyes on it, so it can also help improve concentration.
Fly away, balloon!
This is a game where you throw a beanbag forcefully at balloons placed inside a frame, aiming to knock the balloons out of the frame.
It helps develop both decision-making about where to aim and the throwing power needed to blow the balloons away.
You can adjust the difficulty by varying the distance from the throwing spot to the frame and the size of the balloons, so tailor the rules to the participants.
It would also be exciting to pack the frame with lots of balloons and let everyone enjoy the satisfying feeling of blowing them away all at once.
For those who struggle to knock the balloons out, encourage them to focus on a throwing style that applies power and to be mindful of their body movement.
[For Seniors] Fun Sports Day! Safe Recreational Activities (81–90)
Daruma Carrying Relay
Teams compete in a relay to carry a daruma; the team that finishes first wins.
Place the daruma on something like a bath towel, and have pairs of two carry it together.
To add a handicap for staff, it’s good to have them transport it using a wheelchair.
Even indoors, you can get creative by setting a distance and a turnaround point.
To prevent falls during the excitement, it’s reassuring to have a caregiver nearby at all times who can offer a helping hand.
Slipper Tidying-Up Race
Here’s a simple game you can play using ordinary slippers.
You stay seated and use only your feet, so it’s safe and fun.
Use your feet to take all the slippers out of the basket, then use your feet to put them away.
After you’re done, pass the basket to the next person, who does the same.
The team whose last player finishes tidying up the fastest wins.
Because we rarely use only our feet in everyday life, this activity is highly recommended.
Tissue box tossing
How about trying a game called “Tissue Box Toss” as a sports day event, where you stack and knock down tissue boxes? Stack the tissue boxes into a pyramid shape, decide how many beanbags each person gets, and have everyone try to knock down the tissue box mountain.
You can assign points based on the number of boxes and make it a team competition.
It’s an activity that everyone can enjoy, whether standing or seated.
Let’s play it with some exciting background music to boost the fun!
cheering contest
Among the events at a sports day, the cheer battle is one of the most exciting.
The cheer squad comes to the front to lead cheers for their team, and everyone on the team participates while seated.
Caregivers can take the role of the cheer squad at the front and help build excitement so the team can come together as one.
Having items like megaphones or pom-poms will really boost the energy.
It’s also a great idea to adapt favorite popular songs into cheer versions for the cheer battle.
Even those who find movement difficult can participate by staying seated and using hand gestures only.