[For Seniors] Liven Up Your Day Service! Fun Beanbag Toss Activity
One of the items often used in day-service recreation is the beanbag (otedama).
Beanbags filled with adzuki beans or rice are soft balls that don’t hurt even if they hit you, making them a safe tool for everyone from children to older adults.
While many people picture juggling with two or three beanbags, it can be hard to come up with other ways to play.
In this article, we’ll introduce a variety of recommended beanbag games for day-service recreation!
Many of them are easy to play while seated, so older adults can enjoy them with confidence.
Give some new beanbag games a try!
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[For Seniors] Liven Up Day Service! Fun Beanbag Activities (1–10)
Stacking an otedama box
This game involves tossing beanbags and stacking them on top of boxes.
Instead of simply throwing onto a flat box, you aim for the empty spaces among stacked boxes.
Place the largest box on the bottom, then stack more boxes on top.
Each box has a different point value written on it, and you earn that many points for each beanbag you place on it.
If you’re playing in teams, it’s helpful to use different colors of beanbags for each team.
Can you land one on the small, high-scoring space at the very top?
Beanbag Catch
Let’s have fun with a beanbag-catching game.
Toss beanbags to older adults seated in chairs, and have them catch the beanbags using a container.
Everyday items like a colander, bowl, or sushi tub work just fine.
It’s enjoyable with both large and small groups.
A team competition to see who can catch the most beanbags is also recommended.
The lively atmosphere will likely encourage interaction among participants, and it’s a refreshing activity for everyone.
Beanbag Block
Let’s train our legs while having fun with a beanbag game.
Pair up and sit facing each other.
One person throws a beanbag so that it reaches the other person’s feet.
The other person blocks the incoming beanbag with their feet.
Each chair has a designated territory around it, and the person who gets more beanbags into the opponent’s territory wins.
Because you use your feet to block the beanbags, you can train your legs while seated.
Successfully blocking will make older adults feel happy, too.
It also creates opportunities to chat with those around you, which can lead to more social interaction.
[For Seniors] Let's Have Fun at Day Service! Enjoyable Beanbag Toss Activities (11–20)
Beanbag Tower
When you think of otedama (beanbags), many people probably imagine juggling two or three of them without dropping any.
But with a bit of creativity, there are plenty of games you can play using otedama.
Try stacking them to make a tower.
Start by placing a paper cup upside down as the base, then stack the beanbags on top.
Using the paper cup helps you focus on balance so the beanbags don’t topple over—this is the key point.
Concentrating on the activity can help older adults refresh their minds, too.
And if you use light beanbags, it’s safe even if the stack loses balance and falls.
Beanbag balance stick
A balance stick game using toilet paper cores and beanbags.
The rules are very simple: place beanbags on the toilet paper cores lined up on the table, carefully so they don’t fall over.
The difficulty changes depending on the spacing and placement of the cores.
Even store-bought beanbags vary slightly in size and weight, and handmade ones even more so.
Those size differences are important for this balance game.
Focusing your attention and using your fingertips also helps stimulate the brain.
Beanbag toss at the whiteboard
Prepare a whiteboard and adjust it so that the board is level.
Have everyone participating in the activity gather around the whiteboard, with each person holding 3 to 5 beanbags.
At the starting signal, throw one beanbag at a time in a clockwise order and place them onto the whiteboard.
If, once all the beanbags are on the board, it doesn’t tip and the beanbags don’t fall off, you’ve succeeded.
Work together as a team to keep the whiteboard balanced until the end.
It’s an exciting activity that requires concentration, control, and teamwork.
tablecloth trick
Tablecloth-pulling is a classic party trick or performance, isn’t it? Without using real dishes or a tablecloth, you can play the game simply and safely with newspaper and beanbags.
Stack the beanbags on top of the newspaper, then try to pull the newspaper out without toppling the stack.
If you’re competing as a group, you can count not only success or failure but also how many beanbags remain.
It’s a game you can enjoy while seated, and it also seems like good training to sharpen reflexes.
