[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] Let's Have Fun at Day Service! Enjoyable Beanbag Activity (31–40)
Rhythmic exercises with carp streamers
Do you know the “ikarano-nami” that appears in the children’s song Koinobori? One theory says that ikarano-nami refers to the wave-like pattern formed by the ridge tiles at the peak of a tiled roof.
When you listen to Koinobori, you can imagine the carp streamers swimming as the waves of clouds and the ikarano-nami overlap.
These days, it seems we don’t sing or hear the version of Koinobori that mentions ikarano-nami as often.
Some older people may find Koinobori nostalgic.
If you do exercises themed around carp streamers, you might be able to feel the season while you move.
Try moving your body to the song’s expansive tune and melody.
Tossing balls into a small hole
Let’s try a ball-toss game using a cardboard box and colored balls! Here’s an idea where you aim and throw into small holes.
Normally, in a ball-toss game, you throw small balls into a tall basket and compete on how many you can get in.
This time, we’ll use a flat cardboard box and challenge ourselves to throw balls into small holes instead.
It’s a great way to build concentration and control.
If you don’t have colored balls, you can substitute with beanbags or balls made by crumpling up newspaper.
Lightly lifting the ball with the foot
Let me introduce “Foot-Toss Flick,” a game that doubles as lower-limb functional training.
Prepare a small inflatable pool or a box, and place an overturned trash bin inside it.
Add raised areas around it and assign each area a point value.
The harder the spot, the higher the points.
Once you have some beanbags ready, the game begins.
Place a beanbag on the top of your foot and flick it toward a scoring zone.
Do this 10 times and compete on total points.
Unlike simple stepping in place, doing it with a clear goal can be more effective for maintaining leg function.
Give it a try!
Beanbag Bingo
A grid is drawn, and players toss beanbags into it, aiming to line up rows vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
Because each square is only large enough for a single beanbag, it’s a game that demands concentration.
A key feature is that it can be customized to suit participants—for example, by changing the number of squares or the throwing position.
Using your whole body to toss softly helps keep the beanbag from bouncing out and makes it easier to reach the target, so it also works as a game that can help build physical fitness.
beanbag pouch
A game like the beanbag toss at a school sports day—this is a beanbag-in-the-hole game.
The beanbags have a nice weight, are easy to grip, and are perfect for throwing.
For the target, you cut round holes in a cardboard box and aim to throw the beanbags through those holes.
You can play while seated or standing.
Team play gets exciting too: if the beanbags don’t reach the holes and gather around them, you can knock them in by hitting those beanbags.
You can compete between teams by counting how many beanbags land in the holes, or enjoy it as an individual event.
[For Seniors] Let’s Have Fun at Day Service! Enjoyable Beanbag Toss Activities (41–50)
beanbag kicking
If you’re looking for a leg exercise activity, how about “beanbag kicking”? Arrange sheets of paper with point values in a vertical line, place a chair on the opposite side, and sit down.
Then balance a beanbag on the top of your foot and kick it up so it lands on one of the point sheets.
Decide how many beanbags each person gets to kick; the player with the highest total score wins.
If balancing the beanbag on your foot is difficult, you can place it on the floor and kick it with your toes instead.
If you want to increase the amount of exercise, add more beanbags.
Adjust the rules to suit the players.
Target shooting
Line up various targets and enjoy a game of target practice! Use recyclables like empty plastic bottles and cans as targets, arrange them on a table, and throw beanbags from a distance to knock them down.
The difficulty changes depending on the size and shape of each target.
You could assign points to each target, give each person five beanbags, and compete to see who scores the highest by hitting or toppling targets—that sounds like fun! It’s also a satisfying little stress reliever when your beanbag hits the mark.