[For Seniors] Brain Training with a Whiteboard! Fill-in-the-Blank Exercises & Quizzes
There are many fun ideas for whiteboard-based recreational activities, such as word gathering games and kanji quizzes.
All of these ideas are great brain training and are recommended for older adults.
In this article, I’d like to introduce problems and quizzes that use “fill-in-the-blanks,” which are also commonly used in whiteboard activities.
We’ve prepared plenty of enjoyable questions and quizzes for seniors—like problems where you complete equations by inserting numbers into the blanks, and quizzes where you complete words by inserting the same hiragana—so please give them a try.
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- Recommended for brain training: a proverb quiz using a whiteboard
[For Seniors] Brain Training with a Whiteboard! Fill-in-the-Blank Problems & Quizzes (21–30)
Word association game: What comes to mind when you think of September?
@thinkbodyjapan Word association game on the whiteboard!CaregivingNursing care facilityCaregiver#Caregiver'sDailyLifeRecreation
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Here is an idea for a fall-themed quiz that also serves as brain training.
Ask participants, “What comes to mind when you think of September?” and write their answers on a whiteboard.
Based on the words that come up, expand into a word-association game using the initial letters or themes.
For example, if someone says “tsukimi” (moon viewing), you can think of foods that start with “tsu,” and so on.
As people associate words, seasonal topics naturally arise, helping stimulate memory, vocabulary, and creativity.
Adding a time limit or team competition boosts the game aspect and encourages smiles and conversation.
By starting with familiar topics, it lowers the barrier to participation and makes an excellent fall recreation activity that can also serve as a conversation starter for older adults.
Proverb fill-in-the-blank
This is a quiz-style recreation where you write proverbs on a whiteboard with part of the phrase left blank, and participants guess the missing words.
For example, using familiar proverbs like “〇〇 saki ni tatazu” (“It’s no use crying over spilt milk”-type sayings) makes it easier for people to join in.
You can offer hints or set a time limit according to the difficulty, which adds tension and a sense of gameplay and naturally livens up the room.
The process of recalling and thinking of the answer helps stimulate the brain, and each answer check brings the joy of rediscovery—“That’s right!” Using long-cherished sayings evokes nostalgia and shared topics, making it easier for older adults to chat with each other.
Keeping a brisk pace also helps maintain concentration.
Autumn Letter Rearrangement Quiz
It’s a quiz where you write scrambled letters of autumn-related words on a whiteboard and guess what the word is.
Choosing themes like seasonal foods and traditional autumn scenes makes it easier for older adults to participate.
When someone gets the right answer, there’s applause and cheers, which naturally encourages conversation.
By offering hints and thinking together, you can stimulate the brain and improve concentration.
It also sparks stories about past memories and discussions of seasonal flavors, helping deepen connections among older adults.
It’s an activity that’s easy for anyone to join and can be enjoyed repeatedly.
Arunashi quiz
The “Aru-Nashi” quiz is probably a familiar game for many older adults.
Write one word each under the “aru” (has) and “nashi” (doesn’t have) columns.
After listing a few words under both sides, ask the older adults to answer what the items in the “aru” group have and what the items in the “nashi” group don’t have.
As they think about the answer and have that moment of insight, they can feel the joy and fun of figuring it out.
This kind of feeling is also called an “Aha! experience,” and it’s said to increase blood flow in the brain.
It’s a recreational activity that gets lively even in groups, encouraging conversation and deepening interaction among participants.
Picture shiritori
There’s a word shiritori activity using a whiteboard, but let’s try turning the words into drawings instead.
Ask the older adults to provide words that form a shiritori chain.
Convert each word into a picture and draw it on the whiteboard.
When the shiritori ends, you can play an even more fun game.
Cover the drawings on the whiteboard with paper and have the older adults recall them.
Show only the first drawing, and then have everyone think about what word comes next.
Please guide the activity by giving hints and incorporating episodes from the shiritori session as you go.
Fill-in-the-blank quiz about winter
Here’s a winter fill-in-the-blank quiz you can enjoy while feeling the season.
Words related to winter—like “heater” and “scarf”—appear throughout.
Fill the squares with letters to complete each word.
For older adults, winter often means spending more time indoors and having fewer chances to experience the season.
In those times, try this fill-in-the-blank quiz to soak up the feeling of winter.
It’s great brain training and ideal for cognitive prevention too! Let’s have fun while giving our brains a workout!
Fill-in-the-blank quiz about wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets)
A lot of older adults probably love having tea with their friends, don’t they? It’s fun to chat while enjoying delicious snacks.
In this article, we have a fill-in-the-blank quiz related to such treats.
The questions mainly feature the names of traditional Japanese sweets (wagashi), so please fill in the blanks to complete the names.
These are all sweets you’ve likely tried at least once.
Answering the quiz might bring back memories and even make you crave them.