Recreation Activities Effective for Long-Term Care Prevention for Seniors
This article introduces recommended recreational activities for preventing the need for long-term care.
We’ve gathered a wide range of options, including exercises and games that move the hands and feet, as well as quizzes that engage the mind.
Doing recreational activities is effective for physical rehabilitation and dementia prevention.
You can also expect benefits like increased appetite and improved sleep quality as your activity level rises.
It’s also a great opportunity to interact with other older adults who are participating.
Please use this article as a reference and enjoyably put it to use for care prevention.
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [Brain Training for Seniors] Recommended Hand-Play Recreation for Dementia Prevention
- [November Health Topic] Indoor Recreation Ideas for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- Recommended recreational activities to help seniors enjoy their time in care facilities
- [For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Extremely Effective Brain Training! A Fun Collection of Hand Games
- [October Health Topic] Introducing Recreational Activities for Seniors!
- For Seniors: Enjoy Every Day! A Collection of Senior Recreation Ideas
- [For older adults] Music recreation that helps boost mood and improve health
- [March Health Topic] Introducing Recreational Activities for Seniors!
[For Older Adults] Effective Recreational Activities for Preventive Care (71–80)
ball catcher
This is a game where you use a stick with a paper cup attached to the tip to collect balls lined up on a table.
There are also walls on the left and right sides of the table, so make good use of them to smoothly collect the balls.
A face-to-face match across the table is recommended, and trying to collect more balls than your opponent within a time limit tends to increase the speed of movement.
The longer the stick, the harder it is to handle, so once players get used to it, it’s also recommended to add variations such as changing the distance.
stick-tapping activity
Teams are divided and do a relay with a stick and a bucket, competing to see which side can act first on a ball placed in front of the person at the end.
The stick’s role is to hit the ball, while the bucket’s role is to cover the ball and block it, making the outcome easy to see.
Once everyone understands the rules, try arranging how the stick and bucket are passed, and quickly pass what comes to you while thinking about who to hand it to next.
Rather than focusing on winning or losing, it’s important to encourage calling out to one another and to emphasize communication.
Daruma Stacking Game
Let me introduce the “Daruma Stacking Game,” a game that trains finger dexterity, quickness, and concentration.
Prepare paper cups with daruma drawings, and compete to see how many tiers you can stack within 40 seconds.
You can stack them however you like, but because speed and caution are both required, it demands not only concentration but also creativity.
Additionally, the quick hand movements used to grasp the cups are similar to the reflex of grabbing onto something when you’re about to fall, so it may help prevent falls.
It’s also recommended as a recreation activity for senior care facilities.
Get it with dice
Here’s a dice game you can enjoy using items from a 100-yen shop.
All you need are a die, some balls, and three baskets.
Put the balls into one of the baskets, then place one basket for yourself and one for your opponent—now you’re ready! Take turns rolling the die and move the number of balls shown into your own basket.
Continue until there are no balls left.
The player with the most balls at the end wins.
Because luck plays a big role, differences in ability are minimized, so anyone can enjoy it.
Rolling the die and picking up the balls also serve as upper-limb functional training, and counting the numbers can provide cognitive training benefits.
Give it a try!
Gesture Game
A gesture game you often see on variety shows.
It doesn’t require any props—just your body—so it’s easy to enjoy and even gives you a bit of exercise.
As you know, the way it works is that the performer conveys the prompt to the participants using only body movements.
There are many ways to express it: capturing distinctive features, imitating actions, and highlighting key points of expression.
The performer thinks about how to communicate and how to represent the prompt through movement.
Participants, watching and wondering what it could be, focus on the motions and make associations, so it can also be expected to have brain-training benefits.
Give it a try!
Table hockey
Introducing table hockey, a game that’s a blast whether you’re playing with a small group or a larger one.
Since you play seated, anyone can join in.
Cover the table so the ball won’t fall off anywhere except from the two ends.
Make strikers out of cardboard, place the ball in the center of the table, and you’re ready to go! Play to five points—the winner is the one who sends the ball off the opponent’s end of the table.
It’s fun while also helping to build arm strength, reaction speed, and decision-making, so it can be used as an occupational therapy activity as well.
Give it a try!
disk hit
Let us introduce Disk Hit, a game you can enjoy using paper plates and paper cups.
Use empty milk or juice cartons as pins and throw paper plates like a flying disc.
Each person throws seven plates, and you compete by the number of pins you knock down.
It’s fun for individuals or groups, and it can be played either sitting or standing, so anyone can join.
Throwing paper plates engages everything from the shoulders to the fingertips, making it a functional exercise while you play.
It’s highly game-like and exciting, so it’s also recommended as a recreation activity for senior care facilities.