For Seniors: Fun for Everyone! Christmas Party Activity Ideas
One of the major events in December is, of course, the Christmas party.
Many nursing homes and day service centers also hold Christmas parties, don’t they?
We want older adults to smile and enjoy themselves at these gatherings.
So this time, we’re sharing ideas for performances and activities that seniors can enjoy.
We’ve gathered a variety of options, from games seniors can participate in to staff-led shows.
December is a busy time, with the year-end and New Year holidays approaching.
Please use this article as a reference when preparing for your Christmas party.
- [Elderly Care Facility] Fun-filled recreational activities for a Christmas party: crafts, rhythmic exercises, games, and even a snack-time activity
- [Christmas Party at the Nursing Home] Staff Take on the Challenge! Fun Performances Everyone Can Enjoy
- Entertainment and Performances That Delight at Day Services for the Elderly
- [For Staff at Elderly Care Facilities] Simple Performances to Liven Up a Year-End Party
- Entertainment ideas for year-end parties that seniors will enjoy
- For seniors: Simple and exciting! Ideas for staff performances
- Christmas Party Ideas! Fun Activities and Game Ideas
- [For Seniors] Lively! Entertainment Ideas for New Year’s Parties
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- Christmas party booster! A collection of game ideas that large groups can enjoy
- Performances to Liven Up New Year Parties for Elderly Care Facility Staff
- [Christmas] Popular Entertainment/Performance Ideas Ranking
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
[For Seniors] Crowd-Pleasing! Christmas Party Performance Ideas (71–80)
theater
A stage play is highly recommended as an activity that many people can participate in.
Original stories are great, but choosing themes popular among seniors—like Mito Kōmon—can really liven things up.
Another key point is that the more attention you pay to details like background music and costumes, the more engaged the audience will feel.
Please keep this in mind.
If you want to create something a bit different, it can also be fun to add a musical or comedy-sketch twist.
Concentration (Christmas Arrangement)
A memory game using original Christmas-themed cards is sure to be a hit as a participatory activity.
If you use a standard deck of playing cards, there are too many cards and it’s easy for people to lose focus, so it’s important to adjust the number of cards to suit the participants.
You might also assign points based on the illustrations—like Santa Claus or Christmas trees—so that skill differences don’t dominate too much and everyone can enjoy the game.
Please keep an eye on things to make sure no one ends up with neither cards nor points.
Fukuwarai (Christmas arrangement)
Arrange the well-known Fukuwarai game in a Christmas version! Line up Santa Claus’s eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, and beard.
You can hold the parts while seated and toss them toward a face placed on the floor, or have one person blindfolded and arrange the parts by relying on guidance from others.
You can adapt how you play to suit different physical conditions.
Fukuwarai, which involves recalling the correct positions of facial parts, is also recommended as a training activity for people with dementia.
Why not incorporate Santa Claus Fukuwarai—a fun brain exercise—into your Christmas party event?
[For Seniors] Fun for Everyone! Christmas Party Entertainment Ideas (81–90)
What’s inside the box?
The “What’s in the box?” game seems like it could create a fun, exciting time for older adults.
As they feel around and try to guess what’s inside, their imagination is stimulated, which can help activate the brain.
It would be interesting to include items with different textures, like stuffed animals or plastic cups.
I can just picture everyone getting excited and asking, “What could this be?” It also sounds fun to work together as a team to come up with answers.
It seems like a wonderful activity that naturally encourages communication.
Wishing you a lovely Christmas party filled with the smiles of older adults.
Christmas Rhythm Gymnastics
This is an exercise where you keep rhythm with plastic-bottle maracas to classic Christmas songs.
Because it’s done seated, focus on making large arm movements and really shake the maracas.
By paying attention not only to your arm movements but also to proper posture, you can engage your whole body.
While the motions center on the upper body, such as how you swing your arms, it’s also recommended to add some foot tapping to work the lower body.
The sound of the maracas highlights the fun and can boost motivation to do the exercise.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This is an exercise with brain-training elements performed to the classic Christmas song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Because it’s done while seated in a chair, it puts less strain on the legs and lower back, which is a plus.
Incorporating movements that match the lyrics—like pinching your nose—helps enhance the festive Christmas mood.
By combining different actions for the left and right sides, such as pinching your nose with one hand and your ear with the other, you can get your body moving while also giving your brain a solid workout.
Christmas video viewing
Let’s help people feel the Christmas spirit with visuals like brightly shining Christmas trees and gently falling snow.
When these videos play with music in the background while people are gaming or chatting, they’ll catch a glimpse now and then and sense a calm, soothing mood.
In addition to choosing the right visuals and music, it’s also a good idea to be creative with how you insert on-screen text celebrating Christmas to draw more attention to the video.
Because the footage is simple and meant to influence relaxation time, it’s important to think carefully about when and where to incorporate it.