Recommended for seniors! Fun circle-based recreational activities
Recreational time at care facilities is so much more enjoyable when you can sit face-to-face with staff and friends, isn’t it?
In this article, we introduce fun, circle-based activities that are perfect for older adults—everyone can see each other’s faces while participating!
We’ve gathered a variety of activities: ones you can do seated using simple props like balls, ones you can do around a table, and even light exercises.
Enjoy them while sharing each other’s wonderful smiles!
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Exciting! Ball-Based Recreation
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Today’s Recommended Activity: Fun and Engaging
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic: Seated activities
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- [Elderly Day Service] Let’s all have fun! Games and recreational activities
- [For Seniors] A Fun Sports Day! Recreational Activities You Can Do Safely
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
Recommended for seniors! Fun circle-based recreation activities (1–10)
ball toss (traditional Japanese beanbag/ball-throwing game)
Perhaps everyone knows tamaire, right? It’s that game often played at school sports days where you throw balls into a net.
There’s a way to adapt tamaire so you can play it indoors.
First, arrange chairs in a circle and have everyone sit down.
Divide the participants into two teams and have them sit alternately.
Place two boxes—one red and one white—in the center.
The team that gets more beanbags into their own color’s box wins.
It’s easy to set up and fun even in a small space.
Passing the ball using your feet
When you want to gently move your legs and hips, passing a ball is also recommended.
First, form a group of about five people and move the chairs close together to make a small circle.
Next, one person lifts a beach ball or rubber ball by holding it between both feet.
Then, everyone relays the ball around.
It’s simple, but you’ll probably find it surprisingly tricky to pass without dropping it.
Start by taking your time and encouraging each other as you try.
You can also set a rule that it’s a success when the ball makes one full round.
balloon volleyball
One activity said to exercise the upper body and train the brain is “balloon volleyball.” In this game, players form a circle and tap a balloon with their palms to pass it around.
Rather than competing, try to pass in a way that makes it easy for others to receive, and challenge yourselves to see how many rallies you can keep going.
If you start to get bored with balloon volleyball, try increasing the number of balloons—that will raise the difficulty and make it feel fresh again.
You can also decide which hand to use based on the color of the balloon.
Recommended for seniors! Fun circle-based recreational activities (11–20)
Paper cup rope pull
How about trying “Paper Cup Rope Pull,” a game that tests your reflexes? You’ll need a little prep to start.
First, prepare one paper cup per person and tape about one meter of curling ribbon to the bottom of each cup.
Next, place the cups on the ground and have each player hold their ribbon.
When the facilitator poises a basket above the cups, you’re ready to go.
Then, when the facilitator tries to cover the cups with the basket, see if you can pull your paper cup away faster than they can cover it.
Word-Finding Brain Training Game
With the “Word-Finding Brain Training Game,” you can strengthen your thinking and decision-making skills while having fun.
First, prepare cards with the Japanese syllabary (gojūon).
Next, arrange them at random and have the participants gather around.
Then the game begins.
The facilitator specifies one character from the gojūon and the word length.
For example: “A, three letters.” The participants then arrange the cards to form a three-syllable word that starts with that character (in this example, ‘a’).
Depending on the number of participants, try increasing the number of cards, such as using two full sets of the gojūon.
Front-Back-Left-Right Game
When you want to build closer connections, the “Front-Back-Left-Right Game” is perfect.
It’s widely used as an icebreaker in many schools and facilities.
First, everyone stands in a circle and holds hands.
Then, in unison, they jump in the direction called out by the facilitator, such as “front” or “right.” Once everyone gets used to it, switch the rule so that participants jump in the opposite direction of the facilitator’s call.
It will probably be quite confusing, but that’s exactly why it fosters a sense of unity.
A game where you only spin the specified ball
To train your brain and reflexes, the “Pass Only the Specified Ball” game is also effective.
Players form a circle and simply hand a ball to the person next to them.
However, because only certain balls may be passed, it’s trickier than it sounds.
For example, place a variety of balls in the circle and specify conditions like “red ball” or “rubber ball.” Players keep passing as long as the current specification remains in effect, until a new one is called.
If you set it up so that about one-third of the players are holding balls at any given time, the game tends to get lively.