[For Seniors] Guaranteed to Be a Hit! Popular Day Service Recreational Activities

Jenga with milk cartons

November recreation: paper Jenga

This is a simple recreation where you stack cross-sectional rings cut from empty milk cartons on top of each other.

The person who builds the tallest stack within a set time wins.

It’s a straightforward game that anyone can understand at a glance, so there’s no need to explain the rules.

Because it requires balance and fine motor control, it engages the fingertips and may help prevent cognitive decline.

Since it’s easily affected by wind, it’s best played in an area away from air conditioning drafts.

Wobbly Beanbag Game

Wobbly Beanbag Game! Train Your Concentration [Senior Recreation]

Create it by arranging everyday materials! Here are ideas for a wobbly beanbag game.

What you’ll use: beanbags, a plastic tray, and an empty plastic wrap core.

The great thing is you don’t need to buy special materials, so it’s easy to try! To set up, stand the wrap core upright on a table and place the plastic tray with the beanbags on top.

That’s it! Participants then take turns removing beanbags from the tray.

The unstable wrap core wobbles, adding a thrilling challenge!

Pinball with a cup

[Cheerful Recreation 🏀] Make a super popular game by hand! Pinball with cups! Guaranteed fun!

Let’s make holes in a cardboard sheet and enjoy a pinball-style game.

It’s an arcade game that was popular from the 1970s to the 1980s.

You flick the ball and score points by hitting various mechanisms on the playfield.

Create features by cutting holes in the cardboard and standing up and gluing paper cups.

Tilt the cardboard that serves as the playfield and roll a ping-pong ball.

The player who has more ping-pong balls remaining in the basket set at the lower end wins.

The more holes you make in the cardboard, the higher the difficulty, so adjust the number accordingly.

With a design reminiscent of a nostalgic game from the past, it’s likely to be a hit with seniors as well.

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Nakajima Junko

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Handmade Senbonbiki (lottery string pull game)

[Easy Craft] Candy Fishing Where You Don’t Know Which One You’ll Catch — The Easiest Way to Make Festival-Style Senbon Fishing; Senbon Lottery; String Lottery; At-Home Play; Indoor Play; Home Festival

The idea of adding color to summer events with a “DIY Senbonbiki” is a popular game that livens up any gathering.

Thread multiple strings through a cardboard box and attach candy, message cards, or small prizes to each end—just pulling a string is full of excitement.

The thrill of not knowing what you’ll get is fun for participants and onlookers alike, bringing smiles all around.

It can be enjoyed safely even while seated, which makes it especially appealing.

With simple preparation, it brings the festive feel of a summer fair into your facility—a fun summer event.

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kojifumi

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Casual Ball Curling

[Easy-to-prepare and exciting recreation] [Day service activity] Simple circle-style ball curling

Curling became well-known through the Winter Olympics, so many of you may already be familiar with it.

It’s a team game where you compete to see which team can get their balls closer to the center ball.

Preparing this recreation is as simple as getting a few balls ready.

That’s all it takes to create a fun activity that helps participants interact more with each other.

Since it can be played while seated, it’s also appealing because it can be enjoyed in a way that suits the physical and mental conditions of older adults.

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Nanaka

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Newspaper Pull-Out Game

Recreation for seniors: ultra-exciting, high-energy sports day–style activity — newspaper pull-out game

It’s a game where you quickly pull out a long, rolled-up strip of newspaper at a signal and compete on speed.

Making it a head-to-head match boosts the urge to move faster than your opponent, effectively training explosive power and large arm movements.

A key rule is that tearing the paper counts as a fail, which encourages players to focus not only on speed but also on delicate fingertip control.

It can also be fun to try repeatedly and think about arm movements and postures that make pulling smoother.

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kappamaki

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Newspaper Ring Relay

[Elderly Recreation] Hilarious, sure-fire activity! Teamwork matters! Newspaper Ring Relay

This is a game where team members stand in a single line holding hands and pass a ring made from newspaper along the linked hands.

Because you hook the ring by moving your joined hands, teamwork and syncing your timing with the person next to you are important.

Since you can’t move your hands freely, you tend to tense your arms, so it not only trains focus and speed on the ring, but also works the upper body, especially the arms.

You can make it more challenging by using a smaller newspaper ring and other tweaks, which boosts concentration even further—highly recommended.

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kappamaki

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