Recommended recreational activities for older adults with dementia
In senior care facilities and day service centers, there are people with a wide range of needs.
Therefore, it’s important to plan recreational activities that match each older adult’s condition.
This time, we’ll introduce recommended recreational activities for seniors with dementia.
For older adults with dementia, emotional support—such as helping them “feel enjoyment” and “find their place”—is essential.
Activities that are easy to try and encourage interaction among participants are also recommended.
Use this article as a reference when planning recreation for seniors with dementia.
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Recommended Recreational Activities for Older Adults with Dementia (11–20)
movie watching
Watching movies is a recommended recreational activity for people with dementia.
Films with relatively short runtimes that can be enjoyed in a relaxed way are ideal.
Consider researching genres and titles that are often well-liked, such as period dramas, popular films from the Showa era, musicals, or movies that evoke a sense of the seasons.
Watching nostalgic films can have a reminiscence-therapy effect for older adults, stimulating the brain and helping to slow the progression of dementia.
Pita-to Ball
Here’s a game using a ball that you can play on a table.
Apply strips of tape from one end of the table, placing the point values on top and keeping the sticky side facing up.
From the opposite end of the table, have older adults roll a rubber ball.
If the ball reaches near a point value, it will stop thanks to the adhesive tape.
Making the higher scores farther from the rolling side makes the game more exciting.
Grasping and rolling the rubber ball also helps train the fingers and hands.
It’s a fun way to strengthen the hands and fingers.
Milk Carton Edition! Word-Finding Brain Training Game
This is a game where players make words that fit a theme using hiragana cards laid out on the table.
Preparation is simple—just cut up milk cartons and stick the 50-sound syllabary onto them—so people can easily join from the setup stage.
As you add more sets of the 50 sounds, the range of words you can create expands, and the process of looking for letters takes more effort, which enhances the brain-training effect.
It could also be exciting to proceed with a cooperative pattern where players create multiple words together, leading naturally to communication.
Simple Darts
Simple Darts is a fun game idea you can make using a small whiteboard and magnets.
Draw a large circle on the whiteboard with a smaller circle in the center.
Divide the large circle into eight sections and assign points to each one.
The center circle should be the highest score: 100 points.
Wrap the magnets in any fabric you like.
The rules are simple: throw the magnets at the whiteboard and compete based on the score where they stick.
It’s sure to be exciting as either an individual or team game.
You can easily prepare it since whiteboards and magnets are available at 100-yen shops.
Brain training with Rock-Paper-Scissors on Mito Komon
Many older adults have probably watched the drama Mito Kōmon at least once, don’t you think? It’s about Mito Kōmon traveling around Japan, and the show’s theme song is famous too.
Using the theme song “Aa Jinsei ni Namida Ari,” let’s do a finger-play activity with the rock-paper-scissors motions.
Clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and pull it toward yourself, while making a hand (paper) with the other and extend it forward.
Another pattern is: clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and extend it forward, then use scissors to pull it back.
It might be easier for older adults to participate if it’s a song they already know.
foot bath
Foot baths are really good for your body.
Soaking your feet in warm water and then massaging the soles and the tops of your feet improves circulation and can make you feel revitalized.
Adding bath salts, regular salt, or baking soda helps you warm up, too.
Even people who don’t want to take a full bath or find it a hassle might be willing to try just a foot bath, so please give it a try.
It also helps at the first signs of a cold.
Make sure the water doesn’t get lukewarm—add hot water as needed to keep it warm while you soak.
Recommended Recreational Activities for Elderly People with Dementia (21–30)
A stroll activity to the nearby park
When the weather turns warm and mild, I highly recommend a stroll activity.
In fact, going for a walk is packed with benefits! Exposure to sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D, which strengthens bones.
Planning a date and destination for an outing engages orientation skills—the ability to understand your situation—while getting ready to go out and following a route use executive functions, the abilities needed to achieve goals.
If you’re walking, you can also expect various effects such as maintaining muscle strength and improving circulation.
Even in a wheelchair, spending the day differently than usual can refresh both body and mind, so please give it a try.
