Recommended recreational activities for older adults with dementia

PET bottle cap grab game

Indoor Recreation for Seniors: A 'Bottle Cap Grab Game' Using Clothespins and Paper Cups

Here’s a game that uses PET bottle caps to train finger dexterity.

Pick up PET bottle caps and drop them into paper cups.

However, you’ll use clothespins to pick up the caps.

Handling clothespins requires a certain amount of strength.

Simply using clothespins can also improve fine motor skills by encouraging nimble finger movements.

Let’s not only aim for brain-training benefits through finger use, but also strengthen the fingers and hands.

By making it a game, older adults can enjoy themselves while getting in some training.

Give it a try!

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Nakajima Junko

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Paper Core Bowling

Toilet paper bowling #day service #recreation

Back in the Showa era, there was a time when bowling was hugely popular.

Some older adults may have been into bowling back then.

Let’s rekindle those memories and get our fingers moving with a bowling game.

Use toilet paper rolls as pins, and a lightweight rubber ball that doesn’t feel heavy to knock them down.

Since it can be played on a table, people who have difficulty standing can participate as well.

Keeping score like in real bowling will make it even more exciting.

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Nakajima Junko

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Handmade spinning top

A Must-See Day Service Recreation! Handmade Spinning Tops by Participants

Let’s play with spinning tops made from origami.

Are you familiar with tops crafted from origami? There are types that look like flowers with a cross-shaped handle in the center for spinning, and ones where a toothpick is inserted into the center of a square top.

Some folding methods are complex, but older adults who enjoy origami will likely have fun making them.

Let’s spin the origami tops everyone has folded.

Both making the origami and spinning the tops use the fingertips, making it good training.

With the nostalgic game of spinning tops, older adults can relive their childhood and enjoy a pleasant time.

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Nakajima Junko

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clothespin chain

[Senior Recreation] Clothespin Chain!

Do you know where muscle strength in older adults starts to decline? The answer is that it begins with the fingertips.

When fingertip strength decreases, it can affect daily life—for example, making it difficult to get dressed or causing more food to be dropped while eating.

Try using clothespins to train the fingertips.

Set up a string slightly higher than the head height of a seated older adult.

Then attach clothespins to the string.

It’s a simple activity, but it provides fingertip movement training with minimal strain on the body.

It can also be done as a game while chatting with people around you.

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Nakajima Junko

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Take as many clothespins as you like

At-home Indoor Recreation for Seniors (Day Service/Nursing Home): Unlimited Clothespin Grab Using Clothespins and a Spoon

Let me introduce a recreation activity you can do using only items you already have at home: the Clothespin Scoop.

All you need are clothespins, spoons, and a container to put the clothespins in.

You can use a bowl as a substitute for the container.

Place the clothespins on a table and hold a spoon in each hand.

Using only the spoons, transfer the clothespins into the container.

It’s fine to use both hands.

It may look simple, but using both hands simultaneously increases stimulation to the brain, turning it into enjoyable brain training.

You can also do it on the floor instead of the table to change the working height; doing it in a squat adds balance training and lower-body exercise at the same time.

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kojifumi

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Milk Carton Stacking Game

Here’s a super easy activity you can do with a milk carton! Guaranteed laughs—this one’s a hit! The Stacking Game! #DayService #ActivitiesForSeniors #Elderly #Seniors #Recreation #Rehabilitation #shorts

Introducing a milk carton stacking game you can enjoy with just a little preparation.

All you need are milk cartons.

Cut the cartons into many ring-shaped slices a few centimeters wide.

Stack the square-ring pieces as high as you can without letting them fall.

You can start with a “Ready, go!” or simply stack at your own pace—both are fun.

Deciding where to hold each piece, how to place it, and adjusting while watching the balance engages upper-limb movement as well as thinking and judgment, making it great brain training.

It’s easy to prepare and enjoyable with any number of players, from a small group to a larger one, which is part of its appeal.

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kojifumi

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This kid had a hard time writing katakana, didn’t they? I wonder if they didn’t cry?

“Kono ko nakanaka katakana kakenakatta na, nakakanakatta kana?” is quite a long tongue twister.

Are they worried that the child who couldn’t write katakana didn’t end up crying? Words with similar sounds like nakanaka and katakana run together almost like a reverse reading.

Plus, the repeated ka sounds create a string of identical syllables, which adds to the difficulty of reading.

Tongue twisters can make you rush, but the key is to stay calm and read through without hurrying.

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Nakajima Junko

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