[For Seniors] Easy to try. Fun, crowd-pleasing recreation
For those who use senior care facilities or day services, lively recreational activities are important, aren’t they?
In this article, we introduce activities that everyone can try together as well as ones individuals can enjoy on their own.
All of them are exciting and easy to try once you learn the simple rules.
Even games that might look difficult at first—like rock-paper-scissors relays or ball bowling—can be done while seated, so no worries.
We hope you’ll all give them a try so that recreation can help invigorate the minds and bodies of older adults.
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- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
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- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
[For Seniors] Easy to Try: Exciting Recreational Activities (91–100)
Rhythmic gymnastics with Momotaro
Here’s a rhythm exercise using the familiar song Momotaro.
Sit in a chair and rotate your arms to the beat of the song.
Slowly twist your body to the left and right.
Be careful not to fall off the chair when twisting.
When spreading your arms and legs, move within a comfortable range.
At the end, take slow deep breaths to steady your breathing and relax.
It’s also recommended to move your body using a ball or a towel.
Stay safe and enjoy getting your body moving.
Fan Beanbag Relay
Let me introduce a fan-and-beanbag relay that everyone can enjoy.
Have participants sit in chairs in a single row, and use handheld fans to pass along a beanbag.
Because it’s done while seated, even people who find it difficult to stand or move their bodies can likely take part.
Since both the fan and the beanbag are light, it doesn’t require much strength.
And with fans and beanbags, there’s less risk of injury if something is dropped.
Through the relay, people will call out to one another and work together as a team.
It might even spark new interactions.
You can also make it more exciting by forming two lines and holding a head-to-head relay competition.
[For Seniors] Easy to Try: Crowd-Pleasing Recreational Activities (101–110)
Beanbag Catch
Let’s have fun with a beanbag-catching game.
Toss beanbags to older adults seated in chairs, and have them catch the beanbags using a container.
Everyday items like a colander, bowl, or sushi tub work just fine.
It’s enjoyable with both large and small groups.
A team competition to see who can catch the most beanbags is also recommended.
The lively atmosphere will likely encourage interaction among participants, and it’s a refreshing activity for everyone.
Beanbag Catch Relay
Using beanbags and a bucket, here’s a beanbag catch relay.
Have the older adults sit in chairs in a single line.
Give the bucket to the person at one end, and have each person catch the beanbag that comes their way using the bucket.
After catching the beanbag, pass the bucket to the next person.
Catching the beanbag that flies toward you is said to help train reflexes.
Even while seated, you’ll be moving your body, so you can do brain training and exercise at the same time.
Once everyone gets used to it, gradually adjust the difficulty by increasing the throwing speed of the beanbags.
It really livens things up, and attempting tasks that feel a bit challenging is also said to help activate the brain.
Beanbag Block
Let’s train our legs while having fun with a beanbag game.
Pair up and sit facing each other.
One person throws a beanbag so that it reaches the other person’s feet.
The other person blocks the incoming beanbag with their feet.
Each chair has a designated territory around it, and the person who gets more beanbags into the opponent’s territory wins.
Because you use your feet to block the beanbags, you can train your legs while seated.
Successfully blocking will make older adults feel happy, too.
It also creates opportunities to chat with those around you, which can lead to more social interaction.
Otedama Hoi
Here’s a simple recreation activity using a large bath towel and beanbags.
Two people sit facing each other on chairs and each holds an end of the bath towel.
Place several beanbags in the center of the towel.
Working together, the two people shake the towel to build momentum and toss the beanbags toward a target.
It gets exciting when many beanbags land in the target.
Another key point of this activity is cooperation between the two participants.
Older adults can naturally create opportunities for interaction by calling out to each other and working together.
Through this recreation, it’s likely to bring more smiles to older adults.
Roll-roll! Plastic Bottle Rec(creation)
This is a game where you roll a plastic bottle with your foot and aim to deliver it into higher-scoring areas.
You’ll need power to get it across the line into a high-score zone, but if you build up too much momentum, your score can actually drop—so it really tests your control.
Pay close attention to how you move your foot and how that affects the bottle’s speed, and aim for precise control.
If you place obstacles or other bottles on the field, you can enjoy the added strategy of using or avoiding them, which makes it even more fun and is highly recommended.
