[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] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
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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: Crowd-Pleasing Recreational Activities (101–110)
Shoot with the ball
This is a game where you kick a ball so it reaches the person sitting across from you, helping you build leg strength.
But it’s not just about kicking hard—you also have to send the ball through a hoop set up in the middle, so your directional control is tested too.
Not only how far you extend your leg, but also which part of your foot you use to kick will change the force applied to the ball and how easy it is to handle.
The farther apart you sit and the more hoops you add, the harder the control becomes, so start simple and gradually increase the difficulty.
Tossing beanbags toward the swaying basket
Here’s a fun game using beanbags.
You throw beanbags into a hanging basket—much like the ball-toss game often played at school sports days.
Many older adults are familiar with this type of game, so it should be easy to get into.
Like the traditional ball toss, the rules are simple, but this version gets progressively more difficult.
The more beanbags you throw, the more the hanging basket swings, making it harder to land your throws.
You’ll also need to watch the basket and time your throws, so it engages the brain as well.
When the basket fills up with beanbags, older participants are likely to feel a real sense of accomplishment.
A drill where you reel in a rope with your foot
This is a game where you use back-and-forth foot movements to reel in a rope at your feet and race to pull a distant basket closer.
While the basket is being pulled in, someone throws balled-up newspaper into it, making it heavier and requiring more effort to move as more balls are added.
Once the basket reaches your feet, count how many balls are inside; the person who pulled their basket in faster with fewer balls is the winner.
Decide on your strategy—whether to make big strides or move your feet quickly in small motions—and see what works best for you.
Lightly lifting the ball with the foot
This is a game where you kick up a beanbag balanced on your foot and aim to land it in higher-scoring zones.
Since you kick it upward rather than forward, it can be hard to picture the trajectory, so keep control firmly in mind as you play.
The higher-scoring zones are smaller and positioned higher, so carefully adjusting your power is likely important.
If it lands around the high-score area, your points will drop, so that risk–reward balance is part of the fun.
Foot sole stimulation! Can rolling
This is a game where you sandwich a can between your foot and the floor and roll it forward to stimulate the soles of your feet while learning to control force.
There are boxes with point values in front of you, so focus on the direction you roll the can to aim for a high score.
The key is to roll, not kick.
You’ll figure out how firmly to pinch the can and how to move your foot so it rolls smoothly.
Because it tests your ability to apply and release force, it’s the kind of activity that can lead to smoother movements in daily life.
[For Seniors] Easy to Try. Exciting Recreations (111–120)
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.
Ping-pong ball transfer
Here’s a simple, hands-on game you can enjoy casually.
Make a hole in a paper plate that’s slightly larger than a ping-pong ball, and attach a pair of chopsticks to the back.
You might reinforce the rim of the paper plate with vinyl tape or similar.
Put ping-pong balls in a shallow basket or tray, and use the paper plate with chopsticks you made to scoop them up.
You can compete to see who scoops a ball the fastest or who collects the most balls.
Of course, it also works as a solo game you can focus on by yourself.