[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] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
[For Seniors] Easy to Try: Fun, Crowd-Pleasing Recreational Activities (131–140)
Gesture Game
Spring is the season when warmth returns, so I think more animals will start showing their faces outside.
This is a classic gesture game where you express various things—centered around such animals—through movement and have the people around you guess what they are.
It seems like it would be exciting to see each person’s unique way of thinking, such as what aspects of each theme they focus on and how they express them through movement.
Since it’s important to clearly imagine the theme, including the movements, the game helps develop creativity and concentration.
squeeze relay
This is a relay-style recreation using “Pop Pop Squeeze,” a toy where you press the raised bubbles with your fingers to pop them.
Once you’ve pressed all the bubbles on the provided squeeze toy, flip it over and pass it to the next person.
The team whose last player finishes popping the bubbles first wins! You can place the squeeze toys a short distance away and have participants move to them like an obstacle relay, or simply sit at a table and pass the toy to the next person.
Choose the method that seems safest and most enjoyable for your group.
Strikeout
Strikeout is a game where you throw a ball at targets labeled with numbers.
In addition to being expected to help with arm exercise, strikeout is also said to strengthen the core.
By training your core, your body’s balance becomes more stable, which can help prevent falls.
It’s a game where you knock down numbered targets, so you can have fun while getting a workout.
Since it’s a lively game that many people can enjoy together, it would be great to include it in an April cherry-blossom viewing recreation.
How about making the targets not with numbers, but with illustrations or photos related to cherry-blossom viewing?
Passing a ball using towels
Let’s do a lively recreation activity using towels and a ball.
First, have the older adults sit facing each other, each holding a towel with a ball placed on top.
Since the ball rolls easily, adjusting balance is important.
Coordinate your movements with your partner and smoothly pass the ball onto the towel of the person next to you.
The suspense will keep everyone on edge—in the best way—so it’s sure to be a hit.
Because it’s a cooperative game where everyone works together to keep the ball moving, it will also help deepen relationships among the older participants.
Towel ball toss
With the simple rules of “Towel Tamaire,” where you toss towels into a tub or bucket, even those who feel uneasy about recreational activities will be willing to give it a try.
Share tips as you go, such as “It flies farther if you roll it up,” or “It’s easier to throw from underneath.” Whether throwing while standing or seated, or adjusting the distance to the tub, observe the older adults’ conditions and choose methods that allow everyone present to enjoy the activity.
Tower game
Here’s an idea for a tower game that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Stack paper cups to build a tower, and once it’s complete, place a ball on top.
You can challenge yourself to see how fast you can do it, or compete against another person for extra fun.
In this kind of tower game, it’s common for the tower to collapse if you rush.
Try to proceed with a bit of tension, wondering, “Will I knock it down?” That way, when you manage to do it quickly, you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment.
A game where you make parody versions of the song Tulips
This activity involves taking the lyrics of Tulips, a classic spring children’s song, dividing them into blocks by character count, and then changing the words in each block.
Which part each person is responsible for is determined by a game using a target marked with numbers, and from there, participants come up with words that match the specified character count.
As long as the number matches, any words are acceptable; however, if you have everyone think of words with a spring theme, it should help them focus more deeply on the language.
Once all the blocks are filled, everyone sings the new lyrics together and checks whether the sound and flow feel pleasant.