[For Seniors] Extremely Effective Brain Training! A Fun Collection of Hand Games
As a form of recreation for older adults, many facilities incorporate hand games that involve moving the fingers and arms.
It’s said that making fine movements with the fingertips or performing different motions with the right and left arms helps activate the brain.
In this article, we’ll introduce a variety of hand games that also serve as brain training.
These hand games range widely—from activities that only move the fingertips to ones that use the arms, and even the upper body and legs.
Please choose activities that match participants’ physical condition.
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[For Seniors] Extremely Effective for Brain Training! A Fun Collection of Hand Games (111–120)
Let’s make Pokémon with rock-paper-scissors
Pokémon are popular characters among children, aren’t they? Some older adults might also like Pokémon because of their grandchildren’s influence.
It seems there are as many as 809 Pokémon characters.
Let’s make those characters while singing the “Rock-Paper-Scissors, What Shall We Make?” song.
It might be a bit difficult to express popular Pokémon characters using only your hands, but let’s try to do it well.
Each Pokémon has its own unique features, so explaining those traits would likely make things more exciting too.
[For Seniors] Highly Effective Brain Training! Fun Hand Play Activities (121–130)
Goo Choki Paa Laugh-Out-Loud Exercise
Simply doing rock-paper-scissors in the usual way doesn’t really make people laugh, does it? What we’re introducing here is a rock-paper-scissors exercise that’s essential for recreation and guaranteed to spark laughter.
There are methods like doing rock-paper-scissors quickly, or changing the order—such as scissors-paper-rock.
By adding variations, you can give your brain good stimulation and make the exercise more fun.
Another recommendation for older adults is a rock-paper-scissors exercise where you form animals with your fingers as you go.
More important than doing it perfectly is communicating and having fun together.
Brain training with rock-paper-scissors
This version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors exercise incorporates brain training elements.
It’s recommended for those who want to try a twist on the usual recreational activities.
Examples include exercises where you alternate hands while making rock, scissors, and paper, or doing rock-paper-scissors with one hand while the other hand keeps count.
All of them are challenging tasks that require full brain engagement.
It might be tough at first, but if you do them every day, your body will naturally remember.
Using your fingertips provides good stimulation for the brain and can help support both mental and physical health.
Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise
The “Goo-Choki-Paa Exercise” is a workout where you do body exercises while making rock–scissors–paper hand shapes.
Because it moves your whole body, not just your fingers, it’s likely to have positive effects on both physical and mental health.
It can be done seated, which makes it appealing because it can be adjusted to the physical and mental condition of older adults.
First, move your upper body while doing rock–scissors–paper with your hands.
Tilting your head upward also engages the neck, making it a good exercise.
Next, do rock–scissors–paper with your feet.
This helps loosen the muscles in your legs and hip joints, so it should be a very beneficial workout.
Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise
The “Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise” is recommended for preventing dementia.
There are many nerves in the fingers, and since they connect to the brain, using them helps activate both mind and body.
The best way to prevent cognitive decline is to use your head while moving your body.
The Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise combines all of these elements.
This time, we’ll switch rock, paper, and scissors between the left and right hands.
Alternating movements provide good stimulation for the brain.
Let’s all enjoy doing it together.
Finger exercise with rock-paper-scissors (gu-choki-pa)
The Rock-Paper-Scissors exercise is highly recommended for preventing dementia in older adults.
Finger exercises are something we do casually, but many people may not realize that they’re directly connected to the brain.
By moving your fingertips a lot, you can stimulate and activate the brain.
The Rock-Paper-Scissors routine introduced here includes plenty of fun variations, so it’s likely to get some laughs too.
Exercising while having fun is great for building a healthy body.
Let’s laugh from the belly and aim to relieve stress.
Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra finger exercises
When eating, not only mouth movements but also finger movements—like holding chopsticks or bringing food to your mouth—are important.
This is an adaptation that adds finger movements to the Patakara exercise to coordinate the mouth and fingers.
The content is simple: as you pronounce each syllable, fold a finger to count at the same time.
Once you get used to the motions, try changing the finger movements and gradually making them more complex to expect brain-training benefits.
While it’s important to focus on finger movements, it’s also crucial to be mindful that your mouth movements don’t become small.
