[For Seniors] Hand and finger play roundup: Finger exercises that lead to brain training
For older adults, moving their hands and fingers is very important because it helps stimulate brain activity.
That’s why many senior care facilities incorporate hand and finger play as a way to help prevent dementia.
Among these activities, brain-training style hand and finger games may seem difficult at first, but they allow participants to talk and think together—saying things like “I did it!” or “How do you do this part?”—so they can enjoy the activity while engaging in communication.
There are exercises that involve different movements with the left and right hands, or moving the fingers while singing.
Please choose and adapt activities according to each older adult’s physical and mental condition.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Brain Training! Finger Exercises That Help Prevent Dementia
- [For Seniors] Popular Hand-Play Songs: Fun Brain-Training Ideas
- [Brain Training for Seniors] Recommended Hand-Play Recreation for Dementia Prevention
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Extremely Effective Brain Training! A Fun Collection of Hand Games
- [For Seniors] Enjoy Easily! Hand Play 'Shimoshika Meyo' (If If, Tortoise)
- [For Seniors] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Brain-Training Recreation
- [For Seniors] DIY Hand Rehabilitation Tools to Strengthen Fingertips: A Collection of Handmade Ideas
- [For Seniors] Liven Things Up With Different Left-Right Movements! Game and Exercise Ideas
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [For Seniors] Recommended Handmade Activities! Simple Ideas
[For Seniors] Collection of Hand and Finger Games: Finger Exercises That Lead to Brain Training (21–30)
Goo Choki Paa-ty (Rock-Paper-Scissors Party)
Shall we all try dancing the “Goo-Choki-Paa” exercise together—just watching it might lift your spirits! This routine is done standing, but it can also be done seated, so it can be adapted to the physical and mental condition of older adults.
Various animals and creatures appear throughout, and their movements are expressed with the hands and feet.
For example, a fist (goo) can represent a gorilla, and scissors (choki) can represent a crab—there are so many ways to communicate using just your hands.
Don’t forget to take a deep breath at the end to refresh your body and mind.
Close It, Open It
Musunde Hiraite is famous as a children’s song.
Many seniors may remember playing it as a hand-clapping game when they were children.
The lyricist is unknown, and the composer is the French philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The lyrics are charming, and even today it is often used for performances at kindergartens and nursery schools.
It’s also recommended as a hand game for senior recreation.
Since the motions—opening and closing the hands—are simple, seniors can learn it quickly.
It also helps train the fingertips, which can stimulate the brain.
[For Seniors] Collection of Hand and Finger Games: Hand and Finger Exercises That Lead to Brain Training (31–40)
Rock, paper, scissors
“Goo Choki Paa” is a children’s hand-play song that is still loved by many today.
The song is a nursery rhyme based on a French folk tune.
It’s fun because you can use your hands to represent all kinds of things—from cats and crabs to helicopters.
And since you’re free to think of anything you can make, you can keep creating new ones.
It’s also helpful for older adults, supporting physical, mental, and cognitive stimulation.
As you expand your repertoire, it’s a hand-play song you can enjoy over and over without getting bored.
Rock, paper, scissors with pumpkin
Goo-Choki-Pa Pumpkin is a recommended exercise for Halloween.
Dressing up in Halloween costumes while dancing will lift your mood and make it more exciting.
Since Goo-Choki-Pa movements are added to various parts, it can help activate the brain.
You can do it standing or sitting, so choose whatever suits your physical and mental condition.
The song used here is an upbeat track that can lift the spirits of older adults as well.
Let’s enjoy the Goo-Choki-Pa exercise along with the up-tempo music.
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.
Goo Choki Paa Laugh-Out-Loud Exercise
Simply doing rock-paper-scissors in the usual way doesn’t tend to make people laugh.
What we’re introducing here is a rock-paper-scissors exercise that’s essential for recreation and creates lots of laughs.
There are methods like doing rock-paper-scissors quickly, or changing the order in which you show the hand signs—such as scissors-paper-rock.
By adding variations, you can give your brain good stimulation and make the exercise more enjoyable.
We also recommend versions where you make animals with your fingers while doing rock-paper-scissors, especially for older adults.
More important than doing it perfectly is communicating and having fun together.
Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise
The “Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise” is highly recommended for preventing dementia.
There are many nerves in the fingers, and because they connect to the brain, stimulating them helps activate both mind and body.
The best approach to dementia prevention is to use your head while moving your body.
The Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise has all of that.
In this version, you switch rock, paper, and scissors between your left and right hands.
Doing them alternately provides excellent stimulation for the brain.
Let’s all enjoy doing it together.