[For Seniors] Enjoyable Brain Training! Finger Exercises That Help Prevent Dementia
Moving the fingers helps activate the brain, so it’s recommended as a recreational activity for older adults.
Finger exercises can be done while seated, making them safe and easy to start.
There are many ideas—such as doing different movements with each hand or coordinating with songs—so they can be enjoyed according to each person’s physical and mental condition.
Also, by adding ideas like speaking aloud while moving the fingers, you can make the exercises even more enjoyable.
Since these exercises can be done anywhere, they’re also great for filling small pockets of free time.
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[For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Introducing Finger Exercises That Help Prevent Dementia (21–30)
Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise
The “Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise” is a workout where you do body exercises while making rock–scissors–paper hand shapes.
Because it moves not only the fingers but the whole body, it seems likely to have positive effects on mental and physical health.
It can be done while seated, which makes it appealing for adjusting to older adults’ physical and mental conditions.
First, let’s move the upper body while doing rock–scissors–paper with the hands.
You’ll move your neck when you tilt your head upward, which is also good exercise.
Next, use your legs to do rock–scissors–paper.
That will loosen the muscles in the legs and hip joints, making it a very beneficial workout.
Get hyped—suri-suri ton-ton!
While seated in a chair, this activity has you perform different movements with each hand on your knees.
In time with the rhythm, one open hand rubs the knee, while the other hand is closed in a fist and taps the knee.
Doing forward-and-back and up-and-down movements on opposite sides helps activate the brain and can also provide a massaging effect for the legs.
It’s also recommended to swap hand shapes and actions within the rhythm to boost quick reactions and concentration.
Once you’re comfortable with the basic movements, gradually add rules to further enhance the brain-training effect.
Snail finger exercise
This is a brain-training exercise where you make a snail shape with both hands! Extend one hand forward in a V sign (like scissors) and place your other hand, in a fist, on top of it to form the basic snail shape.
To keep that shape, swap the positions of your hands while also switching the V sign and the fist at the same time.
If you add a clap at each switching moment, it gets even more challenging! The difficulty and momentary confusion stimulate the brain and help activate it.
It can be even more fun if you do it to the rhythm of a children’s song or similar music.
Number Exercises
This is a number exercise where each number has a specific movement! First, learn the movements for each number—for example, 1 is a hand clap, 2 is hands above the head, 3 is patting the knees, and so on.
After some practice, call out two or three numbers and have participants perform those movements in sequence.
For older adults, remembering three movements in a short time isn’t easy, but it’s absolutely fine to make mistakes! Thinking through the actions and watching others to imitate them also stimulates the brain, so don’t worry about doing the movements perfectly—just have fun.
Earthworm Exercises
This is an exercise where you move your raised fingers in various directions to mimic the motion of an earthworm with your hands.
By consciously bending and extending your index finger, you can develop smoother fingertip movements and improve concentration.
You alternately extend your finger upward and to the side, but by not only moving in the same direction and instead shifting the direction and rhythm, you can focus on more complex movements, which may also provide brain-training benefits.
To make it easier to keep the rhythm, doing the exercise to music may help you approach the training with a more enjoyable mindset.
2525 calisthenics
Let me introduce a finger exercise that also helps with brain training and fall prevention.
While saying “Niko niko nī,” you raise two fingers and five fingers.
You can add hand claps between raising the fingers, and make 2 and 5 with the fingers on each hand separately.
Mixing different movements increases the difficulty, right? Thinking about multiple things activates the brain.
Moreover, doing two or three things at the same time is said to help prevent falls.
As we get older, we tend to laugh less, but it seems this exercise can also help bring out richer facial expressions.
Good Exercises
I’d like to introduce the “Good Exercise,” a routine that makes you want to imitate it as soon as you see it.
With one hand, make an OK sign facing downward, and with the other hand, make a thumbs-up sign.
Then place the thumbs-up on top of the OK sign, and repeat this motion.
When you switch the thumbs-up from one hand to the other smoothly, it feels surprisingly satisfying.
Try aiming for a pace of about once per second.
Of course, it’s fine to go faster or slow down as you like.
