[For Seniors] Popular Hand-Play Songs: Fun Brain-Training Ideas
To increase opportunities for physical activity and social interaction, many older adults visit facilities such as day-service centers.
However, there may be many who find it difficult to start conversations on their own and end up sitting by themselves.
In this article, we introduce simple hand-play songs that can be done while seated! If it’s a tune they’ve heard before, they can join in with enjoyment, which can also help spark interaction with other participants.
In addition, raising the arms and moving the fingers serves as brain training and is important for preventing cognitive decline.
Please try these as fun recreational activities!
- [For Seniors] Hand and finger play roundup: Finger exercises that lead to brain training
- [For Seniors] Enjoy Easily! Hand Play 'Shimoshika Meyo' (If If, Tortoise)
- Energetic and Lively! Sing-and-Exercise Program for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Songs Everyone Can Sing Together! A Roundup of Recommended Crowd-Pleasers
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [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] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Brain-Training Recreation
- [Sing for your health!] Popular songs among seniors. Also recommended for recreational activities.
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] A heartwarming round song. Let’s layer our voices with this nostalgic classic.
- [For Seniors] Guaranteed to Be a Hit! Popular Day Service Recreational Activities
[For Seniors] Popular hand-play songs: Introducing fun brain-training ideas (11–20)
Brain training with Rock-Paper-Scissors on Mito Komon
Many older adults have probably watched the drama Mito Kōmon at least once, don’t you think? It’s about Mito Kōmon traveling around Japan, and the show’s theme song is famous too.
Using the theme song “Aa Jinsei ni Namida Ari,” let’s do a finger-play activity with the rock-paper-scissors motions.
Clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and pull it toward yourself, while making a hand (paper) with the other and extend it forward.
Another pattern is: clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and extend it forward, then use scissors to pull it back.
It might be easier for older adults to participate if it’s a song they already know.
hometown
“Furusato” is a school song with lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano and music by Teiichi Okano, published by the Ministry of Education.
Since it was released in 1914, many seniors likely sang it from a young age.
Hearing the song reminds many people of their hometowns.
Memories of chasing rabbits through fields and hills or fishing in rivers as children can come back as if they were yesterday.
Reminiscing about the past stimulates the brain, making it ideal for preventing dementia.
Let’s enjoy some recreational activities along with the song.
Let’s look up and walk with finger exercises
The song “Ue o Muite Arukou” is a classic by Kyu Sakamoto that is still loved by many today.
In addition to its familiar melody, the uplifting lyrics are wonderful too.
This time, let’s do the Goo-Choki-Paa exercise while singing this song.
It’s a fun workout where you play rock-paper-scissors with your left and right hands.
Moving along to the soothing music feels quite relaxing, doesn’t it? Since the song has a gentle tempo, it should be easy for older adults to keep the rhythm as well.
Ten thousand feet in the Alps
“Arupusu Ichi Manjaku” is a classic hand game song that sets original Japanese lyrics to the American folk tune “Yankee Doodle.” Each movement is very simple—clapping in between, extending your right hand diagonally forward, extending your left hand, extending both hands, interlacing your fingers and flipping your hands, and so on.
Doing it while touching your partner’s hands helps you feel closer, which is one of the charms of this hand game.
The choreography can vary by region, so it can also be a fun way to reminisce about childhood—“This is how I learned it!”—and spark lively conversation.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If You’re Happy and You Know It became a hit in Japan in 1964 when Kyu Sakamoto sang it.
It’s also widely loved as a children’s song.
The music is so cheerful that you can’t help but start moving when you hear it.
It’s great as a hand game, too, helping to exercise various parts of the body like the hands, feet, and shoulders.
Doing it while singing seems to provide good stimulation for the brain.
As the lyrics say, just clapping your hands can lift your mood.
Let’s all enjoy this hand-play song together.
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: Popular hand-play songs. Introducing ideas for enjoyable brain training (21–30)
What shall we make with rock, scissors, paper?furansu min’yō
This piece is cherished as a hand-play song in which you shape your hands into scissors or a fist to depict creatures like crabs and snails while singing.
The original melody is the French folk song “Frère Jacques,” a venerable classic whose tune had already been documented in song collections around 1811.
In Japan, it has continued to be loved across generations, including its inclusion on the 2012 album “Let’s Play with Doraemon! Children’s Songs Special.” The simple, follow-the-melody round style is perfect for uniting everyone’s hearts.
Moving the fingertips also provides good stimulation for the brain, so why not incorporate it into daily recreation? It would be wonderful to spend a warm, smile-filled time singing together with your grandchildren.