[For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
Here are some fun recreational activities that help build leg strength.
We’ve gathered options older adults can really enjoy, like soccer, bowling, and golf using balls or balloons.
These friendly group games—where you practice controlling force and direction—strengthen the legs while creating opportunities to communicate with others.
Moving your legs gently and without strain can also make everyday movements smoother.
Find your favorite activity and put it to use for daily health and wellness!
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Foot exercises and recreational activities using beanbags and towels (1–10)
Towel Drop
When you start being mindful of your lower back and legs and spend longer periods sitting, the ways you can move your feet become limited.
If you incorporate this towel drop activity at such times, you can train your lower body in a fun way by moving your feet quickly from various angles.
You start with a towel placed on your knees, and the rule is that the person who makes their towel fall first using only foot movements wins.
Once you try it, you might get so into it that before you know it, you’re out of breath from the intensity.
It’s a game that can help develop various abilities while having fun—like the quick motion of flicking the towel off your legs, the actual strength used to move your feet, and the thinking skills involved in figuring out how to move to make the towel fall.
Let’s put the beanbags into the basket.
This is a simple recreational activity where you place beanbags on your feet and put them into a box.
You have to keep your balance so the beanbags don’t fall off your feet, and you need to move your legs firmly to get them into the box, so you end up exercising without even realizing it.
Placing the box farther away increases the difficulty and works the legs more, so try adjusting the setup to suit the participants.
Juggling and catching beanbags with your feet
Balancing is tricky! Here’s an idea for tossing and catching beanbags with your feet.
It’s a unique and fun activity that works not only for events and recreation but also as part of daily activities.
All you need to prepare are beanbags.
Sit facing each other and place a beanbag on the top of your foot.
On the cue “Ready, go!” lift your legs up sharply and pass the beanbag with your feet to the person sitting across from you.
The other person’s goal is to catch the beanbag as it comes flying toward them.
Leg exercises with beanbags
Here’s a foot exercise you can do indoors using beanbags.
Sit in a chair and place one beanbag on your knee.
Do a marching motion with the leg that has the beanbag on it.
Start with one leg, then gradually try placing beanbags on both legs or increase the number of beanbags.
Not only does this work as a foot exercise, but keeping the beanbags from falling while you march also helps improve concentration.
Because it doesn’t require heavy objects and can be done while seated, it’s recommended for older adults as well.
When the weather turns warm, you feel like moving your body, right? This simple indoor beanbag foot exercise is an easy way to get started.
Towel Sumo Game
Recommended for events and recreational activities! Here’s an idea for a towel sumo game.
It’s great if you can train your legs and lower back while having fun at events and rec time.
This time, let’s try a sumo game using towels! You’ll need chairs and two face towels.
Sit facing each other on chairs.
Tuck one end of the towel under your opponent’s foot, and hold the other end in your hand.
Coordinating the two actions—bracing with your legs and pulling the towel with your hand—can be a bit challenging, but it makes for an exciting activity!
Lightly lifting the ball with the foot
This is a game where you kick up a beanbag balanced on your foot and aim to land it in higher-scoring zones.
Since you kick it upward rather than forward, it can be hard to picture the trajectory, so keep control firmly in mind as you play.
The higher-scoring zones are smaller and positioned higher, so carefully adjusting your power is likely important.
If it lands around the high-score area, your points will drop, so that risk–reward balance is part of the fun.
Ankle and lower-limb strength training using beanbags
It’s a waste to only play with your hands! Here are ideas for ankle and lower-limb strength training using beanbags (otedama).
Otedama is one of those items that has long been loved in Japan.
Many of you may have learned various tricks by tossing and catching them with your hands.
This time, let’s try training with otedama.
What you’ll need are beanbags, paper cups, a bucket, and so on.
To start, it’s best to get used to it gradually by placing a beanbag on the top of your foot and moving your thigh up and down, or opening and closing your hip joints.