For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
Doesn’t a natural smile come to your face when you move along to nostalgic children’s songs and traditional tunes? A popular choice for recreation in senior care facilities is fun exercises that incorporate these familiar songs.
With easy movements you can enjoy while seated and simple choreography you can do while singing, these activities gently support both the mind and body of older adults.
Today, we’ll introduce joyful singing exercises that help stimulate the brain and maintain physical fitness.
Enjoy a smile-filled exercise time with seasonal songs and tunes full of memories.
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Singing Exercises with Nursery Rhymes and Songs (11–20)
The Hare and the Tortoise
This is a brain-training exercise where you move your hands separately to the tune of “Usagi to Kame” (The Hare and the Tortoise).
First, open your right hand (paper) and extend it forward, while making a fist (rock) with your left hand and placing it in front of your chest.
Next, switch sides: extend your left hand open in front, and place your right hand as a fist in front of your chest.
Then, repeat these movements to the rhythm of the song.
It’s simple and easy to remember, making it a great option for those who feel hesitant about more complex recreation activities.
Try the variation where the hand you extend is a fist and the hand in front of your chest is open, too!
Summer children’s songs – sing-and-dance medley
Let’s try doing sing-along exercises with summer children’s songs like “Hamabe no Uta,” “Natsu wa Kinu,” and “Ware wa Umi no Ko.” Many older adults may have sung these songs during their school days or with their own children, don’t you think? Exercises based on familiar songs may be easier for seniors to take part in.
Accompanied by music, we’ll do movements such as raising arms and legs while seated in a chair, as well as clapping along.
Singing together while exercising can also be a refreshing change of pace for older adults.
Autumn Song Calisthenics
Autumn is the season when it starts to feel chilly, isn’t it? It’s also a time when older adults may feel reluctant to move their bodies.
So how about trying a singing exercise with an autumn theme? If it’s a seated singing exercise, even seniors who find standing difficult can participate.
Autumn songs include pieces like “Tsuki” (The Moon) and “Donguri Korokoro” (Acorns Rolling).
By singing them during exercise, older adults can also get a sense of the season’s atmosphere.
In addition, exercising while singing can help activate the brain and relieve stress.
If you’d like, please use this as a reference and give it a try.
Slow aerobics to When the Saints Go Marching In
Aerobics—moving your body to music—can feel difficult for people who have trouble with movement.
This exercise adapts aerobics by slowing the tempo and using gentler motions, making it accessible for anyone.
Find a calmer rhythm than the original song and move your body as if buoyantly engaging your whole body.
Rather than trying to keep up with the music, it’s more important to use your entire body, so it may be best to proceed at a rhythm that suits the participants.
Rhythmic exercises with carp streamers
Do you know the “ikarano-nami” that appears in the children’s song Koinobori? One theory says that ikarano-nami refers to the wave-like pattern formed by the ridge tiles at the peak of a tiled roof.
When you listen to Koinobori, you can imagine the carp streamers swimming as the waves of clouds and the ikarano-nami overlap.
These days, it seems we don’t sing or hear the version of Koinobori that mentions ikarano-nami as often.
Some older people may find Koinobori nostalgic.
If you do exercises themed around carp streamers, you might be able to feel the season while you move.
Try moving your body to the song’s expansive tune and melody.
Height Comparison Song Exercise
As we get older, our footing can become unsteady, so exercises you can do while seated feel reassuring.
What I’m introducing here is a seated health exercise called “Height Comparison.” In Japan, there’s a traditional song called ‘Sekkura-be’ (Height Comparison), and this routine lets you move in ways that match the lyrics as you sing along.
It’s wonderful.
You’ll try movements you don’t usually do, and learning the choreography and moving quickly also serves as brain training.
Please give it a try.
Singing Exercises with Nursery Rhymes and Songs (21–30)
Exercise to the song ‘Spring Has Come’
The familiar children’s song “Spring Has Come.” This time, we’ll introduce a brain-training exercise you can do while singing this song.
First, let’s review the movement performed over four beats.
After taking three steps in place, on the fourth beat, clap your hands and lift your thigh.
That’s all.
This may seem simple on its own, but doing it while singing the nursery rhyme will likely change your impression.
Moving your body, recalling the lyrics, and singing—these separate actions provide stimulation to the brain and are said to help prevent cognitive decline.
It can be done anywhere and with any number of participants, so it’s also recommended as a recreational activity in senior care facilities.
