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[For Seniors] Finger Rehabilitation Tools: Easy DIY Ideas

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Illnesses or disabilities can make it difficult to move the fingers or can cause unintended movements.

When these symptoms affect the fingers, they can lead to various difficulties in daily life, such as being unable to use chopsticks or a pen properly, struggling to get dressed, or lacking strength and falling.

In this article, we introduce DIY rehabilitation tools to help improve finger mobility.

All of them are easy to make, so consider creating them in senior care facilities to support rehabilitation for older adults!

[For Seniors] Finger Rehabilitation Goods: Introducing Simple DIY Ideas (11–20)

Flip game using bottle caps and chopsticks

[Recommended for Day Service] Individual functional training! Training using handmade rehabilitation tools designed for daily living activities [Care Prevention / Recreational Activities for Older Adults]

Flip game using bottle caps and chopsticks

This rehabilitation tool also serves as practice for using chopsticks.

Prepare an egg carton, the same number of plastic bottle caps as the wells in the carton, and a pair of disposable chopsticks.

The trainee will use the chopsticks to flip the bottle caps as if they were turning takoyaki.

Ideally, for chopstick practice, you would use both chopsticks to flip the caps, but it’s also fine to use just one and hook the cap to flip it—whatever is easier to start with.

You can try the more difficult method later.

It’s also recommended to draw pictures on the caps and flip them like a game of Concentration (memory).

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Insert the back closure into the hole.

[Non-Crowded Solo Rec] Supervised by a Recreation Care Worker! Easy indoor DIY activity video for seniors: 'A game where you put those colored bread bag clips into a cup noodle container with cutter-made holes☆'

Insert the back closure into the hole.

If your training tools are simple and portable, it’s easy to do the exercises anytime.

Also, the key to training is to keep at it every day.

Being able to do it casually makes it easier to keep going.

This time, I’ll introduce tools that use a bag closure clip and an empty instant noodle cup.

A bag closure clip is the light blue or white plastic piece that comes on a loaf of bread.

Make a hole in the bottom of the instant noodle cup and put the bag closure clips inside.

Pinching the small, thin clips can be expected to help train the fingertips.

Competing for time or turning it into a team match could make it enjoyable for older adults as well.

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Let’s pay the money.

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When you go shopping, you pay money and think about the prices of items, right? Let’s turn those actions—using your hands to take out and put away money, and calculating item prices—into a training activity.

Place the appropriate amount of money on cards that show products and their prices.

Checkout-style practice is effective for finger dexterity and brain training.

It’s also useful for older adults who want to try going shopping in real life.

Many seniors say they want to go shopping, but if someone hasn’t shopped for several years, it can be hard to do it smoothly right away.

Why not gradually get used to shopping and paying by practicing handling money?

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Pegboard made from an empty egg carton

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A pegboard is a wooden board with holes into which you insert pegs—wooden pins that vary in color, shape, and size.

Because it involves grasping the pegs and inserting or removing them from holes, it’s used for upper-limb training.

Commercial versions can range from around a thousand yen to several tens of thousands of yen.

Here’s a more affordable, homemade alternative: a pegboard made from an empty egg carton.

Paint the rounded egg-holder sections of a paper egg carton and make holes in them.

Use crayons as the pegs.

Insert each crayon into the hole with the matching color on the egg carton.

You’ll have an inexpensive and easy-to-make rehabilitation tool ready to use.

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A teamwork training gadget made with pins and rubber bands

[Super Easy] A hand and coordination training tool you can make with pins and rubber bands #dayservice #daycare #outpatientrehab #nursingcare #elderly #training #dollarstore

A teamwork training gadget made with pins and rubber bands

This is a coordination training tool that not only exercises the fingers but also trains you to carefully observe objects with your eyes while using your hands.

Prepare a small, thin wooden board about 10 cm on a side.

Evenly insert pushpins with handles around the edges of the board, and the tool is ready to use.

The way to use this rehab tool is to take rubber bands with chopsticks and fit them onto the pins to create various shapes.

Prepare sample patterns of the shapes you want the user to make.

By closely observing the sample with their eyes and using chopsticks with their fingers to place the rubber bands, they can perform rehabilitation.

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rehabilitation chopsticks

Series ② Use tools that fit your body: 'Let's use chopsticks!'

rehabilitation chopsticks

Let me introduce rehab chopsticks that are perfect for practicing the act of using chopsticks itself! Prepare one pair of disposable chopsticks, two rubber bands, and a clothespin.

Split the disposable chopsticks and attach the clothespin to the end you hold.

Position the opening side of the clothespin at the end of the chopsticks, clamp it with the chopsticks, and secure each side with a rubber band.

And that’s it—your rehab chopsticks are complete! When you grip the chopsticks with your fingers, the clothespin mechanism moves, making the chopsticks open and close so you can pick up food.

If you find chopsticks hard to use because you can’t move your fingers well, try rehabilitating with these chopsticks!

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[For Seniors] Finger Rehabilitation Goods: Easy Handmade Ideas (21–30)

Button fastener training aid

Recommended for day-service programs: Functional training using handmade rehabilitation tools that incorporate essential daily-life movements—doubles as individualized ADL practice. [Care Prevention / Senior Recreation]

Button fastener training aid

When it becomes difficult to move your fingers, putting on and taking off clothes can be challenging.

One of the hardest tasks is fastening and unfastening buttons.

This item helps you practice exactly that.

Attach a button to one end of a fabric scrap and make a buttonhole on the other end—then you’re ready to go! The person training uses this tool to practice fastening and unfastening the button.

To allow continuous practice, it’s a good idea to prepare several identical pieces.

To keep things interesting and prevent boredom, we also recommend varying the patterns of the fabric scraps and buttons.

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