Lovely senior life

[For Seniors] Great for Brain Training! Enjoy Handmade Puzzles

Social worker / Care workermoko
My name is Moko, a mother of three who admired my mother and worked in the care industry as a care worker and as a medical social worker (MSW) in a hospital. I will be drawing on my previous experience to write mainly about caregiving. Thank you in advance.
Care Worker Initial Training Certification ObtainedNakajima Junko
Leveraging my experience working as a care worker at a day service, I am currently active as a writer in the caregiving and welfare fields. Beyond writing, I hope to expand my work into web design and illustration. I am a mother of three who has begun studying to become a certified social worker.

Puzzles used in recreational activities at senior care facilities.

Thinking about where pieces fit based on their shapes and colors, and using your fingertips to place the pieces, helps stimulate the brain.

Puzzles that can be done while sitting and concentrating alone are an easy type of recreation for older adults.

Here are some handmade puzzle ideas recommended for brain training.

Because they’re handmade, you can also enjoy making them together with seniors as a craft activity.

We’ve gathered uniquely creative ideas that only handmade projects can offer, such as using plastic bottle caps and milk cartons! With a bit of ingenuity, you can create a wide variety of puzzles.

[For Seniors] Recommended for Brain Training! Enjoy with Handmade Puzzles (21–30)

Search and Combine! Foot-Foot Puzzle

[Handmade Play Idea] Footstep Puzzle

Search and Combine! Foot-Foot Puzzle

This is a puzzle game where players combine various illustrations split into heads and feet to recreate the original form.

If the combined parts don’t feel cohesive, it’s hard to recognize the answer, so each part should be drawn in one continuous flow for consistency.

While aiming for the original form is an easy-to-understand rule, it can also be fun to deliberately aim for interesting shapes among the incorrect combinations.

Incorporating not only animals and people but also objects makes it easier to create amusing shapes.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Use Empty Boxes! Illustration Matching Puzzle

[Indoor Recreation and Games for Elderly Home Care] A Handmade Puzzle Made from Empty Retort Curry Boxes

Use Empty Boxes! Illustration Matching Puzzle

It’s a simple puzzle where you combine randomly arranged cards to reconstruct the original illustration.

It’s easy to make: draw an illustration on a base and cut it with scissors.

Then create pieces from another illustration and simply arrange them randomly to complete the puzzle.

Using empty boxes is recommended because they make it easier to draw on, are sturdy, and the pieces are easy to handle as puzzle parts.

You can also adjust the difficulty by varying the types of illustrations and the shapes of the pieces, so try customizing it to suit the participants.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Ice stick puzzle

[Senior Recreation] Reku Craftsman Series Part 142: "Ice Cream Stick Puzzle"

Ice stick puzzle

This is a puzzle game where you rearrange sticks, each showing part of an illustration or photo, to complete the original picture.

You attach a large illustration to a set of wooden sticks like the kind used for ice cream, then cut along the gaps between the sticks with a craft knife.

Any illustration larger than the width of a single stick will work, but it’s best to choose an image with clear connections to help guide the rearrangement.

Because the puzzle uses long sticks, the pieces are easy to hold and see, which is another appealing feature.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Triangle Puzzle

[Rehabilitation Goods] Handmade—Wait, using scrap materials? You can train your fingers and your brain! Premium-level

Triangle Puzzle

Here’s an introduction to a triangle puzzle made with thick paper.

Create triangular puzzle pieces from thick paper, and also prepare several pieces colored red using a red pen.

Using the triangle pieces, you will recreate shapes that match the sample in both form and color.

Pinching and moving the thick paper pieces with your fingertips provides good training.

In addition, making and thinking about shapes that match the sample stimulates the brain and helps activate it.

It can also train spatial awareness and memory, which may help prevent dementia.

Because it’s a rehabilitation tool that can be done seated at a table, many older adults can participate.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Thinking about colors and shapes: Arrow Puzzle

Brain training with the 'Arrow Puzzle'! A handmade, ultra-difficult, super-hard puzzle! — From a magazine by play professionals in after-school childcare

Thinking about colors and shapes: Arrow Puzzle

This is a puzzle game where you try to restore the pieces to the original 3×3 grid by matching the colors and directions of the arrows drawn on them.

Draw arrows that extend across adjacent squares, and color the arrows so that each square contains all four colors.

After that, cut out each square to complete the puzzle; it’s a good idea to write numbers on the back so you can tell the correct arrangement.

If restoring the exact original form is difficult, you might start by focusing only on connecting the arrows and arranging as much as you can from there.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Prefectural emblem

Prefectural Emblem Quiz Part 1

Prefectural emblem

The prefectural emblems are marks that represent each prefecture in Japan.

Many of them are designed based on history, culture, geography, and other characteristics.

Older adults have probably seen the emblem of the prefecture where they live or their hometown at least once.

Let’s play with a PET bottle cap puzzle inspired by prefectural images.

Put the prefectural emblems on the caps and write the prefecture names on a sheet.

If you look closely at the prefectural emblems often found on PET bottles, you might find some hidden hints.

By the way, Ishikawa Prefecture is said to be the only prefecture in Japan that has not established an official emblem.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem

Kanji for sports

[Difficult Kanji Related to Sports] Impressive if You Can Read Them! A Challenging Kanji Quiz on Ball Sports (20 Questions in Total)

Kanji for sports

There are probably many seniors who look forward to sports news on TV and in the newspapers.

Sports like baseball and the Olympics can be enjoyable just to watch.

Some seniors may have played sports as a hobby in the past.

In that case, a sports-themed plastic bottle cap puzzle could be a great way to engage them.

Write the names of sports in kanji on the caps and place them on a sheet with the same sport written on it.

The sheet could also include illustrations of the sports.

We’d love for them to enjoy a kanji-based sports puzzle while getting into the spirit of sports.

Raise the rankinglower

Report a problem