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)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The 24 solar terms

Twenty-Four Solar Terms: Origins and How to Remember Them!

The 24 solar terms

In the traditional calendar that divides the year into the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, there are the 24 solar terms, including the spring equinox, summer solstice, and autumn equinox.

The winter solstice—when people customarily eat pumpkin and red beans—is also one of these 24 solar terms.

Furthermore, each of the four seasons is subdivided into six parts.

Even today, this calendar remains indispensable for agricultural work.

So, let’s try a 24 solar terms puzzle.

Place bottle caps labeled with the 24 solar terms onto a sheet that also lists them.

Try getting creative with the sheet by arranging it in a circle with the sun at the center, or by dividing it with colors that evoke spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

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national flag

[Flag Quiz] Let's learn the flags of the world's 197 countries!

There are many countries in the world, and it’s said there are flags for 197 of them.

Here’s a PET bottle cap puzzle featuring these various flag designs.

Put flag stickers on bottle caps.

Then place each cap with its flag sticker onto the matching flag on a printed sheet.

If you don’t have flag stickers, you could attach drawings of flags on construction paper instead.

Through this game, even older adults can enjoy gaining new knowledge about countries they may not know.

It will likely spark comments and conversations like, “Which country does this flag belong to?”

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Family crests of the Sengoku period

[History] Sengoku-period family crests quiz [10 questions total]

Family crests of the Sengoku period

This is a recommended game about Sengoku-period family crests for seniors who enjoy history.

There were several types of crests in the Sengoku era; famous examples include the Tokugawa clan’s triple hollyhock (Mitsuba Aoi) and the Toyotomi clan’s Paulownia crest (Go-Shichi no Kiri).

It is said that family crests indicated lineage, bloodline, family status, and social rank.

Draw these crests on plastic bottle caps and place them on a sheet with the names of warlords.

If you’re familiar with the Sengoku period, this can spark stories about episodes from the time and the historical background.

By the way, family crests are said to be a unique cultural tradition found only in Japan.

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