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

Kanji of country names

[Kanji Country Name Quiz] Country names in kanji <40 countries>

In Japan, country names are often written in katakana.

However, when written in kanji, some countries use surprisingly unexpected characters.

So, let me introduce a bottle-cap puzzle that uses country names in kanji.

Prepare a sheet with one character missing from the kanji spelling of each country.

Then, place plastic bottle caps labeled with single kanji characters into the blanks.

It’s fun to create these kanji sheets over a world map, and it also serves as a hint.

Have participants imagine each country, think about the appropriate kanji, and place the caps accordingly.

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Nakajima Junko

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Ice stick puzzle

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

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kappamaki

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Search and Combine! Foot-Foot Puzzle

[Handmade Play Idea] Footstep 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.

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kappamaki

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A puzzle where you fit counters (ohajiki) into a frame

[Solo, non-crowded recreation] Supervised by a Recreation Care Worker! Simple indoor handmade game video for seniors: “A puzzle game where you fit marbles (ohajiki) into frames drawn in a notebook.”

Group recreation where everyone gets lively together is fun, but taking time to think carefully and enjoy things at your own pace is important too.

This time, we’re introducing a finger dexterity puzzle using ohajiki (small glass game pieces).

Preparation is very simple: get some paper and ohajiki.

Draw circles on the paper about the same size as the ohajiki, and place the pieces around them.

Using your index finger, try to push the ohajiki into the circles.

You can change how it feels a lot by drawing circles slightly larger or smaller than the ohajiki and making a rule that they only count if they fit exactly, or by trying fingers other than the index finger.

Because it also engages spatial awareness, it serves as brain training.

It’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior care facilities.

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kojifumi

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Number puzzle

A number puzzle that kids and adults can enjoy — all you need is a piece of paper to start.

It’s a puzzle game where you use slits and folds on a sheet with numbers to line up four of the same number.

There are numbers on both sides of 12 squares—24 numbered faces in total—and there are three slits in the middle.

By cleverly folding and making good use of these slits, you complete square sets of four matching numbers in order, starting from the smallest number.

If you place the numbers incorrectly, the puzzle may become unsolvable, so be very careful to arrange them precisely when you create it.

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kappamaki

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Grape Puzzle

[November Indoor Recreation for Seniors] A “Grape Puzzle” Using Plastic Bottle Caps

This is a recreation activity where you use plastic bottle caps to create a bunch of grapes.

It’s fascinating how you can assemble it simply with caps and a bit of creativity! Draw the grape stem on a sheet like A4 paper, then arrange the caps—used as the grape berries—to form a bunch.

If you use tea bottle caps, you can repurpose what you normally drink and make it right away, so it’s very easy and convenient.

Of course, making plain white caps look grape-like with construction paper is a more elaborate option.

Expanding imagination is important for the brain, so it could be beneficial as a kind of brain-training activity as well.

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KEI

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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

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.

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kappamaki

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