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[For Seniors] DIY Rehabilitation Aids: A Collection of Easy-to-Make Ideas

[For Seniors] DIY Rehabilitation Aids: A Collection of Easy-to-Make Ideas

Last updated:2025/6/13

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.

The main goal of rehabilitation for older adults is to restore motor functions that have declined due to illness or injury, so they can live independently in their daily lives.

Some people train using store-bought items that have rehabilitative effects.

However, commercial products can be expensive and not easy to purchase.

That’s why this time we’re introducing ideas for handmade rehabilitation tools that you can make with relatively easy-to-find materials, such as those from 100-yen shops.

We’ve collected ideas that are effective for brain training and allow for easy rehabilitation.

It can also be great to start from the process of making them together with older adults.

Please use these ideas as a reference and give them a try.

[For Seniors] DIY Rehabilitation Aids: A Collection of Easy-to-Make Ideas (1–10)

Button sewing

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

Let’s try making training tools using scrap materials or items from a 100-yen shop.

Leftover felt pieces and buttons from a craft activity can be transformed into rehabilitation tools.

If you don’t have them, make use of items sold at 100-yen shops.

Cut the felt into squares of about 3 centimeters and make a buttonhole in the center.

Thread the button with string and tie it, then pass it through the felt’s buttonhole.

It may be difficult to pass the button through at first, but with repeated practice you’ll get the hang of it.

Since it’s portable, one of the appealing points is that you can train anytime, anywhere.

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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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Möbius tie

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]

Möbius tie

We want seniors to enjoy doing rehabilitation, right? So here’s a fun finger-movement training using chenille stems (pipe cleaners).

Thread the pipe cleaners through a pegboard with evenly spaced holes in advance.

Then have the seniors twist the pipe cleaners using their fingertips.

Twist each pair of pipe cleaners five times.

People tend to feel the effort level when twisting between 5 and 20 pairs.

It’s effective for training finger dexterity and wrist movement.

Pipe cleaners and pegboards are sold at 100-yen shops’ craft sections, so preparation should be easy.

Please use this as a reference and give it a try!

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A plastic bottle that trains fine finger movements

For people with hemiplegia: Train fine finger movements using a plastic bottle

A plastic bottle that trains fine finger movements

To open a plastic bottle cap, you need a firm fingertip grip and precise rotational movements.

This product uses the bottle-opening motion to train your fingertips.

First, cut the bottle so that the connection between the cap and the body remains, then use screws to fix them onto a board.

Next, attach tape with letters or symbols to each cap, and it’s ready.

You can arrange the caps in the order of the Japanese syllabary or form specified words—by adding these thinking elements, you can effectively train both the brain and the fingertips.

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Shoelace tying

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

Shoelace tying

Let’s use familiar items to improve the ability to skillfully use your hands and fingertips for precise, detailed tasks.

This time, we’ll use a shoe insole and a lace.

Make holes in the insole similar to those in a shoe so you can thread the lace through.

By lacing it like a shoelace, you can train dexterity—the ability to perform fine motor tasks accurately.

Dexterity is an important physical function directly connected to daily life, such as carrying objects, writing, and opening bottle caps.

With easy shoelace tying, it seems like you could keep up with the training every day.

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Zipper open/close

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]

Zipper open/close

What kinds of everyday items use zippers? There are pants and jackets, bags, and fabric pencil cases, for example.

Zippers can be difficult to operate if the pull tab is small or your hand movement is limited.

Also, since you open and close zippers by moving your wrist, they’re said to be effective for exercising your fingertips and wrists.

You can use zippers on items you already use in daily life, or on something you make yourself.

Try making a pencil case with a zipper or a small pouch.

It’s also recommended as a craft activity to do with older adults.

Change the zipper’s orientation between horizontal and vertical, and practice.

Imagining real situations where you actually use zippers—like on bags or shoes—while you train is said to be the key.

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Pinning

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Let me introduce a fingertip training tool that uses small pins.

You insert plastic pins into holes in a styrofoam base.

It can help train pinching movements using your fingertips.

Also, by using your fingers a lot, it may help stimulate brain activity.

The process of making this tool isn’t complicated, so it’s easy to create.

If you use items from 100-yen shops or hardware stores, preparation should be simple, too.

Here’s an extra idea: prepare a die.

Color the numbered faces of the die and the tips of the pins.

You can then enjoy it as a game by rolling the die and inserting a pin that matches the color that comes up.

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