[Elderly Care Facilities] Let’s Have Fun Together! Exciting Sports Day Events
In senior facilities such as day-service centers, isn’t it common to hold sports days on a regular basis?
Along with everyday recreational activities, try incorporating events that feel like a traditional sports day!
In this article, we introduce familiar sports day events with ideas tailored to the physical and mental conditions of older adults.
Some ideas can even be enjoyed while seated, making them accessible to many seniors.
Use this article as a guide to create a sports day that everyone can enjoy together.
- [For Seniors] A Fun Sports Day! Recreational Activities You Can Do Safely
- [Nursing Home] Recommended for Sports Day! Lively Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Have Fun! A Collection of Group Game Recreation Ideas
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- Recommended Events for a Sports Day at Day Service Centers for the Elderly
- [For Seniors] Add Enjoyment to Everyday Life: A Compilation of Activity Care Plans
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
- Liven up the Respect-for-the-Aged gathering: A roundup of recreational activities everyone can enjoy.
[Elderly Care Facility] Let’s Have Fun Together! Exciting Sports Day Events (71–80)
Foot Beanbag Bingo
One activity option for events and parties is a bingo game.
Many older adults are already familiar with bingo, aren’t they? While bingo is usually played on paper, this time we’ll introduce a version that uses the feet and beanbags.
Prepare nine paper plates or cups, and have the older adults use their feet to toss beanbags into them.
Use colored tape to group the plates or cups by color, and change the score based on where the beanbag lands.
For example, award 20 points if the beanbag lands in a plate or cup of the same color, and 10 points if it’s a different color.
Because they lift their legs to toss the beanbags, older adults can enjoy the game while also training their legs.
Shoe-wearing motion training
Even the casual act of slipping your foot into a shoe involves surprisingly complex movements—like unconsciously adding angles as you move.
This game focuses on those motions when you insert your foot, training your feet through a scooping action.
You attach a cardboard part with an open space in the center to your foot and use it to pick up balls placed at your feet.
Instead of just moving straight in, you collect the balls with a scooping motion, so by concentrating on the balls, you naturally get your ankles moving well as you play.
Balloon basket
This is a game where you control a balloon using your foot movements and aim to put it into a basket, like basketball.
Because a light balloon floats with even a small amount of force, your delicate control of how hard you kick it will be tested.
If you place the basket along a wall, you can think about ways to use the wall’s rebound to your advantage, which is also recommended.
Since you’ll be moving your feet while focusing on the balloon, be mindful of supporting your body—such as holding onto a chair with your hands—so you don’t lose balance and fall.
[Elderly Care Facility] Let’s Have Fun Together! Exciting Sports Day Events (81–90)
Ball fishing game
Here’s a game that lets you exercise your hands while having fun.
It’s a game where you use a stick to pick up rubber balls.
The tip of the stick has the adhesive side of tape attached, so the rubber balls stick to it.
It’s even more exciting if two older adults play head-to-head.
You’ll grip the stick and move your arms and hands a lot.
The person who grabs more balls than their opponent wins.
It can be played while seated, and with a bit of creativity, even those who find it difficult to move freely can participate.
Please use this as a reference and enjoy your time!
Darts with magnets
Have you ever played darts? Basically, you just throw darts at a target, but it’s said there are more than 100 different game types.
Alongside karting and e-sports, it’s even being talked about as a potential new Olympic event.
Why not enjoy a casual version of darts using a whiteboard and magnets? All you need is a magnet-friendly whiteboard, a target that will serve for scoring, and darts with magnets attached to their tips.
Adjust the difficulty by changing the size of the target and the distance to it.
This might even inspire you to try real darts in earnest!
Pikagoro
As we age, it’s said that handling multiple tasks at the same time becomes more difficult.
Using both the mind and body has brain-training benefits, and if you move your body while thinking, you can expect even greater brain activation.
This time, I’ll introduce the Pika-Goro game.
Have the older adults sit facing each other, each holding two sticks.
The caller says “pika-pika” or “goro-goro.” On the cue “dokan,” the older adults should both grip the sticks and raise them.
Once everyone gets used to it, calling out “pika-pika” or “goro-goro” several times and then feinting can make it even more exciting.
Free Throw Game
It’s a game where you throw balls toward baskets that have assigned point values and compete on the total score.
The higher the point value of a basket, the harder it is to land a ball in it, so controlling your throwing power is key to getting a high score.
Since the rules allow a ball to bounce before going in, unexpected points can happen, and awkward bounces that miss the basket can also add excitement.
Let’s encourage players to focus on controlling the force needed to reach the basket and on moving their bodies in ways that effectively transfer that force to the ball.