[For Seniors] June Health Topic: Recreational Activities to Enjoy the Rainy Season
June is part of the rainy season, bringing lots of rain and a damp, muggy feel.
It’s easy to feel a bit down or to go out less, which can lead to a drop in physical fitness.
In this article, we’ll introduce health-focused recreational activities perfect for June, especially recommended for older adults.
We’ve gathered crafts that can brighten a rainy-day mood and exercises ideal for preventing a lack of activity—just right for a month full of rain.
Let’s enjoy a healthy month for both body and mind through fun recreation!
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For Seniors: June Health Topics — Fun Rainy Season Recreations (31–40)
Paper cup drop
Here’s a game using paper cups.
Line up the paper cups in a row.
Use the lined-up cups as targets and have older adults throw a ball at them from a short distance away.
Depending on where you set up the cups, the goal is to throw the ball so that the cups tip over or fall to the floor.
Even if they don’t hit the cups perfectly, it’s likely to spark laughter and provide a nice change of pace.
It can also encourage conversation with others and help expand social interaction among older adults.
Paper cups are sold at 100-yen shops, so preparation is easy.
Dropping Colored Balls
Here is a color-ball drop game played in pairs.
Have two older adults sit facing each other, each holding the ends of two sticks.
Place baskets labeled with colors between them.
Roll balls along the sticks, matching the ball’s color to the color written on a basket, and drop the ball into the designated basket.
Cooperation between the two participants is key.
Encourage them to communicate and synchronize their movements.
It’s a fun activity that also sparks conversation and helps expand social connections.
Newspaper-pulling-with-your-feet game
Here’s a game that gets you moving your feet while having fun and training at the same time.
Have older adults sit in a chair and pull a sheet of newspaper with their feet.
They can pull it with one foot or with both feet together.
You can also have two older adults sit facing each other at a distance and compete—it should be fun.
Besides providing leg exercise, it’s likely to increase interaction among older adults and bring more smiles.
It can also help with a change of pace and stress relief.
Please give it a try.
Ball toss using umbrellas
June is known as the rainy season, a time when the continuous rain can feel gloomy.
How about boosting positive feelings toward the rain with a game that uses umbrellas—an item that evokes rainy days? If you use a clear vinyl umbrella as the target for a beanbag toss, it’s easy to see how many bags have gone in when you look up from below.
Encourage participants to pay close attention to the distance to the “basket” and their throwing technique, helping improve their sense of distance and how they engage their arm strength, and ultimately leading to smoother movements in daily life.
Sushi Topping Word Association Game
Sushi is loved by people of all ages and genders, and as a symbol of Japanese cuisine, it draws attention not only in Japan but also overseas.
With International Sushi Day on June 18 as the theme, how about trying a sushi-related word association game? The rules are simple: in one minute, think of as many sushi toppings as you can.
It’s a great way to tap into your memory of sushi varieties.
Having participants jot them down on a notepad makes it easy to follow, but asking them to think and say them aloud without writing increases the difficulty and tests their thinking skills—highly recommended as well.
[For Older Adults] June Health Topics: Recreational Activities to Enjoy the Rainy Season (41–50)
A hopping origami frog
June in Japan means the rainy tsuyu season, and frogs are a classic motif for rainy landscapes.
How about making a frog out of origami and turning your attention to something cute during this gloomy time of year? Instead of simply folding a frog, try a design that can move—you can enjoy it even after you’ve finished, so this style is recommended.
The key point is to shape the hind legs so they spring back like a coil; experimenting with how you layer the folds to make it move even better sounds like fun, too.
Prepare summer greeting cards
Once we get past the muggy, humid days of June, summer is finally in full swing.
Why not send a summer greeting postcard under the bright, dry sunshine? Let’s make “shochu-mimai” cards to send to people you don’t often see or to your family.
You can write a message on a postcard with a picture you’ve prepared in advance, or tear washi paper to create a charming art postcard.
Pressing handmade stamps onto postcards to turn them into artworks also sounds fun.
Creating summer greeting cards can help with hand exercises and brain training, too.
We hope you’ll make something wonderful!