[For Seniors] Play Long and Have Fun! A Whiteboard Activity with Brain-Training Elements
Whiteboard recreation activities are popular in senior facilities.
Because everyone can get excited together, they help improve communication among seniors.
They don’t require physical exertion, so it’s easy to participate, which is a nice plus.
Among whiteboard activities, we’ve carefully selected popular brain-training games that you can enjoy without getting bored.
Even fun activities can become repetitive if they’re always the same, right? The whiteboard activities we’re introducing this time are designed to prevent boredom by changing and customizing the prompts.
They help stimulate seniors’ brains, so be sure to give them a try!
- [For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Lively Whiteboard Activities
- [For Seniors] Brain-Training Recreation Using a Whiteboard
- [For Seniors] Test Your Memory!? Ideas for Whiteboard Games
- [For Seniors] Brain Training with a Whiteboard! Fill-in-the-Blank Exercises & Quizzes
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Brain Training Recommended for Dementia Prevention
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] A Brain-Training, Crowd-Pleasing Word Search Game
- For seniors: Fun shiritori—enjoyable and easy to play
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Today’s Recommended Activity: Fun and Engaging
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
[For Seniors] Long-Lasting, Fun Activities! Whiteboard Recreation with Brain-Training Elements (11–20)
AIUEO Puzzle
“Though colors are fragrant, they will fade and scatter; who in our world can remain forever…?”—that’s right, it’s the Iroha poem.
Isn’t it almost a miracle that such a beautiful poem could be composed using each of the 50 kana exactly once? Records say it was created around the 10th century, though the author is unknown.
They must have been extraordinarily brilliant.
Let’s enjoy a similar pastime: the ‘50-sound elimination game.’ Write the 50 kana on a whiteboard and make as many words as you can.
Each hiragana can be used only once, so erase it after using it.
The goal is to use all 50 sounds.
I’ve heard that few people actually manage to clear it, so work together and aim for the goal!
Three-letter shiritori
What’s the very first game you remember learning as a child? Tag, rock-paper-scissors, and of course some might say shiritori.
Let’s spice things up with a twist—not just regular shiritori, but “three-letter shiritori.” Writing answers on a whiteboard takes a bit more time, but seeing each person’s handwriting and simple doodles can spark all kinds of conversation.
Plus, using your hands makes it a nice brain workout.
If you have a whiteboard, you can also enjoy illustrated shiritori just as it is.
Brain training with rock-paper-scissors
It’s a game where you create patterns that switch between rock, scissors, and paper hand shapes, then go through those various patterns in order.
The key is thinking about what the next shape will be.
Having players say the shapes out loud while making them with their hands is also important—thinking, moving the hands, and speaking together help activate the brain.
Start at a slow tempo at first, then gradually increase the speed to make it more challenging.
It may be easier if you write the patterns in words on a board so participants can refer to them while deciding the shapes.
Silver Senryu Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz
For older adults, vocabulary is a powerful tool honed over many years of life.
A fun recreation that makes use of that tool is the “Silver Senryu Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz.” In this quiz, parts of a 5-7-5 verse are omitted, and you’re asked to guess the missing words.
When you figure out the right answer or a surprising one comes up, it’s sure to spark laughter all around.
It’s great brain training for seniors.
Please enjoy giving it a try.
Arunashi quiz
It’s a game where you’re shown words divided into two groups—“has” and “doesn’t have”—and you have to figure out what they have in common.
The tricky part is that the shared feature can take many forms, such as something that appears when you add a word before or after, or a property hidden within the word itself.
The breadth of possible commonalities makes it challenging, but it also stimulates the brain by encouraging diverse approaches.
Since that same breadth can make it hard, let’s provide hints gradually to help guide the thinking process.
If you try reading the words out loud, you might notice something that brings you closer to the answer.
Reframing Game
Do you know about reframing? Reframing is a psychological term that refers to looking at things from a different perspective to see them in a more positive light.
The reframing game applies this idea.
First, pair up, and each person writes the other’s weaknesses on a whiteboard.
Next, when you’re done, swap whiteboards.
Then, turn the weaknesses written about you into strengths by rephrasing them.
After playing this game, you should find it easier to think positively and feel brighter.
[For Seniors] Long-lasting Fun! Whiteboard Activities with Brain Training Elements (21–30)
Common Hiragana Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz
Let me introduce a common-hiragana fill-in-the-blank quiz that’s also effective as brain training.
In these puzzles, there are multiple blanks within a word or phrase, and you fill all the blanks with the same hiragana character.
For example, in “か○○○き,” all the blanks would be filled with “た.” One of the big attractions is that some problems can have multiple correct answers, and you can adjust the difficulty by increasing the number of letters.
Start with around four characters and gradually increase the number of blanks! It also sounds fun to line up multiple words and fill them all with the same hiragana character.