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[May Health Topic] Introducing recreational activities for seniors!
May is a month full of seasonal events, such as Children’s Day and Mother’s Day.
The weather becomes milder and more comfortable, making it easier for older adults to stay active.
With that in mind, this time we’re introducing easy, enjoyable recreational activities for seniors.
By incorporating crafts and songs unique to May, you can create an atmosphere where participants feel the season while having fun.
Everything is simple to try, so please enjoy participating together with the older adults around you.
[May Health Topic] Introducing Recreational Activities for Seniors! (1–10)
WalkingNEW!
Walking, popular as an easy-to-start form of exercise, is an activity that helps maintain fitness and manage health.
Walking improves blood circulation, helps keep muscles and joints moving, and is expected to offer many benefits such as preventing lifestyle-related diseases and dementia, so many people incorporate it into their daily routine.
Outdoors, you can enjoy viewing seasonal flowers and cityscapes, and feel a sense of accomplishment by tracking steps or distance.
You can choose a manageable route and adjust the time to suit yourself, making it easy to continue according to your condition.
Walking with friends or family also allows you to enjoy conversation and can be a catalyst for social interaction.
Total Concentration PET-bottle Kendama
Did you know that May 14 is Kendama Day? It’s said that when older adults play kendama, it brings back memories and activates the brain.
Also, moving the arms and fingertips and guiding the body to a target position is very good for both the brain and the body.
Why not try making this kendama yourself and playing with it? It’s easy to make: tie a string to the opening of a plastic bottle, and attach a paper cup to the other end of the string.
That’s it! Hold the bottle by the body and try to catch the opening side with the paper cup to play.
The movements of rice planting
Are you familiar with Rikka, the beginning of summer that usually arrives around May 5 each year? It marks the start of the season and, depending on the region, is the time for rice planting and sowing seeds.
In that spirit, here’s a recreation activity themed around May’s Rikka.
Cut newspaper into long, thin strips to represent rice seedlings, and insert them into the mouth of a plastic bottle as if you were planting rice.
Recalling rice planting and using your fingertips stimulates the brain and can help prevent cognitive decline.
Because it involves fine finger movements, it’s also great finger training.
You can liven it up by taking the newspaper back out of the bottle or turning it into a race.
Of course, it’s also enjoyable to time yourself and focus on the challenge solo.
It requires very few materials, so please give it a try!
PET bottle shake
Why not try the “PET bottle shake” exercise, where you can get various benefits just by shaking a plastic bottle? First, fill a plastic bottle with water.
The weight of the water makes it work like a dumbbell.
The weight varies depending on the amount of water and the size of the bottle, so choose a level that feels right for you.
Hold one in each hand and shake them vigorously.
By shaking, you can train your arms, shoulders, and even your core.
It might also be fun to shake them to the beat of some music.
Sheet Valley
Let’s play Seat Volleyball using sunshades sold at 100-yen stores.
It’s a game that many older adults can enjoy.
Connect two sunshades to make a volleyball court.
Have seated older adults hold the two connected sunshades.
Roll a beach volleyball on top of the sunshades.
Before starting, use tape or similar to mark territories on the sunshades.
When the time limit is up, the side where the ball is located loses.
With gameplay similar to real volleyball, older adults are likely to enjoy it.
Since it can be played while seated, many older participants should be able to join.
Gift-stuffing game
This is a game where players compete to see how many presents they can stuff into their own bag within a time limit, taking them from a table.
When pushing the presents in, they should use force while still being careful not to tear the bag—encouraging awareness of strength control.
To keep players from focusing only on the simple act of stuffing, it’s recommended to make the presents colorful so the visuals are enjoyable too.
If you randomize the sizes and shapes of the presents, you can also add an element of judgment in choosing which ones to put in the bag.
Full-body workout you can do while seated
Exercises you can do while seated are easy to start and safe since there’s no risk of falling.
This routine is designed so you can get a full-body workout while staying seated, so please give it a try.
Begin with deep breathing, then stretch the areas that tend to get stiff.
Next, loosen up your lower back and hips.
After this warm-up, the exercises proceed from the upper body down to the lower body.
By the time you finish the whole sequence, you’ll likely feel as though you’ve moved your entire body quite a bit.
Please try it and make it a habit.