[For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Lively Mind Exercises
Activities like games and brain training exercises conducted in senior facilities—often called “mental workouts”—are said to help prevent dementia or slow its progression.
So this time, we’re introducing “mental workouts for seniors”!
Mental workouts not only provide a sense of accomplishment when a problem is solved and activate brain functions, but they also play an important role in creating opportunities for communication with other seniors.
They are also recommended as a way to relieve stress for seniors who may fall into repetitive daily routines.
By adjusting the difficulty level to suit each senior’s condition and adding creative touches to make the activities easier to engage with, you can further increase their sense of satisfaction.
Try incorporating them into your recreation time or daily routine.
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[For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Exciting Mental Exercises (91–100)
Hiragana cards
This is a game where you use a set of kana cards laid out in the playing area to make as many words as possible within a time limit.
You can play with various patterns, such as specifying the number of characters—like “two-character words”—or setting themes, such as “names of vegetables.” If someone gets stuck playing alone because they can’t think of words, it’s recommended to play in teams and cooperate.
You can make it challenging by limiting the available characters, or ramp up the excitement by adding more full sets of the 50-sound kana to broaden the range of words.
Who am I?
Who am I? From limited clues, guess the name of the person or animal presented in the question.
Let’s feature famous figures active in the Showa era and have participants think it through.
If you’re hosting this at a nursing home or day service, it’s also nice to use staff members or residents as themes.
You can come up with original hints like “If it’s sweets, I prefer chocolate” or “I’m more of a rice person than bread.” While thinking about the correct answer, this quiz can serve as brain training and help deepen interaction among older adults.
Intro Quiz
An intro quiz is a game where you listen to the opening part of a song and guess the answer.
It helps you recall past memories.
Tracing memories of songs you’ve heard from just the opening can stimulate and activate the brain.
The key is to select songs that many older adults are familiar with.
If it’s a song they know, they can enjoy participating in the quiz.
It’s also recommended to have everyone sing the correct song together or do hand motions to the music.
Singing involves opening the mouth wide, which can help prevent aspiration, and it’s also expected to be effective for brain training and stress relief.
Card flip
This is a simple card game where each card has a different color on the front and back, and players keep flipping them to a designated color.
It’s basically a competitive format: both players flip cards to their own color and compete to see which color is more prevalent when time runs out.
Consider rules like allowing flips with only one hand to help balance participants’ abilities as much as possible.
A 2-on-2 team match is also recommended, as it gets heated by emphasizing not just speed but strategy as well.
Rock, paper, scissors
Movements of the hands and fingers are closely connected to the brain’s nerves, so they have a deep relationship.
It’s said that moving the hands and fingers can help prevent dementia and reduce the risk of falls.
Many senior care facilities likely incorporate activities that move the fingers, such as the rock–paper–scissors exercise.
So, let’s add a little twist to your usual finger exercises.
Try doing rock–paper–scissors gradually faster, or go in reverse—paper, scissors, rock—while speeding up.
It’s also great to add handclaps in between, or make a fox shape with your hand.
It’s okay to make mistakes with this exercise, and not doing it perfectly will probably bring some laughs.
It’s a finger workout you can enjoy while having fun.