[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 (11–20)
Proverb Quiz
A proverb that every Japanese person has probably heard.
This time, we’re introducing a “proverb quiz” where you think of the sentence that fits inside the parentheses to complete the proverb.
You might be thinking, “It’s just filling in one sentence, right?” but once you try it, you’ll be surprised at how tricky it can be.
You may even come across proverbs you’ve never seen before.
If you can, try not only filling in the sentence but also thinking about its meaning.
The characters and their content are called semantic memory, an important kind of memory that makes up our knowledge.
We recommend using it regularly while enjoying a bit of brain training.
Picture shiritori
This is a classic game everyone knows—Shiritori—with a drawing twist.
Players guess what’s drawn on the whiteboard and then connect it to the next drawing that starts with the last sound of the previous word.
After the game has progressed to some extent, pause and check whether the shiritori chain was valid.
The process of thinking of words, moving your hands, and drawing them helps stimulate the brain.
If someone lacks confidence in their drawing, offering hints is recommended—by getting creative with how hints are given, you can help develop their thinking skills.
Which number is the most ___?
Are you familiar with working memory? Working memory is the ability to temporarily store and process information needed for tasks and actions.
It’s said to be involved in judgments and behaviors in all aspects of daily life.
Let’s train our working memory by searching, among many numbers, for either the larger numbers or the smaller numbers.
While thinking about whether a number is large or small, focus on finding the numbers.
Some older adults may feel, “I can’t find any at all.” But there’s no need to worry.
The goal isn’t necessarily to find them; simply looking for large or small numbers itself serves as brain training.
Witty Letter Quiz
It’s a game where you look at letters arranged in unusual shapes or patterns and think about what they represent.
You search for what feels off about the displayed word and unravel it, which leads you to the answer.
If you can’t come up with the answer from the puzzle alone, you can gradually reveal hints and enjoy the feeling of getting closer.
Asking players to find alternative expressions in their heads or expand images from the letters helps stimulate the brain.
Spot the difference
Among brain-training activities, spot-the-difference puzzles are probably the most famous and accessible.
You see them everywhere—like as magazine inserts or on the back of family restaurant menus—so many older adults have likely tried them at least once.
They’re a seated recreation you can enjoy without much movement, making them a great option for those who shouldn’t engage in vigorous activity.
You can find spot-the-difference prompts online, and books are also available for purchase, so be sure to make use of them.
Guess the Creature Quiz
This quiz asks you to look at a part of an animal photo and guess what animal it is.
Even with familiar animals, it can be hard to tell from just one part if you’re not used to seeing them, so it’s a good test of imagination and memory.
If you’re stuck, try checking the hints.
It’s also a good idea to provide multiple hints for the trickier animals.
And even if there are some you can’t figure out at all, don’t worry—at the very least you’ll learn something new.
Move on to the next question and give it a try.
It’s fun even if you get it wrong.
[For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Lively Mental Exercises (21–30)
New Year’s holiday quiz
When it comes to the year-end and New Year period, there’s the year-end wrap-up at work, a big cleanup, and then right away the New Year—Oshogatsu—arrives.
This quiz gathers questions related to that festive season.
The formats vary—multiple-choice, true-or-false, and more—but since you can simply choose answers, people of all ages can enjoy it.
It also teaches the meanings and origins of things like the zodiac, New Year’s decorations, and osechi cuisine, making it educational and a great opportunity to rediscover Japanese traditions.
