[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 Mind Exercises (51–60)
Quiz related to June
Let’s try brain training you can tackle like a game! Here are some quiz ideas related to June.
Some people might think brain training sounds difficult, but these are ideas you can enjoy casually with a game-like feel! This time, let’s activate your brain with quizzes about June.
The quizzes include photo questions, trivia, and hard-to-read kanji.
You can take your time at your own pace, or team up with people around you.
There seem to be plenty of ways to enjoy it.
Brain training exercises of see-not, speak-not, hear-not
Let me introduce a brain-training exercise that moves your body and stimulates your mind: the “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” workout.
For “see no evil,” cover your eyes with both hands.
For “hear no evil,” cover your ears with both hands.
For “speak no evil,” cover your mouth with both hands.
When you hear the staff member’s cue, decide which pose it is and move your hands to make that pose.
It can train your reaction speed and thinking skills, and it might even encourage more communication.
Even if you make mistakes, keep it lighthearted—relax and enjoy the exercise!
Word search with hiragana cubes
Prepare eight cubes with hiragana written on them and roll the cubes.
Combine the hiragana that appear to form as many table-friendly words as you can.
If the word changes, it’s okay to use the same hiragana more than once.
Since the hiragana change each time, you’ll get a different kind of stimulation every time you play.
There are many ways to enjoy it, such as changing the number of cubes or trying to form as many words as possible within a time limit.
Finding words and assembling them from characters activates the brain, so you can enjoy yourself while getting brain-training benefits.
Word search with lyrics about Mt. Fuji
Let’s enjoy some brain training using familiar children’s songs! This time, we’ll use the lyrics of “Mount Fuji.” We’ll make a fill-in-the-blank activity with parts of the lyrics missing, and have participants think about what words go there.
Instead of just recalling the lyrics, they will search for words from prepared letter cards and assemble them.
Finding the correct answer gives a real sense of accomplishment.
Using well-known songs familiar to seniors makes the activity approachable and can also lead into singing.
It’s a fun way to help prevent cognitive decline, so it’s recommended as a recreation activity in senior care facilities.
[For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Exciting Mental Exercises (61–70)
Kanji Search: Let’s find the character ‘田’
Let’s look for the kanji 田 among the many 由 characters lined up.
There are four 田 characters in total.
Checking each character one by one is good for training your concentration, but if you take a bird’s-eye view of the whole, it becomes easier to find characters that are hard to see.
Also, as the title suggests, this is an exercise for your eyes and brain, so it’s important to keep a flexible mindset.
It’s fine to do it on your own, but competing to see who can find them fastest with multiple people could make it more exciting.
It’s also recommended as a quick recreational activity in senior care facilities.
Kanji hunt: Let’s find the character ‘士’
Let’s find four instances of the character 士 among regularly arranged 土 characters.
Checking each character one by one helps train concentration, but it’s also important to take a bird’s-eye view of the whole.
As the title suggests, this is an exercise for your eyes and brain, so shake off fixed ideas and keep a flexible mindset.
There are many ways to enjoy it: do it individually or compete in teams to see who can find them the fastest.
It’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior care facilities, so give it a try!
Where is the flower’s name?
Let’s try finding flower names hidden among rows of hiragana arranged in a 5-by-5 grid.
It may look simple, but it’s actually quite challenging.
Since some people might not recognize more elaborate names, it’s a good idea to prepare simple answers when creating the puzzle.
On the other hand, if your audience knows a lot about plants, including more technical names can make it more enjoyable.
Creating the puzzles themselves also provides brain-training benefits, so in senior care facilities, consider starting from the puzzle-making process itself.