[For Older Adults] Games to Enhance Oral Function: Enjoyable and Easy to Do
Oral functions play an important role in daily life, such as eating and speaking.
We all want to keep enjoying meals and conversations as we get older.
In this article, we’ll introduce fun and easy activities that help improve oral function.
For example, are you familiar with vowel articulation practice like “a-i-u-e-o”?
It’s a simple and enjoyable articulation exercise, and in fact, it not only enhances oral function but also helps strengthen your abdominal muscles.
We also introduce exercises that are essential for health management, so please try to find some that you feel you can do!
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- [For Seniors] Oral Exercises to Keep Eating Deliciously and Enjoyably
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- [For Seniors] Hand and finger play roundup: Finger exercises that lead to brain training
- [For Seniors] Core Training: Recommended Simple Rehabilitation
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- [Recommended for Seniors] Simple and Fun Gesture Game Prompts
[For Older Adults] Games to Improve Oral Function: Enjoyable Activities (1–10)
Swallowing muscle trainingNEW!
Some people may choke while eating or wake up at night coughing on saliva.
How about trying swallowing muscle training? This training focuses on the larynx, which serves as a lid for the trachea, to strengthen the muscles used for swallowing.
Lie on your back, bend your ankles to 90 degrees, and slightly lift your head.
Keep looking at your toes and hold that position for 60 seconds.
There’s also a method for abdominal exercises using a towel, so give it a try if you like.
Swallowing Exercises: Cheek Training EditionNEW!
If you have trouble swallowing food, try strengthening your cheeks! First, pucker your cheeks tightly as if sticking the insides of your cheeks to your teeth.
Next, with your mouth closed, pull the corners of your mouth to the sides as if making a smile.
It might help to picture a smiley-face mouth! Finally, puff out your cheeks as if filling your mouth with air and blow them up like “poo.” Try each for about five seconds.
It’s a quick exercise you can do right away, so why not try adding it before meals?
Simple Gum TrainingNEW!
To prevent choking and coughing, it’s important to chew your food thoroughly.
As a training method, try using chewing gum! We recommend gum that contains xylitol or calcium.
Instead of popping it straight into your mouth, first hold the gum between your lips, then use your front teeth and the tip of your tongue to bring it into your mouth.
Put 1–2 pieces in your mouth and chew evenly on both the left and right sides.
Once it softens to some extent, try using your tongue to roll the gum into a ball.
If you can’t roll it with your tongue, try using your front teeth as well.
Practice using your teeth and tongue properly to help prevent choking and coughing!
[For Older Adults] Games to Enhance Oral Function: Enjoyable Activities (11–20)
Ten Times Quiz
This is a quiz that stimulates thinking and oral function at the same time by having participants repeat a word 10 times and then answering a question.
For example, you might say “Say ‘pizza’ 10 times.
Okay, then what’s this?” while pointing to your elbow.
Many of you have probably heard that one.
Repeating a word 10 times uses the mouth muscles, making it effective for training chewing strength and for voice training.
Listening carefully to the question and answering without being swayed by the repeated word provides a brain-training effect.
It’s a fun way to maintain oral health whether with a small group or a large one, so please give it a try.
Rhythm Oral Exercises
This is an exercise where you vocalize to a rhythm and move the area around your mouth.
You can keep time even without music, so it can be done anywhere—at home, in senior facilities, and more.
First, press your lips together and make the sound “pa,” then place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and say “ta.” Next, purse your lips and blow the “su” sound, then lift the corners of your mouth and stretch the muscles as you say “i.” After that, blow short bursts with “fu,” and finally open your mouth wide and say “a.” You can change the order, repeat the sequence, or add variations to keep it feeling fresh and enjoyable.
Give it a try!
Patakara exercise: Theme from Shoten
For older generations, the TV show “Shōten” is a familiar favorite.
Here’s an idea for enjoying Patakara exercises using the Shōten theme song.
It’s very simple! Just make the four sounds “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” in time with the music.
That’s all it takes, yet it can help maintain and improve your ability to eat and swallow, and the act of inhaling and exhaling can also benefit the respiratory system.
If you can, try opening and closing your hands repeatedly at the same time.
Doing multiple activities simultaneously creates a “dual-task,” which may help prevent cognitive decline.
It’s fun, easy to do, and highly recommended.
Patakara exercises with insect sounds
Here’s an idea for doing the Patakara mouth exercises to the tune of the well-known Japanese children’s song “Mushi no Koe” (Voices of Insects).
It’s simple: replace the insect names with “Pata-insect” and “Kara-insect,” and change their chirping sounds to “pata-pata” and “kara-kara” as you sing.
Many older adults are familiar with this short song, so it’s easy to try.
You don’t even need accompaniment—using a tablet or similar device lets you do it anywhere.
Enhancing oral function can also help prevent cognitive decline, so please try it proactively.
It’s especially effective when done before meals.