[For Seniors] From Games to Crafts: A Complete Guide to Paper Cup Recreational Activities
Preparing recreational activities at senior care facilities can sometimes be a burden for staff.
It’s tough to get everything ready while handling daily duties, isn’t it?
For those in that situation, we’re introducing a recommended recreation activity using paper cups.
Paper-cup activities aren’t just easy to prepare with minimal materials—they also offer various benefits for both physical activity and cognition.
And because paper cups are lightweight and soft, they reduce the risk of injury for older adults, making the activities safe to conduct.
Be sure to incorporate them into your daily recreation programs!
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For Seniors: From Games to Crafts. Paper Cup Recreation Ideas (21–30)
Easy and fun! Paper Cup Race
@houkagoday_yawara Paper Cup Race 🦑 Draw your favorite picture on a paper cup and let’s compete! Time trials or big group races are super fun too 😀 Materials: paper cups, vinyl tape, raffia ribbon (Suzuran tape), ball Goal: Think about how much force to use, pull so the ball doesn’t fall and doesn’t leave the course, and build your thinking skills ✊ Let’s try it! 🇯🇵child# developmental support (ryōiku)#AtHomePlayAfter-school day serviceNagasakiEducational#NeurodevelopmentalDisordersworkTranslationHandmade
♬ Pokopoko cute game style BGM(1527385) – sanusagi
Here’s a fun paper cup race you can make with everyday materials.
Get some paper cups, raffia tape (plastic ribbon), and vinyl tape ready.
Poke holes in the paper cups, thread the raffia tape through, and tie a single knot to assemble it.
It might be nice to draw faces on the cups with a felt-tip pen, too.
Once it’s finished, place a ball on the cup, pull the string, and start the race.
Move slowly and carefully so the ball doesn’t fall off.
Try timing your runs or competing to see who can reach the finish line the fastest and have fun!
Paper Cup Fishing Game – Halloween
This is a game where you use an essential Halloween ghost mascot to fish up another Halloween essential: monster mascots.
The ghost mascot, which serves as the fishing rod, is covered all over with fluttering fabric, but its base is a paper cup with a magnet hidden inside.
You use this to fish up the other mascots.
The target mascots are made by attaching items like colored twist ties that stick to the magnet.
How easily they get caught depends on how strongly they’re attracted to the magnet, so fine-tuning that is the key to balancing the gameplay.
Stacking paper cups
Here’s a cup-stacking game that boosts finger strength and concentration.
Get some paper cups and clothespins ready and have fun.
Use the clothespins to stack the paper cups.
Whoever stacks five cups before their opponent wins.
The key is the grip strength you use to open and close the clothespins while stacking.
Once you get used to it, try setting a time limit or playing in teams for an extra challenge.
It’s a game you can enjoy over and over, so give it a try!
Paper cup: Don’t take the last one game
Let me introduce a fun game you can play with paper cups.
The rules are simple: place several paper cups on a table, and on your turn you may take up to three cups.
You can take one, two, or three cups.
The player who takes the very last cup on the table loses.
As the game nears the end, you’ll start carefully considering how many cups to take.
Who will be the one to pick up that final cup? It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat paper cup game.
Paper cups are light, so you can hold them with one hand.
It’s a game that people with hemiparesis might also enjoy.
Paper Cup Curling
Let me introduce Paper Cup Curling.
Prepare some paper cups, marbles, and a sheet with point values, and let’s get started.
Attach the scoring sheet lengthwise to the table.
The key is to place the higher-point areas a bit farther away.
Participants sit in front of the scoring sheet, put a marble into a paper cup, and slide it forward with momentum.
Choose which score you want to aim for and slide the cup toward that target.
The person with the highest total score wins.
Experiment with how hard to push and how to slide the paper cup—good luck!
Balance game with paper cups and a ball
Introducing a unique balance game for seniors that uses paper cups and a ball: “Balance Game with Paper Cups and a Ball.” Stack paper cups into a pyramid and place a ping-pong ball or similar ball on the topmost cup to begin.
Carefully move the cups one by one, stacking each onto the cup below while making sure the ball doesn’t fall.
With movements similar to sport stacking, you clear the game once you’ve finished nesting all the paper cups into one stack! It’s a fun way to train concentration, finger dexterity, and sense of balance.
Since it can be played while seated, even those who aren’t confident in their physical stamina can participate with peace of mind.
It’s a recreational activity full of thrilling, heart-pounding moments.
Recreation using a ball and paper cups
This is a recreation activity that tests strength and concentration: while seated in a chair, you bounce a ball at your feet and then catch it.
First, have participants get used to the ball’s movement and how much force to use by bouncing it at their own feet and catching it with one hand.
Next, pair up.
One person bounces the ball toward their partner, and the person receiving it tries to catch it with a paper cup.
Since everyone applies force differently, judging how the ball will bounce becomes crucial—another point that boosts concentration.