[For Seniors] Let's try customizing the usual Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises!
It seems that many senior care facilities incorporate the “Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises” before meals and at other times.
These are important oral exercises for older adults, using the mouth and tongue while vocalizing “pa, ta, ka, ra.”
The “Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises” help prevent aspiration and support enjoyable conversation through training the muscles around the mouth.
However, doing the same routine over and over can start to feel monotonous.
So let’s try a modified version of the “Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises”!
This time, we’ve gathered ideas with creative twists, such as adding hand claps or turning it into a parody song.
We hope older adults can enjoy their oral exercise time as well.
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[For Seniors] Let's try customizing your usual Patakara exercises! (21–30)
Gymnastics with various animals
Many senior care facilities incorporate the Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra mouth exercises before meals and at other times.
If you’re thinking, “I want to add some variation instead of doing the same routine,” or you’re running out of ideas, here’s a recommended Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercise.
Ask the seniors to name animals that start with Pa, Ta, Ka, and Ra.
For example, for “Pa” they might say “panda,” and for “Ta,” “tanuki” (raccoon dog).
After they come up with words, have them repeat each word several times.
The words don’t have to be animals—they can be familiar everyday items as well.
It can be fun to think up ideas for oral exercises together with the seniors, and having them come up with words also serves as brain training.
Exercise to the Sazae-san theme song
In this video, we do oral exercises to a familiar song.
Even though they’re called exercises, it’s important not to start moving your body abruptly.
Just like Radio Calisthenics, begin with deep breathing, then rotate your neck forward, backward, and side to side, raise and lower your shoulders, and move on to exercises for the tongue and around the mouth.
Moving the tongue and massaging the cheeks and neck helps stimulate saliva, which makes chewing and swallowing smoother and helps prevent aspiration.
For the familiar song this time, we’re using the opening theme from the TV anime Sazae-san, which has been airing for over 50 years.
Many of you probably know it, so give it a try!
[For Seniors] Let’s try arranging the usual Pa-ta-ka-ra exercises! (31–40)
Patakara step-stomping rock-paper-scissors
This exercise combines three elements—vigorous marching in place, rock-paper-scissors hand movements, and the mouth-movement “pa-ta-ka-ra” routine—to provide brain-training benefits.
Start by establishing a rhythm with your steps, then align your hand and mouth movements to that beat.
Begin with a slow tempo and check each movement carefully.
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, increase the speed, vary the hand and mouth patterns, and create more complex combinations to enhance the brain-training effect.
Rather than going through the motions on autopilot, think about how each movement should be performed as you go.
That mindful approach is key to feeling the benefits of the brain training.
Gymnastics to the song of Mount Fuji
“Fujinoyama” is included in music textbooks for elementary schools from the Meiji era.
Many older adults have likely heard it or sung it at least once.
Let’s try doing the Patakara oral exercises to the familiar melody of “Fujinoyama.” Convert the lyrics into the syllables pa-ta-ka-ra, and feel free to add more sounds like the p- and t-lines as well.
These use the muscles of the mouth and tongue, helping to train functions for eating and swallowing.
Once you get used to singing the lyrics as patakara, try increasing the tempo and give yourself a new challenge.
Gymnastics with hand gestures
Let’s try adding hand movements to the Patakara oral exercises.
The hand movements are coordinated with the mouth movements for “pa-ta-ka-ra.” For example, you can’t pronounce “pa” without closing your lips.
To strengthen this lip-closing action, add a hand gesture that matches the mouth shape for “pa.” For “pa,” make your hand a fist like “rock” in rock–paper–scissors, then open it to “paper” at the same time you voice the sound.
By adding hand movements, even older adults can become more aware of their mouth movements.
The Patakara oral exercises not only train the muscles used for eating, but also enrich facial expressions and help people enjoy conversations with others.
You can also customize them, such as by adding hand movements while producing the sounds continuously.
Patakara exercises in a spring brook
Here is an introduction to the Patakara exercises that you can do while singing.
By pronouncing “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra,” Patakara exercises help train the muscles around the mouth and the tongue.
Some facilities have even incorporated them into their daily routines.
Using familiar songs for older adults, such as “Spring Brook” (Haru no Ogawa), makes it easier to participate in the exercises.
“Spring Brook” has a gentle melody, so it’s well-suited for these activities.
Choosing songs that reflect the seasons can also help older adults feel the change of seasons.
Why not try adding this to your usual exercise routine?
10-second continuous Pa-Ta-Ka-La game
This is a variation where participants challenge themselves to see how quickly they can pronounce each character.
Because these characters require large mouth movements, focusing on speed still leads to solid oral motor training.
Have them try each character in order and pay attention to which ones are easier to pronounce—this is also recommended.
The 10-second time setting is a key point: ask them to decide whether to say it all in one breath or to take a breath in the middle.
If you carefully count and report the number of repetitions, it can motivate them to pronounce more, which may lead to even more physical activity.