[For Seniors] Spice Up Your Usual Oral Exercises! Patakara Exercises and Tongue Twisters
In facilities where older adults live, many residents look forward to mealtimes.
This time, we’re introducing oral exercises that can strengthen chewing and swallowing abilities to help you enjoy meals more.
If your facility already uses such exercises, adding some variations to your usual routine can make it more fun to continue.
If you haven’t started yet, why not try beginning with slower-paced exercises?
By increasing saliva production, you can help prevent aspiration, improve digestive function, and potentially boost appetite!
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[For Older Adults] Put a twist on your usual oral exercises! The Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercise and tongue twisters (1–10)
Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra finger exercises
Many care facilities incorporate the “Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra” oral exercises.
However, some older adults may get bored if it’s the same routine every time.
So let’s add finger movements to the usual Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises.
While saying pa-ta-ka-ra out loud, clap your hands or make a “fox” hand pose and move your hands.
The key is to enjoy it.
You’ll be using both your mouth and your hands, which can be tricky at first if you’re not used to it.
But it’s fine to make mistakes.
We use both our mouths and hands when eating, right? Using your fingertips during the exercises also helps train the movements needed for meals.
Try doing Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra with added finger movements at the pace that suits the older adults.
High-speed Patakara exercise
Let’s try doing the usual Pa-Ta-Ka-La exercises at a fast pace! Tongue twisters help train your tongue, the muscles around your mouth, and your facial expression muscles.
Repeating the words loudly also stimulates the brain and can help prevent cognitive decline.
At first, it’s fine to start slowly with simple phrases, and once you get used to it, try increasing the difficulty.
Even if you make mistakes with tongue twisters, they turn into laughter.
Creating a friendly, relaxed atmosphere is one of the features of this exercise.
Since it requires no equipment and is easy to try, be sure to give it a go.
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.
[For Seniors] Spice up your usual oral exercises! Pa-ta-ka-ra drills and tongue twisters (11–20)
Exercise to the Mito Komon song
It seems that many older adults watch television.
Some of them probably look forward to dramas, don’t they? Period dramas are especially popular, and among them, “Mito Kōmon” is well-known.
It became a series and ran for 42 years, and its theme song is as famous as the show itself.
Let’s try incorporating the “Mito Kōmon” theme song—familiar to many seniors—into the Patakara mouth exercises! If the oral exercises use a song they know, older adults are likely to find it easier and more enjoyable to give them a try.
It can also help promote communication, such as by sparking lively conversations about the show.
Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra alternating counting exercise
Let me introduce a very simple exercise that also trains your brain: the alternating Pa-Ta-Ka counting exercise.
What you do is very simple! Say “pa” while raising the index finger of your left hand and keeping your right hand in a fist.
Next, say “ta,” raise two fingers on your right hand, and make a fist with your left hand.
Then, say “ka,” raise three fingers on your left hand, and make a fist with your right hand.
In this way, you alternate between your left and right hands while counting.
By having your brain process speaking and finger counting at the same time, multiple stimuli are sent to the brain, which is expected to help prevent cognitive decline.
Give it a try!
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.
Gymnastics with reversed words
Some older adults may have fewer opportunities to interact with others and thus have fewer chances to talk.
Speaking uses the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and cheeks.
When these muscles weaken, it can affect articulation and make swallowing during meals more difficult.
For this reason, why not try simple oral exercises such as palindromes or tongue twisters? A palindrome is a sentence that reads the same both forward and backward.
Well-crafted sentences like these may be entertaining for older adults.
Tongue twisters are made up of words that are hard to pronounce—give them a try.
Practice difficult words repeatedly to train your muscles.