[For Seniors] Spice Up Your Usual Oral Exercises! Patakara Exercises and Tongue Twisters

High-speed Patakara exercise

Hilarious High-Speed Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra Mouth Exercise: Today’s Brain Training, Care Prevention, and Dementia Prevention

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.

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Nakajima Junko

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Convert “Furusato” with the Patakara method

January 19: “Hometown Patakara Conversion — Oral Exercises through Song” Today’s Brain Training and Nursing Care Prevention

The song “Furusato” is a school song every Japanese person knows.

This time, we’d like to share an idea for a Patakara exercise using this song.

It’s very simple to do: just replace all the lyrics with the sounds pa-ta-ka-ra and sing.

Because you sing in the order of pa-ta-ka-ra, there’s no need to memorize the lyrics, and since it’s a familiar tune for everyone, you don’t need any equipment and can do it anywhere.

By adding a little twist to your usual exercise, you can participate with a fresh feeling while keeping the same benefits.

Give it a try!

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kojifumi

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Patakara Oral Exercises – Blue Mountains

Do the preventive care “Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra mouth exercises” to the tune of “Blue Mountain Range”!

We’d like to introduce the Pataka-ra exercises performed to the familiar song “Blue Mountains,” well known among older adults.

Pataka-ra exercises are one of the standard training methods to prevent aspiration; by strengthening the mouth and tongue, they aim to maintain and improve oral functions such as eating and swallowing.

They’re easy to do—simply pronounce “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” in time with the music.

Doing them before meals, in sync with the music, helps you enjoy your food and supports healthy living.

They’re also recommended as oral exercises in senior care facilities.

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kojifumi

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Patakara Towel Catch Exercise

@rizumicalgass

The ultimate technique for a long, healthy life: the “Patakara Towel Catch” exercisePreventive Care ExercisesSmile ActivityDementia preventionBrain training exercises#SeniorActivities#RhythmicalGas#NijiiroVideoGrowing Together as Parent and Child

♪ Original Song – Rhythmic Gas – Rhythmic Gas

Here is an idea for doing the Patakara exercise using a towel.

The Patakara exercise involves pronouncing the four syllables “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” to engage the muscles of the mouth and tongue, helping to train the functions used for eating and swallowing.

In this version, you step in place while gripping and releasing a towel in time with the Patakara sounds.

This exercise is expected to benefit not only oral functions but also the maintenance and improvement of lower-limb strength and the prevention of falls.

The action of grasping and releasing helps build the quick, reflexive gripping power needed to catch yourself if you start to fall, which in turn supports a healthy daily life.

It’s easy to do and highly recommended.

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kojifumi

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Gymnastics to the song of Mount Fuji

"At Mount Fuji" oral exercises! Pa-ta-ka-ra

“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.

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Nakajima Junko

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Patakara exercises with insect sounds

Perfect for oral exercises! Sing and enjoy the Patakara exercises♪

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.

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kojifumi

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Exercise to the Sazae-san theme song

Oral and swallowing exercises [for day-service care facilities and at-home preventive care]

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!