[For Seniors] Recommended for older adults: enjoyable recreational activities

Treasure Hunt Game

Recreation for Seniors: Super Exciting Brain Training—Beanbag Treasure Hunt Game

It’s a “treasure hunt game” where you hide a beanbag under a paper cup and guess where it is.

The rules are simple, so it seems likely that many older adults would be able to join.

Preparation is easy too—just get some paper cups and a beanbag.

Remembering which cups don’t have the beanbag helps stimulate the brain.

Lifting the cups also serves as hand and arm training.

This time it’s a game to guess the hidden beanbag, but you can enjoy it with variations.

Draw pictures, such as fruits or fish, on the bottoms of the paper cups.

You can devise games where you try to find the picture that matches a given theme from among the cups.

It’s fun to play solo, and it’s also an engaging game to compete in pairs.

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Nakajima Junko

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Shooting game

It’s a game that reminds me of a shooting gallery. 🥰

This is a game inspired by the shooting booths you see at festivals and amusement parks.

Players hold ping-pong balls taken from a basket and try to knock down lined-up figurines and paper cups.

It can also be a lively event where participants compete to see how many items they can topple within a time limit.

It’s a good idea to prepare various types of balls—not only ping-pong balls, but also beanbags and rubber balls.

It’s a game you can enjoy while seated, just by moving your arms.

Why not try organizing an activity that brings a touch of nostalgia?

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mutō

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Finger-Tip Rec: Ball Exercises to Build Grip Strength

[Finger Exercise] A Recreation Using Rubber Balls to Strengthen Grip [Senior Brain Training]

This is a recreational activity focused on gripping a ball to build grip strength.

In pairs, you will perform two movements: trying to pull out a fixed ball and passing the ball to each other.

While consciously gripping the ball firmly with one hand, add the pulling and passing movements to train other areas as well.

By carefully observing your partner’s movements, this exercise also helps you become more aware of dynamic vision, concentration, and force control.

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kappamaki

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Number Game! Odd and Even

Brain Training Exercise 12: Odd and Even Exercise

This is an exercise performed while seated, moving the hands and feet in two patterns in response to cues.

In the odd-number pattern, you raise your left hand and right leg; in the even-number pattern, you raise your right hand and left leg.

Participants switch based on the cue.

Start with simple cues of “odd” and “even,” then progress to having participants determine whether a spoken number is odd or even.

Moving opposite hand and foot, and quickly identifying numbers to form the correct body shape, helps activate the brain.

It’s also recommended to add variety with simple arithmetic like addition and subtraction to increase the thinking component.

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kappamaki

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Text Color Card Game

[Senior Recreation] Rec Craftsman Series Part 132: “Colored Letter Card Game [Brain Training/Card/Game]”

This is a karuta-style card game where players focus on the reading of the characters and the colors on the cards to find the one that matches what is read aloud.

It tests your ability to decide whether the cue refers to the character or the color, and your judgment in locating it among the cards in front of you—so your thinking speed is key.

Clear phrasing by the reader is also important; be mindful to use concise expressions like “the character is red and the color is green.” The more cards with the same character in different colors are mixed in, the harder it becomes to judge the correct answer, so it’s recommended to gradually increase the number of cards as players get used to the game.

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kappamaki

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Newspaper-ball rolling relay

If you want a super exciting group game, this is it! Newspaper Ball Rolling Relay

This is a game where two people sit facing each other, hold a single sheet of newspaper together, and carry a ball on top of it.

The idea is to pass the ball to the next pair without dropping it, which makes not only the amount of force you use but also your cooperative attitude important.

The heavier the ball, the more firmly you need to support it with the newspaper, so try various adjustments such as changing the ball or the size of the newspaper.

If you split into teams and compete to see who can transport the ball faster, the game will heat up and you can also boost the sense of speed in movement.

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kappamaki

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Sing and pass it around! Ball relay

All you need is a ball! This is fun♪ Sing and pass-the-ball activity!!

Here’s an idea for a rhythm-based ball-passing game.

First, participants sit in a circle.

One person starts with the ball and passes it to the next person in time with the music; that person then passes it to the next, and so on.

When the music stops, the person holding the ball gets to drop out of the game.

You can also adjust the game by adding more balls depending on the number of participants.

Singing along while playing provides brain training benefits, and listening to favorite songs can boost motivation, which adds to the appeal.

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yamamoto

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