[For Seniors] Great for Brain Training! Question Card Ideas
Here is a recreation activity using question cards that can also help with brain training for older adults.
Write questions on cards about childhood memories, recent experiences, and favorite things.
Invite the older adults to reflect and talk about those topics.
Recalling the past serves as reminiscence therapy, which can stimulate the brain and is expected to promote activation.
In addition, organizing and expressing their thoughts is said to further contribute to brain training.
We hope these ideas for questions will help liven up your recreation activities with older adults.
Hearing the stories they recall can also become an opportunity to discover new sides of them and deepen your understanding.
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[For Seniors] Great for Brain Training! Question Card Ideas (1–10)
What did you buy with your first paycheck?
Let’s ask what they bought with the very first paycheck they earned after starting work.
It can also be fun to compare that with what people would buy with a starting salary today.
Back when many older adults were in the workforce, it may have been more common for men to be employed.
However, in Japan, women’s full-scale entry into society began after the war.
Some women may have built significant careers as well.
You could also expand the conversation by asking about the kinds of jobs they did and what they enjoyed about working.
What was the first job you had?
Many older adults seem to remember experiences from their working years—such as stories about their first job—as fond memories.
Depending on the generation, men may often talk about work, while women may often talk about raising children.
So, depending on the situation, you might consider asking men about the nature of their work and women about their parenting experiences.
Older adults are seniors in life to the staff members.
It might be helpful to seek their advice about your own work or child-rearing.
From there, the conversation may develop and expand.
What song did you like when you were a child?
Let’s try listening to the songs older adults loved when they were children.
There may be songs they sang with family and friends, or ones they learned at school.
Along with the songs, some people may vividly recall the scenes and memories from when they sang them.
This seems connected to reminiscence therapy, a psychological approach that can help prevent dementia.
It’s said that recalling the past through music and songs can provide a change of mood and help with relaxation.
It would also be fun to sing the memorable songs of older adults together.
[For Seniors] Useful for Brain Training! Question Card Ideas (11–20)
Where is the place you remember from your childhood?
When talking with older adults, it’s important to create an environment where they feel comfortable speaking.
It also helps to choose topics that are easy for them to talk about.
Childhood dreams are something many older adults probably imagined when they were young.
Even if it’s hard for someone to recall recent events, they often remember the past clearly and find it easier to talk about.
Conversations about childhood dreams might bring up job titles unique to that era.
If a job mentioned isn’t familiar to you, look it up afterward.
Then, using their thoughts and impressions about that occupation as a starting point is also a great way to keep the conversation going.
Where was your first trip?
There are likely many older adults who enjoy traveling.
Try asking about their first trip using a question card.
They might talk about a school trip they took as a student or a family vacation.
As they look back on their enjoyable travel memories, some older adults may become quite talkative.
A question card can be a great conversation starter, and through conversation, communication deepens.
Asking questions that are easy and interesting for older adults to answer can enrich their lives, help them live more vibrantly, and bring out their smiles.
When do you feel the happiest, and what are you doing at that time?
When do older adults feel happiness? Is it when they’re enjoying delicious food, spending time talking with family and friends, or engaging in their hobbies? Being asked about what they like and what they find fun, and then sharing that with someone else, brings a sense of joy, doesn’t it? Each older person will likely have their own answer about when they feel happy.
Some may find themselves thinking deeply when asked about their moments of happiness.
It’s said that people feel happy when they can live in a way that is true to themselves.
How about staying close to older adults and thinking about happiness together?
Have you ever had a nickname?
Some older adults may have had nicknames among their friends or at school.
These days, people tend to avoid using nicknames.
However, when today’s seniors were young, nicknames seemed to be more widely accepted.
Many likely had origins, such as coming from popular characters of the time or playful variations on their names.
When you ask about their nicknames, asking about the origin as well could help the conversation flow.
It might also become an opportunity for them to look back on memories from when they were called by that nickname.
Hopefully, your questions will spark a lively conversation.