[For Seniors] Enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic: Seated activities
In this article, we introduce recreation activities you can enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At day service centers and other senior facilities, a variety of recreational activities are held every day.
However, during periods when COVID-19 and other infectious diseases are spreading, worries are never-ending.
So we’ve gathered activities that can be enjoyed while maintaining distance—such as those for small groups or done in turns.
What’s more, they can all be done while seated, making them enjoyable for wheelchair users and those who are unsteady standing.
You may also find that more people will casually join in, thinking, “If it’s something I can do while sitting, I’ll give it a try.”
Please use these ideas as a reference for your daily recreation programs.
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
- [For Seniors] Exciting Team-Based Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
[For Seniors] Enjoy safely even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seated activities (81–90)
ball toss (traditional Japanese beanbag/ball-throwing game)
Tamaire, the beanbag toss often played at school sports days, is a real crowd-pleaser.
Try adjusting it so that older adults can enjoy it too.
Have the participants sit on chairs and form a circle with a basket placed in the center.
They’ll aim for the basket and toss in beanbags or balls.
Splitting into two teams for a head-to-head match will make it even more exciting.
You can also enjoy a variation where several baskets are placed on a table and players throw balls into them—great for solo play as well.
If you attach papers with point values to the baskets, it adds a fun, game-like element.
Get Excited! Beanbag Toss Bingo Game
It’s a cooperative game where everyone aims for bingo, incorporating the action of tossing beanbags.
Nine baskets are placed in the center of a seated circle, and players throw beanbags to land them on top of each basket.
If you place five or more beanbags, you clear that basket, and you work toward bingo using the baskets you’ve cleared.
In addition to adjusting the strength of each throw, be sure to focus on cooperating so your beanbags don’t collide with your teammates’.
It’s a game that lets everyone enjoy striving for a common goal while getting plenty of physical activity.
Just paper and pen! Number Bingo
It’s a simple game where you use a pencil to draw a grid and numbers on paper, then aim for bingo.
The grid is 3 squares by 3 squares, for a total of 9, and you freely choose numbers from 1 to 15 to fill them in at random.
Once everyone has finished writing their numbers, you’re ready to play: read out the numbers on the cards in order, and each player aims for bingo.
You can enjoy seeing whether a line on your own card completes, or you can turn it into a competitive game where you try to complete more lines than your opponent—either way, it’s sure to be exciting.
Paper Cup Bingo
It’s a game where players take turns placing three sizes of paper cups—large, medium, and small—on a grid, aiming to line up three cups of their color.
The grid is a 3×3 board with nine squares, and you try to complete your own line while preventing your opponent from completing theirs.
Because the rules allow you to stack your cup on top of your opponent’s cup, choosing which size to play becomes a key strategic point.
This stacking element broadens the range of tactics and makes for more advanced mind games.
Think through your opponent’s moves as well as your own approach to keep your brain fully engaged.
Paper Cup Whack-a-Mole
Here’s an idea for a paper cup whack-a-mole game that everyone can enjoy together.
First, prepare several paper cups and some chopsticks.
Choose one paper cup and attach a chopstick to the bottom to make a hammer.
Then draw moles on the bottoms of the other paper cups to complete the set.
Stack the mole cups onto the hammer cup and pop them on.
The satisfying “snap” when they fit will be addictive! You can also have fun customizing it by drawing illustrations other than moles.
Ear, Nose Game
Pinch your nose with one hand, and with the other hand crossed over, pinch the ear on the opposite side.
At the cue, switch that configuration, aiming to swap hands smoothly.
The key points are that each hand is pinching a different spot and that one hand is crossed over.
Thinking carefully while moving your hands helps activate the brain.
Even just the hand-switching action is challenging, but adding a clap before switching, for example, makes it even harder and further enhances awareness of movement and concentration.
[For Seniors] Safe and enjoyable even during the COVID-19 pandemic: Seated activities (91–100)
Brain training! Towel rock-paper-scissors
Like the game “Hit-and-Cover Rock-Paper-Scissors,” this towel rock-paper-scissors trains your reflexes and your brain.
Spread a towel on the table and sit facing your opponent.
Play rock-paper-scissors; if you win, pull the towel toward yourself.
If you lose, hold the towel down firmly so it can’t be taken.
As the game heats up, people often mix up what to do with the towel when they win or lose, which in turn stimulates the brain even more.
Since it’s an exercise you do with someone else, it also encourages communication and lifts your mood!
