[For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
Introducing fun seated recreational activities for older adults!
Even when you want to do exercises in nursing homes or day service centers, activities that are too intense or put strain on the legs and back can increase the risk of falls.
The activities we’re introducing this time are recommended because everyone can enjoy them while staying seated.
From exercises that move only the hands to games that engage the entire upper body, choose whatever looks fun from the many options available.
They’re even more exciting if you make them team competitions!
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[For Seniors] Easy and Fun Seated Activities You Can Do in Your Room (151–160)
Ball-Picking Game
When April comes, the weather becomes mild and there are more pleasantly warm days, don’t you think? It’s also a time when it’s easier to move your body, so why not have some fun with a simple game? Here’s a ball-collecting game that uses lots of balls.
Roll many balls across a table toward older adults seated in chairs.
The seated participants holding containers will pick up the balls as they roll toward them.
Since it can be done while seated, it’s accessible for those who have difficulty standing or for older adults who use wheelchairs.
Popcorn Game
Even if you know that moving your body is good for your health, you might still feel reluctant to get active.
So here’s a fun popcorn game that lets you exercise your feet while enjoying yourself.
Sit in a chair and place paper plates on both knees.
Fill the plates with lots of crumpled-up paper balls.
Think of the paper plates as frying pans and the crumpled paper as popcorn for the game.
When someone says, “Ready, start!”, flutter your legs and march your feet to shake the paper popcorn out of the plates.
Watching the crumpled paper fall from the plates looks just like popcorn popping in a heated frying pan.
Because it’s an exercise you can do like a game, it seems like older adults can enjoy participating too.
Great for recreation too! Train your core and fingertips with a newspaper tower
This is a newspaper-tube tower that lets you train your core while playing! The rules are super simple: just stack triangular tubes made by folding newspaper.
Starting by placing them on the floor while seated helps strengthen your core muscles, and straightening your back to stack them higher helps build your back muscles and improve posture.
Set the goal according to your condition—for example, up to where your hands can reach, or, if you can stand, up to the height you can stack while standing.
It’s also fun to time yourselves and race with everyone!
Have fun catching the ball with your body
A recommended recreation activity for seniors using a rubber ball.
Rubber balls don’t slip easily, so they’re easier to catch.
This time, work in pairs and toss the ball back and forth, catching it by clamping it between your hands.
It seems like it will train your reaction speed more than catching with your palms.
Switching to one-handed catches or knee catches also adds excitement, so they’re recommended.
Receiving the ball in various ways can help stimulate both mind and body.
A key point is not to overinflate the ball so it’s easier to grip.
Get in a circle and amp it up! Ball game
A recreation activity where everyone sits on chairs, forms a circle, and tosses a ball to each other.
Since you never know who will get the ball next, it’s a thrilling, heart-pounding game.
Forming a circle also helps deepen interaction among participants, which is a big plus.
And because a rubber ball is used, it’s safe as well.
As for how to throw, you can pass it with a one-bounce method, which builds strength by bouncing the ball off the ground.
It’s also exciting to fake a throw to add a bit of feinting and liven things up.
Animal sound brain training
It’s a game where you read the written name of an animal, think about which sound that animal makes, and answer.
It tests your ability to connect memories—how quickly you can imagine the sound from the animal’s name.
Start by checking which animal makes which sound, then move on to the letter chart.
Because you can reach the answer by thinking carefully, it’s also important to be mindful of speed.
The process of thinking from the written word and then saying it aloud helps activate the brain.
[For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room (161–170)
Word Bingo!
Let’s enjoy a wordplay-based bingo game called Word Bingo! The bingo card has 9 squares, and you fill them with words that match a given theme.
For example, if the theme is “words that start with ‘ka,’” you fill the squares with words that begin with ‘ka’ that you can think of.
When the representative announces their nine ‘ka’ words, check whether any of them match the words on your card; if they do, mark them.
You win when you complete a line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
A great thing about this bingo is that it’s fun for large groups.
