[For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
Introducing small-group recreational activities for seniors!
These are recommended for nursing homes and day service centers, where friends and peers can enjoy them together.
Large-group activities are lively and fun, but small groups have their own advantages.
With fewer participants, everyone has more chances to shine, and one-on-one communication becomes deeper.
This might even be a good opportunity to become friendly with people you don’t usually talk to.
There are many games to choose from, so feel free to use these ideas as a reference for planning activities at your facility!
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[For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreational Activities (11–20)
ring toss
Here’s an easy ring toss you can make with household items.
Make the rings by rolling newspaper into thin tubes, taping the ends together to form a loop, and wrapping them with vinyl tape.
Instead of tossing onto pegs like a regular ring toss, place clothespins on the floor and use them as the targets.
Assign different point values by color and compete for the highest score.
It’s best to decide in advance how many throws each person gets.
Juggling
This is a beanbag toss—still a beanbag toss, but so funny you can’t stop laughing.
Have older participants sit and throw the beanbags, while the staff push and pull the box that the bags are supposed to go into, zipping past at high speed.
That sense of speed triggers laughter, and the excitement it creates is also great for the body.
Throw in feints—pretend you’re about to pass in front and then don’t—and the crowd goes wild.
It’s also wonderful as a cheerful, laughter-filled change of pace.
Give it a try!
Strikeout
Let’s play strikeout, where you throw balls at a target with points and numbers! You can easily make a strikeout board with cardboard or construction paper.
You can have players aim for specific numbers, or make it more exciting by assigning different points to each area and competing for the highest total as individuals or teams.
Use light balls or throw beanbags.
Adjust the setup so that even lighter throws can knock the board over.
ball toss (traditional Japanese beanbag/ball-throwing game)
Tamaire, the classic beanbag-toss game that gets you moving, is a staple recreation activity.
It’s also a highlight event at sports festivals, and once the game starts, participants are sure to get excited! You can make the baskets for tamaire yourself with cardboard and place several around the area, assigning different point values to each spot to make it even more exciting.
For safety and easy participation, it’s best to play while seated in chairs.
You can run it like a sports day with one basket per team, or have two teams share one basket, use different beanbag colors, and tally the scores at the end.
Feel free to adapt the setup to your space and the number of participants.
Rolling hula-hoop beanbag toss
When we say tamaire, it refers to a game where you toss balls into a basket placed high up.
This version, however, is a “rolling tamaire,” where you roll balls into hula hoops placed on the floor.
The score depends on the position of each hula hoop.
You can play standing or seated.
Even if you don’t have hula hoops, any round target that you can roll balls into will work!
Ping-pong cup-in
This is a game where you bounce a ping-pong ball off the table once and try to land it in plastic cups.
Place multiple plastic cups in a basket and aim to get the balls into them; the game ends when every cup has at least one ping-pong ball.
Because the ball can fly off in unexpected directions after bouncing, fine motor control is required.
You’ll also need split-second decisions about which cup to target.
Give this game a try—it’s also highly effective as brain training.
[For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreational Activities (21–30)
Smile-Up Exercises
This “Smile-Up Exercise” is a routine where everyone claps along to the leader’s handclaps.
You might wonder, “Can just clapping really make you smile?” But there’s actually a little trick to it.
Syncing handclaps sounds easy, but it’s surprisingly tricky.
Some people will inevitably clap at the wrong time.
That’s when you jump in with a quick quip.
The content of the quip can be anything—the key is the timing.
It’s an easy way to get even a small group energized, so I highly recommend it!
