[For Seniors] Guaranteed to Liven Things Up! A Collection of Brain Training Activities That Will Spark Laughter

short anecdote

Brain training, riddles, short humorous stories, various signboards—these are short anecdotes you can think about, laugh at, and enjoy.

If you’re confident in your speaking skills, why not try this “short comic story” segment? It’s about delivering clever, witty banter like in the video, so you won’t need any props.

Instead, it does demand strong speaking ability and high-quality material—but don’t worry.

If you search online, you’ll find plenty of short stories like the ones we featured.

We also recommend using a quiz-like format, as shown in the video.

Feel free to use this as a reference.

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Ryo

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Color Game

[Senior Recreation] Easy Activities Using a Whiteboard [Day Service Recreation, Brain Training, Preventive Care]

How about a color game as a whiteboard activity? For this game, prepare papers with color words written on them.

The key is to make the kanji different from the actual color of the text.

Instead of reading the words on the papers attached to the whiteboard, ask the participating seniors to say the color of the letters.

It may seem easy, but it actually trips people up and often leads to lots of laughs.

Because you see with your eyes and think with your head, it’s effective for reflexes and brain training.

Start by letting them answer slowly and thoughtfully, then gradually pick up the pace.

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moko

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Shiritori using 2 letters

The two-letter shiritori game got super heated lol

Speaking of shiritori, it’s the classic word game where you take the last character of a word and connect it to a new word.

Let’s make it a bit trickier by using the last two characters to link to the next word.

Even though you’re using more letters, that part isn’t too hard—the real challenge is making sure the second-to-last character isn’t “n,” which would end the chain.

Once you get used to the rules, you can spice it up further—like limiting it to four-letter words—to make it even more exciting.

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kappamaki

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Single-Overlaid Kanji Association Quiz

Single-Character Overlaid Kanji Association Quiz! Who will claim the glory...? [No way!]

Let me introduce the “Overlapping Kanji Single-Character Association Quiz,” which features a two-step challenge: writing multiple kanji stacked in one spot, then guessing what the combined kanji makes you think of.

First, you have to decipher the kanji gathered in one place—but it won’t be straightforward.

Don’t rush; tackle them one by one.

Once you figure out the overlapping kanji, derive an answer such as something associated with that character—an object, a person’s name, or a place name.

Since it’s quite difficult, it’s a good idea to start with problems that overlap just two kanji.

Be sure to savor the sense of accomplishment when you get it right!

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kojifumi

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Chinese cuisine card

@firstkidstv

We played a fast-paced Chinese-food-making card game as a family and it was a blast 🤣👍Supersonic RestaurantFamily game

♪ Original Song – First Kids TV – First Kids TV

Feel the irresistible rush! How about enjoying a card game that uses the names of Chinese dishes? Players hold cards with parts of dish names like “tan,” “men,” and “chā.” They take turns quickly stacking their cards onto the plate in the center so that the combined cards form proper dish names.

The player who runs out of cards first wins.

Because you have to instantly recognize dish names and play your cards, it really tests your reflexes and sense for word sounds! It’s a humor-filled game that’s sure to spark laughter with slip-ups and the creation of weird new “dishes.” Give it a try and make your own version at home!

Let’s play the Same Answer game

Recreation for Seniors – Guaranteed to Get Everyone Excited! The “Write the Same Answer on the Whiteboard” Game

A popular game also enjoyed on the variety show “Hanadai-san to Chidori-kun.” It’s really easy to play and works with both small and large groups, so it’s sure to come in handy in all kinds of situations.

The rules are simple: first decide on a prompt—for example, “red foods.” Everyone imagines something and writes their answer, and if everyone matches, that’s a success.

If most people write “apple” but one person writes “tomato,” that alone somehow gets everyone excited.

It’s a fun, brain-training recreation that livens up gatherings like parties with lots of people.

Brain training with gojūon (Japanese syllabary) cards

[Fun Recreation] Brain Training with Japanese Syllabary Cards! Directly from Kenichi Yamaguchi!

As we age, it seems we may sometimes forget words.

So let’s use a set of kana cards to stimulate the brain.

First, arrange the cards in order starting from the A-row together with the older adult.

The act of arranging itself is said to help activate the brain.

Use the cards to form words—the more letters a word has, the higher the points.

Additionally, once a card has been used to make a word, it cannot be used again.

Treat voiced and semi-voiced marks (dakuten and handakuten) as a single card and make them count for points as well.

If someone can’t think of a word, it’s helpful for those around to offer hints like, “Let’s think of a word that starts with A.”

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Nakajima Junko

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