[For Seniors] Guaranteed to Liven Things Up! A Collection of Brain Training Activities That Will Spark Laughter
The time filled with laughter is a meaningful time that refreshes both mind and body, isn’t it? This time, we’re introducing word games and quizzes that you can enjoy together with seniors.
Try a game where you combine the names of Chinese dishes, a paired game where partners write the same answer, and a fill-in-the-blank quiz using Silver Senryu poems.
How about spending a fun time together that naturally brings smiles? Recreational activities like word games and quizzes stimulate the brain and can help prevent dementia.
They not only enrich the heart but also spark natural conversation, letting everyone enjoy a wonderful time together.
- [For Seniors] Lively Wordplay Game: Fun Recreation for Elderly Care
- [Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Laugh-Out-Loud, Crowd-Pleasing! Fun Quiz
- For seniors: Fun, crowd-pleasing word association game ideas
- [For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Brain-Training Recreation
- [For Seniors] Fun and Lively! Recommended Quiz Questions
- [For Seniors] Fun Riddles That Stimulate the Brain
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- For seniors: Fun shiritori—enjoyable and easy to play
- Conversations Made Easy! A Collection of Topics That Elderly People Enjoy
- Recommended fun performances that will appeal to elderly people
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
- [For Seniors] Guaranteed to Be a Hit! Popular Day Service Recreational Activities
Tongue Twisters and Oral Exercises (1–10)
Ha Hi Fu He Ho Laughing Exercise
When opportunities for exercise decrease, muscles gradually weaken.
A decline in the inner (deep) muscles is especially risky, as even small everyday strains can lead to injury.
If you live with older adults or work in caregiving, you may be wondering how to help strengthen their inner muscles.
For those people, we recommend the “Ha-Hi-Fu-He-Ho Laughter Exercise.” It’s a recreational activity that uses laughter to train the inner muscles.
In addition to physical movement, it includes intentionally laughing, which can also help activate NK cells, the body’s anti-cancer cells.
Tongue Twister Game
Tongue twisters are a classic game not only in Japan but around the world.
Many people have enjoyed them not just as children but even after becoming adults.
They’re also perfect as a recreational activity for seniors—helpful for oral function rehabilitation—and even mistakes lead to shared laughter and a cheerful atmosphere.
Turning it into a “tongue twister game,” like in the video, adds a stronger entertainment element and makes it easier to draw interest.
Please feel free to use this as a reference.
Pata-Kara exercises: tongue twisters
Here’s a method that adds the sounds “pa-ta-ka-ra” to tongue twisters so you can practice while having fun.
Start slowly, and as you get used to it, speed up—this way, people of various abilities can enjoy participating.
This exercise can help with digestion of food, prevent aspiration pneumonia, promote sterilization and disinfection through saliva secretion, and help prevent infections.
In addition, since a decline in oral function is said to increase the risk of developing dementia, it is also effective for dementia prevention.
In settings such as senior care facilities, explaining these benefits before the exercise can encourage more motivated participation.
Patakara exercise: Theme from Shoten
For older generations, the TV show “Shōten” is a familiar favorite.
Here’s an idea for enjoying Patakara exercises using the Shōten theme song.
It’s very simple! Just make the four sounds “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” in time with the music.
That’s all it takes, yet it can help maintain and improve your ability to eat and swallow, and the act of inhaling and exhaling can also benefit the respiratory system.
If you can, try opening and closing your hands repeatedly at the same time.
Doing multiple activities simultaneously creates a “dual-task,” which may help prevent cognitive decline.
It’s fun, easy to do, and highly recommended.
Patakara Zoo
Introducing the idea for the Patakara Exercise: the Patakara Zoo, where you sing animal names that include the syllables “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” to a simple melody.
As you sing names like panda, tanuki (raccoon dog), crow, and lion, you imitate their sounds and characteristics, making it easy to smile and have fun.
It can be done seated in a chair, right where you are, so it doesn’t require a special space.
It’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior facilities.
Please give it a try!
Upward Patakara Exercise
When your swallowing ability declines, you’re more likely to choke, and food or saliva can more easily enter the airway by mistake.
If this leads to pneumonia, it can have a major impact on your health.
To help prevent such aspiration, we’d like to introduce the “Upward Patakara Exercise,” which strengthens your swallowing ability.
It’s very simple: just pronounce “pa-ta-ka-ra” while looking up.
Doing only this can strengthen the muscles around the mouth and help maintain and improve your swallowing function.
Doing it before meals helps prepare your mouth, and continuing daily can make it even more effective.
Gymnastics with reversed words
Some older adults may have fewer opportunities to interact with others and thus have fewer chances to talk.
Speaking uses the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and cheeks.
When these muscles weaken, it can affect articulation and make swallowing during meals more difficult.
For this reason, why not try simple oral exercises such as palindromes or tongue twisters? A palindrome is a sentence that reads the same both forward and backward.
Well-crafted sentences like these may be entertaining for older adults.
Tongue twisters are made up of words that are hard to pronounce—give them a try.
Practice difficult words repeatedly to train your muscles.
