[For Seniors] Brain-Training Recreation Using a Whiteboard
In many day-service facilities, it’s common to include recreational activities designed with brain training in mind.
No matter the senior, it’s easy to get absorbed in these activities.
In this article, we’ll introduce brain-training recreations that use a whiteboard.
Whiteboard-based activities are appealing because they’re easy to understand and enjoyable regardless of group size.
They’re especially lively with larger groups and can help deepen interactions among participants.
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- [For Seniors] Play Long and Have Fun! A Whiteboard Activity with Brain-Training Elements
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- Recommended for brain training: a proverb quiz using a whiteboard
- [Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Brain Training with a Whiteboard! Fill-in-the-Blank Exercises & Quizzes
- [For Seniors] Brain Training! Recall Quiz Collection!
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Lively Wordplay Game: Fun Recreation for Elderly Care
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Enjoyment at Day Care: A Roundup of Games and Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Fun Even Without Sight! Recreation Ideas
[For Seniors] Brain-Training Recreational Activities Using a Whiteboard (1–10)
Naka-tori
You might not get it right away after hearing it once, but “Naka-tori” is a game where you connect words by their middle letter.
In “Shiritori,” you connect words by their last letter, right? You play it in a similar way, but it might be more difficult than Shiritori! Since you connect the middle letters, it’s okay if a word ends with “n,” but the word must have three letters.
For example, “sewing machine” (mishin) is okay, but “apple” (ringo) is not! It may take some time to get used to at first, but I think it’s easier to understand if you write the words on a whiteboard as you play.
A game that feels a little different from the usual can be stimulating for older adults, so please give it a try!
Hiragana Rearrangement Quiz
Word-based brain training makes you think a bit, but it’s exciting and fun when you figure out the answer.
So, how about a word letter-scramble quiz? In this game, the letters of a word are rearranged.
Rearrange the letters to form the correct word.
For example, “kansenshin” becomes “新幹線” (Shinkansen), and “Isushiyaraha” becomes “ハヤシライス” (hayashi rice).
If the answer doesn’t come easily, giving hints like “food” or “transportation” will liven things up.
It’s also great that you can adjust the difficulty to suit the situation.
Prefecture Brain Training
These are two types of brain-training activities: one using word lengths and another themed around prefectures.
For the word-length activity, first write the numbers 1 through 10 on a whiteboard.
Then, have participants come up with words that match each length, such as 3-letter words or 7-letter words.
It’s nice because those who find it difficult can try shorter words, while those who are confident can challenge themselves with longer words.
For the prefecture activity, ask participants to name cities, wards, towns, or villages located in the prefectures written on the whiteboard.
It gets lively if you use place names that are familiar to the participants, such as their hometowns!
[For Seniors] Brain-Training Recreational Activities Using a Whiteboard (11–20)
Spot the difference
The “spot the wrong kanji” quiz that you can easily do on a whiteboard is a great brain exercise that uses not only memory and concentration but also vision.
First, pick one kanji and write the same character nine times on the whiteboard.
Among them, include one character that you’ve deliberately written incorrectly.
Whoever figures out which one is wrong answers first.
Just erasing or adding a single stroke or dot makes it surprisingly hard to find—and really fun!
Song guessing quiz
This is a name-that-song quiz that incorporates “songs” beloved by seniors.
The key is to use a whiteboard and reveal hints little by little.
For example, Hint 1 could be “wind,” Hint 2 could be “gong sound,” and so on—gradually presenting parts of the lyrics or related words, and later giving words that directly lead to the title.
It’s nice to have everyone say the answer all at once at the end.
After the answer is revealed, hand out the lyric sheets for that song and have everyone sing together—it should make it even more enjoyable.
Word fill-in-the-blank game
Whiteboards are perfect for group recreation, aren’t they? Here’s a brain-training word game that uses character counts.
Draw many circles and randomly write characters like 'a i u e o' inside them.
Then, based on the number of circles lined up and the characters placed along the way, make words.
For example, with two characters you might have “a○,” or with three characters “○○e.” The key point is that there isn’t just one correct answer—everyone can call out possibilities together.
Working toward an answer as a group, and realizing “Oh, that one works too” when an answer comes up, also helps stimulate the brain.
A game to create kanji
There are many brain-training activities you can easily do on a whiteboard, and this one is a game where you add two strokes to the character 「口」 to make kanji.
Apparently there are as many as 27, including characters like '田', '右', and '古', but when you’re put on the spot it’s hard to think of them, isn’t it? Still, it’s fun to share ideas together and rediscover—“Oh right, there’s that kanji too.” You could also make it a game where the person who comes up with the most within a set time wins, which would likely make it even more exciting.