[For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
Winter’s cold makes it easy to feel reluctant to go outside, doesn’t it?
In snowy regions, some older adults may find going out difficult in the first place.
These “Seated Activities for Winter” are perfect for such seniors!
We’ve gathered exercises and games you can enjoy safely and comfortably in a warm indoor setting.
From activities that move the legs and hands while seated to those with brain-training elements, they help keep the body active and support dementia prevention.
We hope these ideas help you enjoyably get through the rest of this bitterly cold winter!
- [For Seniors] Fun Winter Activities: Recreation and Games
- [For Seniors] Introducing Whiteboard Activities to Enjoy in Winter!
- [For Seniors] Get Through the Chilly February! Recommended Health-Themed Recreations
- For Seniors: December Health Topics — Winter Recreational Activities to Warm the Body and the Heart
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Simple, Recommended Crafts
- For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
- [For seniors] January health topics: A roundup of popular recreational activities from exercises and crafts to New Year’s games
- Recommended Indoor Exercises for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
- [For Seniors] Winter Haiku: Introducing Beautiful Masterpieces by Famous Haiku Poets
[For seniors] Enjoy the cold winter! Seated activities (11–20)
Sheet Valley
Let’s play Seat Volleyball using sunshades sold at 100-yen stores.
It’s a game that many older adults can enjoy.
Connect two sunshades to make a volleyball court.
Have seated older adults hold the two connected sunshades.
Roll a beach volleyball on top of the sunshades.
Before starting, use tape or similar to mark territories on the sunshades.
When the time limit is up, the side where the ball is located loses.
With gameplay similar to real volleyball, older adults are likely to enjoy it.
Since it can be played while seated, many older participants should be able to join.
Free Throw Game
It’s a game where you throw balls toward baskets that have assigned point values and compete on the total score.
The higher the point value of a basket, the harder it is to land a ball in it, so controlling your throwing power is key to getting a high score.
Since the rules allow a ball to bounce before going in, unexpected points can happen, and awkward bounces that miss the basket can also add excitement.
Let’s encourage players to focus on controlling the force needed to reach the basket and on moving their bodies in ways that effectively transfer that force to the ball.
Gift-stuffing game
This is a game where players compete to see how many presents they can stuff into their own bag within a time limit, taking them from a table.
When pushing the presents in, they should use force while still being careful not to tear the bag—encouraging awareness of strength control.
To keep players from focusing only on the simple act of stuffing, it’s recommended to make the presents colorful so the visuals are enjoyable too.
If you randomize the sizes and shapes of the presents, you can also add an element of judgment in choosing which ones to put in the bag.
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.
Fill-in-the-blank with a spring theme
It’s a game where you draw circles on a whiteboard—some with blank spaces and some with letters—and have players think of words by filling in the blanks.
While making use of the letters already written, they come up with words of that length.
The broad range of choices helps stimulate the brain.
If you prepare the letters in advance with a spring theme, players can enjoy a sense of spring while still having plenty of options to form words, which is recommended.
The difficulty changes depending on the number of letters and where the blanks are placed, so try various patterns to have players think of different words.
[For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities (21–30)
Paper cup launcher
It’s a game where you swing a stick made of newspaper to launch a paper cup placed on the tip forward, and compete on how far it flies.
Your ability to control force is tested—how you swing determines how well the power transfers to the cup and how far it goes.
Just swinging with brute force won’t work, so pay attention to where you start the swing, when you stop it, and the angle.
Through the game, you’ll also get good movement in your upper body, especially around the shoulders, which is another key benefit.