![[For Seniors] Introducing Whiteboard Activities to Enjoy in Winter!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/BYKZ9G2hxLc/maxresdefault.webp)
In the cold winter season, older adults may be reluctant to go outside.
They’re likely to do indoor recreational activities instead.
In that case, you’ll want to incorporate activities that don’t require much preparation.
Here, we’ll introduce whiteboard recreation ideas themed around winter.
By adding winter elements to the whiteboard activities you usually do, you can enjoy the season while participating.
Of course, they’re also effective for dementia prevention.
Please use these ideas as a reference!
- [For Seniors] Play Long and Have Fun! A Whiteboard Activity with Brain-Training Elements
- [For Seniors] Brain-Training Recreation Using a Whiteboard
- [For Seniors] Test Your Memory!? Ideas for Whiteboard Games
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [For Seniors] Winter Haiku: Introducing Beautiful Masterpieces by Famous Haiku Poets
- [For Seniors] Get Through the Chilly February! Recommended Health-Themed Recreations
- Recreation Activities Effective for Long-Term Care Prevention for Seniors
- For Seniors: Fun and Engaging December Event and Recreation Ideas
- [For Seniors] Ideas for Winter Wall Decorations and Hanging Ornaments: Introducing Projects That Are Easy to Try
- [For Seniors] Fun Winter Activities: Recreation and Games
- [November Health Topic] Indoor Recreation Ideas for Older Adults
- [For seniors] January health topics: A roundup of popular recreational activities from exercises and crafts to New Year’s games
- [For Seniors] Introducing Whiteboard Activities That Liven Up Spring!
[For Seniors] Introducing Whiteboard Activities to Enjoy in Winter (1–10)
Picture shiritori about winter
This is a shiritori word game inspired by pictures and illustrations.
Draw pictures on a whiteboard so they connect in a shiritori sequence.
Together with older adults, link words step by step based on what each picture suggests.
To keep things smooth, you can draw all the pictures on the whiteboard before starting the game.
It’s a great option even for staff who feel they’re not good at drawing.
For older adults, the key point of recreation is to have fun.
With a shiritori using “unique, charming drawings,” laughter naturally follows and participants may enjoy it even more.
By all means, try playing shiritori inspired by pictures while having fun together.
New Year’s Trivia Quiz
Traditional Japanese events and customs like New Year’s and Setsubun have been around for generations.
How about enjoying a quiz that incorporates these familiar practices, which many older adults have known since childhood? Because the themes are familiar to seniors, it’s easy to participate.
Trivia that prompts recalling memories can be expected to have brain-training benefits.
Writing the questions on a whiteboard also makes it easier to remember.
When familiar topics come up and participants answer correctly, they can feel a sense of accomplishment.
It also offers the joy of learning new facts and can trigger memories of past New Year’s celebrations.
Please give it a try.
Winter-themed word association game
Winter is full of major events like Christmas, New Year’s, and Setsubun.
Here’s a whiteboard-based recreation activity we recommend for busy staff as well.
Ask older adults to suggest words that evoke January and February.
From the many words they come up with, choose the next prompt.
Start with a broad theme like “images of January and February.” Then, from the words they’ve offered, pick something likely to spark more answers and make that the next prompt.
If the answers have regional characteristics, the discussion will expand even more.
It also works as an easy brain-training activity, so give it a try with older adults.
It’s not about winter, Nakatōri.
Some older adults may feel that shiritori has become routine.
In that case, the game I recommend is “Naka-tori.” In regular shiritori, players think of a word that begins with the last character of the previous word.
In Naka-tori, you connect using the middle character of the previous word.
While regular shiritori ends your turn if a word ends with “ん” (n), in Naka-tori you must avoid having “ん” appear in the middle of the word.
Moreover, because you use words with an odd number of characters—like three or five—Naka-tori is a bit more difficult than shiritori.
It may sound hard, but research suggests that tasks you find “just a little difficult” are actually more effective for stimulating the brain.
Christmas Trivia Quiz
Let’s present trivia about Christmas—an essential winter event—in the form of a quiz and have learners think about the answers.
By writing the questions on a whiteboard and showing them, the questions become easier to read and it also helps train concentration.
Since Christmas didn’t originate in Japan, there are likely many aspects people don’t know, so this content will deepen understanding of the event.
Because complex answers can cause overthinking, it’s best to use simple questions that can be answered with single words, and then offer detailed explanations of the answers to help learners gain deeper knowledge.
A New Year-themed word fill-in-the-blank game
Let’s think of words related to New Year’s and fill in the blanks.
If you write the questions on a whiteboard, older adults can work on them smoothly.
Fill-in-the-blank exercises are expected to be effective brain training for improving memory.
Starting from the given theme word, participants think of words that might fit based on their own memories.
By using memory, they can train the ability to imagine the correct answer.
You can also switch the theme to winter-related events like Christmas or Setsubun to enjoy variety.
As participants get used to it, try increasing the difficulty by adding more letters or more blanks.
Collecting words with Setsubun chants
When you think of February, Setsubun comes to mind, right? Many elderly care facilities probably hold Setsubun events.
The activity we’re introducing this time—“Collecting Words with the Setsubun Chant”—is a perfect recreation for a Setsubun event.
Divide the seniors into two teams: “Oni wa soto” (Demons out) and “Fuku wa uchi” (Fortune in).
Each team competes by coming up with kanji that include the components for “oni” and “soto,” or “fuku” and “uchi.” Thinking of matching kanji stimulates the brain and may help prevent dementia.
Be sure to try it in your February recreation program.