[For Seniors] Lively Wordplay Game: Fun Recreation for Elderly Care
Among word games, the one that continues to be loved by people of all ages is shiritori.
In shiritori, you take the last letter of a word and use it to link to a new word, right? How about enjoying this long-popular game with a variety of fun twists? Lively word games like these also serve as brain training and are appealing because everyone can dive in together and have a great time.
This time, we’re introducing shiritori word games that older adults can truly enjoy.
They range from easy to a bit more challenging, so give them a try!
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Brain Training Kanji Quiz (21–30)
Kanji Search: Let’s find the character ‘田’
Let’s look for the kanji 田 among the many 由 characters lined up.
There are four 田 characters in total.
Checking each character one by one is good for training your concentration, but if you take a bird’s-eye view of the whole, it becomes easier to find characters that are hard to see.
Also, as the title suggests, this is an exercise for your eyes and brain, so it’s important to keep a flexible mindset.
It’s fine to do it on your own, but competing to see who can find them fastest with multiple people could make it more exciting.
It’s also recommended as a quick recreational activity in senior care facilities.
Difficult-to-read kanji of spring
This is a quiz that presents items commonly seen in spring—such as foods and animals—written in kanji, and asks you to think of their readings.
Even if you know the words, you might not often see them in kanji, and some may be more strongly associated with being written in katakana or hiragana.
The fact that they’re related to spring is a major hint, so you might find the answer by picturing springtime scenes.
It may help to consider the meanings of each kanji used and think of things associated with spring that fit those meanings.
Kanji Quiz
This is a kanji quiz where the components of characters are turned into riddles, and players guess which kanji it is.
For example: “What kind of stone is under a mountain?” If you write the character for “stone” under the character for “mountain,” you get “岩” (rock).
In this way, participants guess the kanji and then everyone says it out loud together as part of the quiz.
Odd one out quiz
There are kanji that look similar at a glance, like “刀” and “力,” right? This is an odd-one-out quiz where you line up a bunch of such kanji and slip in one that’s similar but different—your task is to find it.
Using kanji with more strokes or increasing the number of characters lined up makes the difficulty jump significantly.
Association Game Brain Training (1–10)
Vocal Brain Training: Word Gathering
How about a word-play activity using a whiteboard? For example, pick a theme like “onomatopoeia” and have everyone call out as many examples as they can.
Associating freely and speaking out loud also makes it good brain training.
Once they get used to it, write a pattern like “○na○” and have them come up with words that fit, such as “hanami” (flower viewing) or “wanage” (ring toss).
It’s surprisingly challenging and helps with concentration.
Another fun idea is a quiz where everyone simultaneously shouts a word that comes to mind from a prompt like “foods sold at festival stalls.” If the group lands on the same answer in unison, it’s a big success and really livens up the room!
