[Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors
Word quizzes are a type of recreation that really livens up day services and senior facilities.
Brain training can seem difficult, but these are easy for anyone to enjoy.
In this article, we’ve gathered word-related quiz questions recommended for older adults.
We introduce many ideas, including quizzes you can do while watching videos and ones you can customize, so we hope you find them helpful.
Try adding word quizzes to your daily recreation and give brain training a go!
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- For seniors: Fun, crowd-pleasing word association game ideas
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- [For Seniors] A Brain-Training, Crowd-Pleasing Word Search Game
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[Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors (21–30)
Association Quiz ~Food Edition~
Let me introduce a game called “Association Quiz,” where you guess the food in question using three hints.
As the hints are revealed, the identity of the food gradually becomes clearer, but those with sharp intuition might reach the answer before the final hint.
You can write the questions on a whiteboard or read them aloud so anyone can join, and it works well for both small and large groups.
It’s also great fun to play while chatting with the person next to you—saying things like, “What could it be?”—so I highly recommend it.
Hole-blank Shiritori
It’s a game where you take three words arranged by the shiritori rule and turn the second word into a fill-in-the-blank, then think about what word could go there.
Since it’s shiritori, the first and last letters are fixed, so depending on the word length the difficulty can get quite high.
Of course, there isn’t always just one correct answer, so it can be fun for everyone to contribute different possibilities and make discoveries together.
Start with about three letters, and once you get used to it, increase the length—this is a recreation you can enjoy for a long time with the same rules.
Acrostic letters camera
See the answer
Security camera
You can see only half of a katakana character, right? First, what do you think it is? If you look closely, it actually says “camera.” There’s a stick-like shape in front of it, isn’t there? If you keep reading it becomes “stick half camera” → “bo-han camera” → “security camera.” It’s a pun, but it’s pretty funny!
A wordplay puzzle using the characters “mi” and “ri”
ひらがなを組み合わせよう！「み」と「り」を使った言葉遊びパズルだよ。
The character “み” is stacked vertically and is sandwiched by “り” on both sides.
The hints are that it’s a food and that there are two “mi” with “ri” on both sides.
The answer is “nikomi ryōri” (simmered dishes).
Thinking of two “mi” and “ri” on both sides, you might go “I see!” Simmered dishes like nikujaga, oden, and nimono warm both the heart and body.
Auspicious Words Kanji Quiz
Will your luck improve!? Here are some ideas for a kanji quiz featuring auspicious words.
When you hear “lucky” or “auspicious” words, what comes to mind? If you form an image first and then tackle the quiz, your accuracy might even go up.
For example, a question might show the phrase “家内安全” and ask you to consider how it is read and what it means.
There are 15 such questions.
There are also hints, so feel free to give the quiz a try!
Curly Word Search
A quiz where you place a single letter in the center of a circle and find hidden words by combining it with letters arranged around it can really liven up recreational activities.
Because the circular arrangement itself makes you think about combinations, it may help stimulate the brains of older adults.
Once people get used to it, you can adjust the difficulty—and keep it fun—by adding fake letters that don’t belong to the final word, and other tweaks.
It’s a quiz with a visually unique format that boosts the game-like feel—definitely one to try.
Word Search Quiz
Word-search style quizzes—where you find words that match a theme from a jumble of letters—are often seen on TV quiz shows.
Because you look for things like food names or country names hidden among what appears to be randomly arranged letters, they’re also perfect as brain training for older adults.
If you include not only vertical and horizontal reading but also diagonal and bent paths, the quiz can become even more complex and exciting.
Just be sure, as the creator, to check carefully that the answers are valid and consistent.