Recreation Activities to Liven Up January Events for Seniors
January is full of traditional, time-honored events.
It’s wonderful that the spirit of treasuring the start of a new year has been passed down for so long.
In this article, we introduce recreational activities to liven up January events for older adults! Many care facilities, such as day service centers, likely have annual events they hold every year.
If you’re thinking, “I’d like to add a new game this year,” you’ll find plenty of recreation ideas here to use as a reference.
Some are easy to try, so you can enjoy them at home as well.
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[For Seniors] Recreational Activities to Liven Up January Events (1–10)
Seven-Herbs Quiz
Let us introduce the Spring Seven Herbs Quiz, a quiz that asks about the names and characteristics of the seven herbs.
It helps you learn about the seven herbs, a part of traditional Japanese culture, and is enjoyed by people of all ages.
However, the Seven Herbs Quiz contains many things that are surprisingly little-known and can be quite challenging.
It’s great not only for daily brain training and recreational activities for seniors, but also as a source of fun trivia.
It’s a recreational activity that people across generations can enjoy while participating.
Please make good use of it as a topic or activity in care facilities such as day service centers.
Making amazake
Amazake is one of those drinks that makes you feel the New Year, often served during the first shrine visit of the year (Hatsumode).
This piece introduces making amazake—fitting for such an auspicious image—and enjoying the season through its flavor.
Simply mix rice koji with hot water and keep it warm for a while; that alone creates the amazake base.
After that, dissolve it in hot water and enjoy amazake however you like.
Since koji mold cannot tolerate temperatures above 60°C (140°F), it’s important to set the water and warming temperatures accordingly.
Menko Tournament
Menko is a game where you slam the card in your hand forcefully toward the cards laid out in the play area, aiming to flip them over—some of you might have played it long ago.
This version challenges you to play using a table and oversized cards, making it a game that encourages awareness of power and control.
Use vinyl tape to mark a zone on the table, lay out the cards there, then slam your card from hand; you aim to win cards by flipping them over or knocking them out of the zone.
If the cards don’t move because you’re not using enough force, try modifying the setup with lighter, easier-to-move materials.
[For Seniors] Recreational Activities to Liven Up January Events (11–20)
Paper cup kendama
Kendama is a traditional Japanese toy, and many people associate it with New Year’s celebrations.
Here’s a way to recreate a kendama-like, ball-manipulating toy using paper cups, encouraging kids to focus on controlling force.
It’s a simple setup: attach five paper cups and a stringed ball to a cardboard base, and have the child hold the cardboard to maneuver the ball.
Using both hands, they lift the whole board with a quick motion, aiming to move the ball sequentially into the paper cups along the side.
If the paper cups make it too difficult, a recommended variation is to use paper plates instead.
party trick
Let’s try putting on an escape-game-style performance using cardboard, with staff presenting it for the seniors.
A person gets inside a box, and people insert swords into the box from the outside; when all the swords are finally pulled out, the person inside comes back to life.
It really livens things up if you let the seniors participate by inserting the swords.
You can get even more laughs by having the person inside react with exaggerated “pain” each time they get poked, or by adding other creative touches.
Staff can also make it more fun by wearing costumes or adopting characters that are different from their usual look.
And if someone figures out the trick, turn it into a funny moment by ad-libbing!
karuta card game (karuta-tori)
How about a gentler style of karuta than the Hyakunin Isshu? Even if you don’t have the poems memorized, it’s a game you can enjoy on the spot, so it’s suitable for anyone and fun for everyone together.
It’s exciting to wait, heart pounding, for the card you’re aiming for to be read out.
Besides using various store-bought karuta sets, it might also be fun to make your own.
omikuji (a Japanese fortune slip typically drawn at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples)
Speaking of New Year’s shrine visits, drawing an omikuji to predict your fortune for the year is a classic tradition.
How about making your own omikuji so you can try your luck more casually? If you go with the familiar style—pulling a numbered wooden stick from an octagonal tube—it might heighten the sense of anticipation.
Real omikuji can sometimes bring bad results, but with a homemade version you can make them all positive, making it easy to arrange things so everyone present can enjoy it.