[For Seniors] January Activities and Recreation Games
January brings cold winds and a lingering chill in the air.
Here are some recommended recreational activities and games for older adults that are perfect for January.
We’ve gathered many options that can be enjoyed in a warm indoor setting!
As the weather gets colder, people tend to move less—so let’s get the body moving through games!
And of course, January means New Year’s.
New Year-themed activities and games might help older adults recall fond memories of the games they played in their childhood.
Enjoy a fun time with January-themed recreation while sparking lively conversations.
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
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- [For Seniors] Brain-training quizzes for January: Let’s have fun with New Year and winter trivia
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] January Craft Ideas: Boost Your Luck with New Year Decorations and Good-Luck Charms
- [For Seniors] Today’s Recommended Activity: Fun and Engaging
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- Recreation Activities to Liven Up January Events for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- Snacks and activity ideas for seniors to enjoy in January
- [For Seniors] January Trivia Quiz & Fun Facts. Brain training with quizzes about New Year and winter.
- [For Seniors] Fun Winter Activities: Recreation and Games
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
[For Seniors] January Activities and Recreation Games (31–40)
Let’s try visiting a New Year’s shrine indoors.
By creating a shrine inside the facility and having residents pay their first visit of the New Year there, older adults can enjoy the experience.
Let facility staff or the seniors themselves play the roles of shrine maiden and priest.
First, purify the hands, then make an offering and prayer, draw an omikuji fortune, and head home.
Making authentic-looking omikuji will enhance the sense of realism.
Having an extraordinary experience in the familiar facility can feel refreshing and be a lot of fun.
It might also be enjoyable to make goshuin stamp books or protective amulets.
Please give it a try.
ohajiki game
Long ago, a classic indoor game for girls was ohajiki, wasn’t it? The usual rule is to pick your own color of pieces and play by trying to hit each other’s.
If you make a board modeled after a soccer field, you could enjoy a new soccer-themed version of ohajiki.
Since you just flick the pieces with your fingers, it’s fine to play while seated in a wheelchair.
You don’t need a large space either, so it’s perfect as a bit of recreation at a small party.
On cold days in January, let’s all warm things up together!
Torn-paper collage ‘Mount Fuji’
Some of you may have your grandchildren visiting for the New Year holidays.
How about trying a torn-paper collage of Mount Fuji with your little grandchildren? For kids these days, who grow up surrounded by digital devices from an early age, torn-paper art will feel very fresh.
All you need are colored paper, glue, and drawing paper.
Start with an easy Mount Fuji: tear pieces of paper and stick them on freely so it looks like Fuji.
After that, it could be fun to try popular characters like Pokémon or Doraemon.
Spring Seven Herbs Quiz
Nanakusa-gayu, a rice porridge made with the seven herbs of spring, is loved as a dish that soothes the stomach after the indulgences of New Year’s.
Let’s think about what those seven herbs—iconic ingredients of January—actually are.
It’s common to memorize them in a tanka-like rhythm, so some people might be able to recite them in time with the chant.
Many of them also have alternate names—like “suzushiro,” which is another name for “daikon”—so let’s learn what each one refers to as well.
In addition, there are the seven flowers of autumn, considered a counterpart to the spring seven herbs.
It could be fun to learn about those too.
Daruma-otoshi
Daruma are considered lucky charms used for making wishes by drawing in the eyes, and they appear as characters in various games.
This daruma-otoshi also carries the meaning of getting back up no matter how many times you fall, making it one of the auspicious games suitable for the New Year.
While keeping the daruma on top in place, knock out all the discs underneath with clean strikes!
[For Seniors] January Activities & Recreation Games (41–50)
New Year’s Letter Rearrangement Quiz
We’d like to introduce the “New Year Word Unscramble Quiz,” which features words related to the New Year! Rearrange the given characters to form the specified word or sentence.
Because it requires memorizing the characters and putting them in the correct order, it’s used as a brain-training activity in day service centers and senior care facilities.
Simply incorporating New Year elements into the word scramble adds a seasonal touch.
You can adjust the difficulty by changing the number of characters.
Start with 3- or 4-character words and gradually increase the difficulty!
Zodiac Kanji Quiz
The New Year season is when we’re especially conscious of the zodiac, since it appears on things like New Year’s cards.
With the zodiac, people often focus on the order, how each one is read, and which animal it represents.
But how about paying attention to the kanji themselves? Even though they’re simple, single characters, some are ones you rarely see outside of zodiac notation—so it really tests how closely you’ve been paying attention to the zodiac.
And the fact that the questions aren’t asked in order alone seems like it would make for a tougher quiz.