For Seniors: Festive Attractions to Liven Up Festivals—Games and Recreational Activities

Grab-and-win game

Grab-and-Pick Game: Perfect for indoor activities in childcare! (For ages 3–5)

A grab-and-go game gives you that great bargain feeling and gets your heart racing, doesn’t it? Let’s enjoy that excitement at a festival as a game! Put your hand into a box filled with small treats and compete to see how many you can take in one go.

You can’t try again, and anything that falls before it’s bagged or brought to the designated spot doesn’t count.

Prizes can be anything, so prepare items that are easy to grab.

If using your hands is difficult, it’s fine to scoop with a ladle or similar utensil instead!

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

sasashina

Report a problem

Takoyaki Game

[Senior Activities] Takoyaki Game ❣️

When you think of food stalls at summer festivals in Japan, many people probably picture takoyaki.

But actually making takoyaki can be a bit challenging—the griddle gets hot and dangerous, and you can’t always use an open flame.

So how about getting into the takoyaki mood with a game instead? Use an empty egg carton as a stand-in for the takoyaki griddle and place plastic bottle caps in the compartments.

Put the caps in upside down, and at the starting signal, use chopsticks to flip the caps right-side up one by one.

You could also time it and see who’s the fastest.

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

utatane

Report a problem

Target shooting game

Play at home: a target-shooting game made with balloons and paper cups

Some seniors may have played shooting gallery or target games at festivals, don’t you think? This time, we’ll introduce a simple “target game” you can make with paper cups.

Cut out the bottom of a paper cup, tie off a balloon, cut off its tip, and stretch it over the cup.

With that, you’ve created an easy tool to launch small balls at targets.

Line up paper cups to create the targets.

Drawing illustrations on the target cups or decorating them with stickers will enhance the atmosphere.

It’s also great to have seniors participate from the crafting stage.

You can expect benefits for finger dexterity and brain training.

It’s a game that may help them recall fond memories of playing target games.

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

Nakajima Junko

Report a problem

Parachute Game

Parachute game 🪂 #recreation #olderadults #dayservice #preventivecare #games #elderlycare

A parachute gently descending through the sky.

Here’s a game that lets you play by dropping a plastic bag like a parachute.

Clip a few clothespins onto the open end of a plastic bag.

The clothespins act as weights to make the lightweight bag easier to throw.

Using a ring toss target as the landing spot works well.

Since neither the plastic bag nor the clothespins feel heavy, it seems safe for older adults too.

Also, throwing provides arm training, and aiming at a target helps improve concentration.

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

Nakajima Junko

Report a problem

Newspaper Dart

Today's activity: Newspaper Darts

Let me introduce a fun darts game you can play using newspaper.

Prepare several newspapers rolled into long, thin tubes.

Make a target with several holes, and try throwing the newspaper tubes into the holes.

The target can be made of cardboard, and you can make holes in various shapes and sizes—circles, triangles, and more—to make it even more enjoyable.

You can also assign points to the target.

In regular darts, you throw at the point zones on the target on the wall.

In this newspaper darts game, you score points when a rolled newspaper lands in one of the target’s holes.

Since newspaper is light, it should be easy for older adults to handle.

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

Nakajima Junko

Report a problem