For Seniors: Festive Attractions to Liven Up Festivals—Games and Recreational Activities
We’re introducing games and recreational activities recommended for festivals at senior care facilities.
There are plenty of attractions that can be enjoyed while seated so that older adults can participate comfortably.
Activities like “goldfish scooping,” “target shooting,” and “lucky string pull” may bring back memories of festivals enjoyed in childhood.
Festivals are exciting events for both adults and children.
They can also spark communication with people you don’t usually interact with.
Use this article as a guide to plan a festival that allows seniors to have fun safely.
- [For Seniors] Fun Activities That Liven Up Cool Evening Festivals and Summer Festivals
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Classic Autumn Songs to Sing in November: From Children’s Songs to Popular Enka and Kayōkyoku
- [Let's Enjoy Japanese Festival Songs!] Songs about festivals. Famous songs related to festivals.
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Recreational Activities Enjoyable in Large Groups
- Entertainment and Performances That Delight at Day Services for the Elderly
- [For Seniors] Recommended Dances You Can Move To and Enjoy
- [For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Lively Whiteboard Activities
- [For Seniors] Introducing recommended songs to give on Respect for the Aged Day
- [For Seniors] Crowd-Pleasers! Recommended Songs Everyone Can Enjoy Together in October
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- Recommended Songs for Nursing Home Recreation [Fun Exercise, Soothing Songs]
[For seniors] Performances that enliven festivals: Games and recreational activities (31–40)
fishing
When it comes to recreations that bring a festive atmosphere indoors, fishing is a great option.
Create a “pond” out of cardboard and scatter illustrations of various fish inside.
If there are seniors who are good at drawing, it’s a nice idea to have residents at the care facility or day service create the illustrations.
Make simple fishing gear with chopsticks and attach tape to the end of a string, and you can start enjoying fishing right away.
You can liven things up by competing in teams to see who catches the most fish, or by teaching each other the names of the fish.
It’s also recommended because it’s a game that can be enjoyed while seated, making it easy and safe for older adults to try.
Festival Quiz
With helpful hints, it’s easy to join in! Here are some ideas for a festival quiz.
In Japan, there are famous festivals held in the summer.
This time, let’s try a festival quiz where you use hints to figure out the answer.
For example, there’s a question that shows three hints: “streamers,” “kusudama,” and “Miyagi Prefecture.” Some of you might know the correct answer right away from those clues.
There are a total of eight festival quiz questions, so be sure to give them a try!
Giant Menko
Shall we try a giant Menko recreation game? Prepare several large Menko cards with different colors on the front and back, and set up a platform with point values written in the middle.
Throw the Menko onto the platform and compete for the highest total score.
You can not only knock your opponent’s Menko off, but also hit them to flip them over and change them to your color—that’s OK too.
Be careful not to let your own Menko get knocked off!
Uchiwa Balloon Relay
This is a relay-style game where players move while keeping a balloon bouncing with a handheld fan (uchiwa), go to a target point, and come back.
Competing in teams helps build strong focus on the balloon and good movement speed.
If you skillfully incorporate a forward flick with the fan, you can gain speed, but quick forward movement is also required, so good judgment is key.
If keeping the balloon bouncing while moving is too hard, another recommended rule is to keep the balloon resting on the fan as you go.
By alternating your gaze between the balloon in your hand and the direction of travel, you can also sharpen your visual focus.
Grilled Eel Game
In July, there’s the Day of the Ox in the Doyo period, right? In fact, there are several days called Doyo no Ushi no Hi throughout the year, but it became popular in summer as the time to eat eel to prevent summer fatigue.
How about trying a perfect activity for that day: the Grilled Eel Game? You make long, wriggly eels by rolling up newspaper, then place them on a platform that represents a grilling rack and compete for speed.
Simply placing them would be too easy, so try picking them up with chopsticks and setting them on the rack.
It’s good fine motor practice, too.