[For Seniors] Liven Up November Day Services! Fun Autumn Event Ideas
November is the time when autumn turns to winter, and it’s also a season full of beautiful autumn foliage and abundant harvests.
To help older adults enjoy November even more, here are some event ideas packed with seasonal charm.
We’ve gathered many ideas inspired by commemorative days like Culture Day and Shogi Day, as well as activities to savor autumn flavors such as sweet potatoes and persimmons.
Many of these can be used not only for events but also incorporated into everyday recreational activities.
Please make good use of them.
We hope this collection of event ideas helps you spend a joyful time!
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- [For Seniors] Fall Wall Decoration Ideas
[For Seniors] Liven Up Your November Day Service! Fun Fall Event Ideas (11–20)
Singing Brain-Training Exercise
This is an exercise routine that aims for fun and health by moving your body to songs, with autumn-themed music to help you feel the season.
We’ll start with warm-ups to loosen the whole body so it can move well later.
Moving your body while singing contributes to overall health, so easy-to-sing children’s songs are recommended; we’ll immerse ourselves in the world of the lyrics through movements that match them.
Rather than only following the suggested motions, it could also be interesting for each person to think about what kinds of movements they can come up with.
Buddy Counting Game
For seniors, it’s a “count-the-group game” that also works as brain training.
The rules are simple: draw lots of two kinds of foods on the same page, then quickly answer the question, “How many ○○ are there?” For example, draw mushrooms and Pacific saury—then ask, “How many mushrooms are there?” It’s easy when the numbers are small, but as they increase you’ll catch yourself thinking, “Did I count that one?” and starting over—so it gets tricky.
There are many video problem sets uploaded for this game, so you can project them on a screen and start playing right away without making your own!
Autumn Association Game
Association games train memory and thinking because you instantly imagine many things from a prompt given by the host.
Themes are endless—seasonal or natural prompts like “What comes to mind with autumn?” or “What comes to mind with the color red?”, as well as everyday topics.
It’s great that you don’t need any special materials and can play anytime, anywhere.
Set rules like “30-second time limit,” turn it into a fastest-finger group competition, and enjoy different ways to play.
It’s also fun to write the associated words on a whiteboard and look at them together.
Dog therapy
November 1 is Dog Day, isn’t it? Interacting with cute dogs brings joy and comfort, and it can help refresh both body and mind.
In honor of Dog Day, I also recommend holding a dog therapy event at your facility.
It’s said that hands-on experiences with dogs stimulate the brain and can help improve cognitive function.
You can also enjoy a warm, heartening time with dog trivia quizzes or watching dog videos.
Since some people have dog allergies or are uncomfortable around dogs, it’s important to be considerate of individual needs.
Fallen leaf art
Creating cutout paintings using various fallen leaves picked up on outings to parks is a great, seasonally enjoyable activity for older adults.
Sketch the shape you want on construction paper, cut it out, then glue fallen leaves onto another sheet of construction paper and adhere the two sheets together.
Once finished, place it in a frame and add a title to complete the piece.
It also sounds fun to display everyone’s works together and enjoy them as a group.
Making collages with fallen leaves is also recommended.
All-You-Can-Pack Sushi Game
We’d like to introduce a recreation activity themed around sushi, which seniors also love: the “All-You-Can-Pack Sushi Game”! Since November 1 is Sushi Day, it’s perfect for a November activity.
Prepare plenty of sushi models and place them in the center of a table.
Players sit facing each other one-on-one and use chopsticks to transfer as many pieces of sushi as possible onto their own paper plates.
Don’t forget to wrap the tips of the chopsticks with vinyl tape to make them less slippery! It also serves as fine-motor training for seniors, so feel free to use this as a reference for activities at home or in senior care facilities.
[For Seniors] Get the Day Service Buzzing in November! Fun Autumn Event Ideas (21–30)
Onigiri lottery game
Here’s an introduction to an event inspired by the Niiname-sai festival on November 23.
During Niiname-sai, it is customary to eat the year’s new rice, so let’s enjoy an onigiri lottery game themed around fresh rice! You can even have older participants start by making paper onigiri.
Also, decide on several onigiri fillings in advance and assign points to each.
The rules are simple: participants draw an onigiri lottery slip, and the person whose slip shows a filling with the highest point value wins.
Having participants calculate the points themselves can turn it into a fun brain-training activity that livens up the event.