[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!
- For Seniors: Simple and Fun! November Recreation Ideas
- For Seniors: Easy and Delicious! November Snack Activity
- [November Health Topic] Indoor Recreation Ideas for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Recommended Trivia Quizzes & Fun Facts for November
- [For Seniors] Day-service activities also recommended! Craft ideas for November
- Recommended November craft ideas for day service centers
- [For Seniors] Simple crafts that feel like autumn: a fun creative activity
- [For Senior Facilities] Lively and Fun! November Quiz
- [For Senior Care Facilities] Fun! Recommended Events for October
- Useful in care facilities! Ideas for autumn wall decorations
- [For Seniors] Highlights of Fun Events at Day-Service Centers
- [For Seniors] Easy and Delicious! Snack Activity Roundup
- [For Seniors] Fall Wall Decoration Ideas
[For Seniors] Get the Day Service Buzzing in November! Fun Autumn Event Ideas (21–30)
calligraphy
If you’re wondering what to do for a November event, how about calligraphy in connection with November 2nd, “Road Day” and “Calligraphy Day”? Calligraphy is a wonderful tool for expressing emotions through beautiful characters.
Choosing autumn-themed words and giving seniors time to write on their own can be a fresh and enjoyable experience.
Calligraphy also has a meditative aspect, which can help improve concentration and promote peace of mind.
If you’re concerned about ink stains, there are types that are easier to wash off, so that might be a good option.
Chestnut Picking Game
How about enjoying a chestnut-picking game that evokes the feeling of autumn together with older adults? Prepare plastic bottle caps with drawings of acorns and chestnuts, along with small tongs you can buy at a 100-yen shop, and see how many chestnuts each person can pick up within a time limit.
You can make the game even more exciting by adding small challenges, such as some caps being flipped over or mixing in acorn caps.
Competing by table or with the person next to you will let everyone share in a simple, pure kind of fun that’s hard to experience in everyday life.
[For Seniors] Liven Up November Day Services! Fun Autumn Event Ideas (31–40)
to draw and send a picture postcard
November 23 is “Good Letter Day,” isn’t it? Letters are often used as a means of communication, and for older adults they can also help deepen emotional connections and stimulate memory and thinking skills.
Pairing up to exchange letters or choosing a common theme to write about might spark lively conversations.
On the other hand, some participants may find letter writing difficult.
Let’s provide support tailored to each individual’s situation, such as helping by writing on their behalf when needed.
Potato Digging and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Let’s have seniors experience two classic autumn activities: digging up sweet potatoes and making roasted sweet potatoes! Seasonal events like these help stimulate the brain of older adults, who may find it harder to sense the changing seasons, so they’re highly recommended.
Plus, the digging motion is a great full-body exercise that uses both arms.
After trying the potato digging, make roasted sweet potatoes and enjoy them together.
Involving participants in steps like wrapping the potatoes in aluminum foil can help them feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoy the tasting even more.
Sports day activity
With autumn being the season for sports, many facilities may be planning to hold sports days.
Even if you don’t go as far as a full sports day, how about incorporating common athletic-meet-style games as recreational activities to get people moving? For example, a baton relay where each team lines up in a single file, passes the baton backward down the line, and once it reaches the last person, passes it forward using the opposite hand; or tamaire, where participants sit in a circle with a box in the center and toss balls into it.
Let’s capture the spirit of a sports day with these lively activities and get everyone excited!
Making dried persimmons
It sounds like a lot of fun for everyone to make hoshigaki (dried persimmons) together using persimmons, a classic taste of autumn.
Working together on hoshigaki stimulates the five senses, builds a sense of unity, and encourages lively communication.
Let’s all make hoshigaki while listening to explanations about recommended persimmon varieties suitable for drying, how to peel them, and how to attach the strings.
Where and how you dry them is also important.
It’s a good idea to get advice from someone knowledgeable about agriculture, carefully observe the process, and aim to produce delicious dried persimmons.
Let’s make tasty hoshigaki with safety in mind.
Occupation Sorting Quiz
November 23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day.
To mark this occasion and express our gratitude to everyone who works, let’s try a job title rearrangement quiz! It’s also a great idea to include it in November events at senior facilities or as a recreation activity in day services.
The rules are simple: rearrange the randomly ordered hiragana to form the name of an occupation.
At first, try the ones with fewer characters, then gradually increase the number of characters to raise the difficulty—also GOOD! This quiz is effective for brain training and dementia prevention, so be sure to enjoy it together with older adults.
In conclusion
It was a collection of ideas for events that will liven up care facilities and similar settings! It’s packed with activities perfect for November, including games and creative projects.
Older adults’ daily lives can easily become repetitive.
We hope the events held at facilities will help them feel a sense of fun.