[For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities in Nursing Homes

Recipe card

Cooking Card Game

This is a card game where you pick two words from the lined-up cards and combine them to complete the name of a dish.

The key is how many dish names you can recall from memory based on the letters in front of you.

It’s also recommended to shuffle in a dummy card that forms a complete dish name on its own—it can mislead players, spark ideas, or serve as a hint for a similar dish.

It should be fun not only to come up with correct dish names, but also to invent plausible-sounding ones that don’t actually exist.

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kappamaki

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karuta (traditional Japanese playing cards)

[Senior Recreation] Rec Craftsman Series Part 195: 'Song Karuta' [Songs/Lyrics/Intros/Quiz/Karaoke/Brain Training]

Karuta is a game where you listen to the reading cards and compete to grab the picture cards.

It’s recommended for people with dementia because it stimulates hearing and sight.

When playing with a large group, commercially available karuta sets may be a bit small, so it could be fun to make your own sets together, such as a “Popular Songs Karuta” or a “National Travel Karuta.” Karuta used to be a classic New Year’s pastime, and many older adults likely have one or two memories connected to it.

It would be wonderful to enjoy karuta along with those memories and the conversations they bring.

Goldfish Game

Goldfish game #nursingCare #nursingHome #careFacility #recreation #rec #elderly #game #KitasunaHome #dayService

At festival stalls, there’s usually a goldfish scooping game, right? Besides scooping, here’s a fun game that uses goldfish as the theme.

Two people hold the ends of a face towel, and place a goldfish plushie or a crafted goldfish on the towel.

While shaking the towel, they toss the goldfish into a basket that’s been set up in advance.

Assign points based on the size of the basket and the distance to the basket.

This innovative goldfish game should be enjoyable for older adults as well.

It also seems like it would be exciting to play as teams.

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Nakajima Junko

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kusudama (decorative paper ball used for celebrations)

It was my birthday! #nursinghome #birthdayparty #cognitiveexercises #rehabilitation #shorts

Incorporating a kusudama into the birthday party activities should really help lift the atmosphere.

When preparing it, choose longer, sparkly streamers and similar materials so that the contents don’t scatter onto participants when the ball is opened.

Adding messages or names inside will likely make it even more delightful.

After everyone sings and offers congratulations, do a countdown and have someone open the kusudama to raise the excitement even more.

Also, be mindful to speak and engage in ways that ensure all participants can enjoy the celebration.

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mayumi

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fruit

What's inside the box?

Because fruit is sometimes sold as cut pieces and people tend to focus on flavor, we may not pay much attention to appearance or how it feels to the touch.

But can we tell what fruit it is just from the sensation of touching it? Since the texture varies greatly by type of fruit, the choice of which ones to use will likely affect both the accuracy rate and the reactions.

Most fruits basically feel smooth, so to introduce contrast, adding something like pineapple is recommended.

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kappamaki

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Spinning Aquarium Craft

[Craft] A simple indoor recreation activity for elderly care facilities (home care, day service, nursing homes) using paper cups: “Spinning Aquarium”

This is a fun spinning aquarium craft idea where the drawings keep changing.

You’ll use two paper cups for this.

Cut a square window out of the side of one cup.

On the side of the other cup, draw illustrations of sea creatures.

When you’re done, stack the cups so that the cutout cup is on the outside.

Then, when you rotate the inner cup, different illustrations will appear one after another.

Of course, you can customize it by drawing animals, flowers, or anything else you like.

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yamamoto

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Kendama

The familiar “What’s in the box?”

The kendama’s unique shape, with the ball and handle connected by a string, seems like a promising hint.

Whether someone has handled one before, and how familiar they are with the toy, would likely affect the accuracy rate.

Since it’s hard to identify it from the feel of the wood alone, it might be better to touch and check the shape as you go.

If the shape and feel still don’t give it away, hints like “New Year,” “toy,” or playing with a ball might help some people figure it out.

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kappamaki

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