[For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities in Nursing Homes
In this article, we introduce lively recreational activities for seniors to enjoy at day service centers and other care facilities!
Facilities offer many different types of activities every day.
We’ve gathered a wide variety—from ones that are great for lively group fun to those enjoyable for individuals or small groups—so please use this as a reference when you’re wondering, “What should we do today?”
Many activities can be enjoyed while seated, so everyone can participate and have fun together.
It can also be interesting to change the rules or add your own twists depending on the facility!
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[For Seniors] Fun and Lively Recreational Activities in Nursing Homes (251–260)
Treasure Hunt Game
It’s a “treasure hunt game” where you hide a beanbag under a paper cup and guess where it is.
The rules are simple, so it seems likely that many older adults would be able to join.
Preparation is easy too—just get some paper cups and a beanbag.
Remembering which cups don’t have the beanbag helps stimulate the brain.
Lifting the cups also serves as hand and arm training.
This time it’s a game to guess the hidden beanbag, but you can enjoy it with variations.
Draw pictures, such as fruits or fish, on the bottoms of the paper cups.
You can devise games where you try to find the picture that matches a given theme from among the cups.
It’s fun to play solo, and it’s also an engaging game to compete in pairs.
Easy to make! Ping-pong Ball Bingo
Bingo is usually something you enjoy on paper, but how about trying a more game-like version? Ping-Pong Ball Bingo is a tabletop bingo game using an egg carton and ping-pong balls.
To make the base, simply prepare four empty egg cartons, open them up, and staple the four together—done! To play, place the egg cartons in the middle of the table and bounce ping-pong balls on the table so they land in the cartons.
If you line up three or more balls of the same color in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row, you win.
Split into teams by ball color and face off!
Finger-Tip Rec: Ball Exercises to Build Grip Strength
This is a recreational activity focused on gripping a ball to build grip strength.
In pairs, you will perform two movements: trying to pull out a fixed ball and passing the ball to each other.
While consciously gripping the ball firmly with one hand, add the pulling and passing movements to train other areas as well.
By carefully observing your partner’s movements, this exercise also helps you become more aware of dynamic vision, concentration, and force control.
Letter Swap Game
Let’s play a letter rearrangement game that’s perfect for brain training and even has a quiz element! It’s a game where you scramble letters and reorder them to make words.
If you want to enjoy it with a group in a large space, you can write letters on construction paper and use a whiteboard to play.
Start simple with about three letters, then gradually increase the number of letters to raise the difficulty.
If it’s too hard, provide hints to help participants think it through.
With this kind of inspiration-based brain training activity, that rush you get when the answer clicks is truly irresistible.
Character search
Finding letters in a newspaper is another recreation activity that older adults can do easily and enjoyably.
In this “letter hunt,” you announce a prompt—such as a hiragana, a kanji, or a word—and participants search for it.
For example, let’s say the prompt is the character “ま.” Look for “ま” among the letters in the newspaper.
When you find one, circle it.
This activity requires concentration and attention, making it an effective recreation for stimulating the brain.
If you have older adults around you, why not give it a try?
Newspaper ball rolling relay
This is a recreation activity where you compete to see how fast you can roll a ball placed on a sheet of newspaper.
It’s suitable for small to large groups, so it’s also recommended for situations where you want to promote interaction among older adults.
Arrange chairs facing each other in alternating rows, and have two people hold the ends of a sheet of newspaper.
Roll the ball you’re given onto the next person’s newspaper, and if it makes it into the basket, that’s a goal.
You can enjoy variety by rolling different types of balls, such as a regular ball, beanbags, or a beach ball.
Give this event a try to experience the fun and sense of unity that comes from doing an activity together.
Newspaper Pulling Game
It’s a game where two people sit facing each other, each pinching a long, thin strip of newspaper between their fingers, and then pull against each other.
The winner is decided when the newspaper tears, but since newspaper is quite sturdy and doesn’t tear easily, it really encourages players to use their fingertip strength.
Start with a simple rule where the outcome is decided in a single round: whoever is left holding the longer piece wins.
This helps players learn how to hold and apply force.
From there, you can add variations to the rules.
A recommended rule is that the player who ends up with more short, torn pieces wins.
This not only encourages creativity in how to hold and pull, but as the newspaper gradually gets shorter, it also helps players focus on controlling their strength.