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

Shopping Boogie

[Respect-for-the-Aged Day Event] Performed the “Shopping Boogie” at the day service. 2023

“Kaimono Boogie” was released in 1950 (Showa 25) and became a big hit.

Many seniors have probably heard it, haven’t they? It has also been covered by many artists up to the present day.

With its cheerful, lively melody, just listening to “Kaimono Boogie” makes your heart feel light.

Why not have the staff put on a dance performance to the song? If you dress up like a housewife going shopping, wearing an apron, it’ll be perfect.

Both men and women can get into character as housewives and perform the dance for a fun birthday party.

It’s sure to satisfy the seniors as well.

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Nakajima Junko

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Foot Beanbag Bingo

Beanbag Toss Bingo #Recreation #DayService #Seniors

One activity option for events and parties is a bingo game.

Many older adults are already familiar with bingo, aren’t they? While bingo is usually played on paper, this time we’ll introduce a version that uses the feet and beanbags.

Prepare nine paper plates or cups, and have the older adults use their feet to toss beanbags into them.

Use colored tape to group the plates or cups by color, and change the score based on where the beanbag lands.

For example, award 20 points if the beanbag lands in a plate or cup of the same color, and 10 points if it’s a different color.

Because they lift their legs to toss the beanbags, older adults can enjoy the game while also training their legs.

Newspaper-pulling-with-your-feet game

Three pull-out games using your feet that seniors can play while seated #recreation_for_seniors #seated_activities #newspaper

Here’s a game that gets you moving your feet while having fun and training at the same time.

Have older adults sit in a chair and pull a sheet of newspaper with their feet.

They can pull it with one foot or with both feet together.

You can also have two older adults sit facing each other at a distance and compete—it should be fun.

Besides providing leg exercise, it’s likely to increase interaction among older adults and bring more smiles.

It can also help with a change of pace and stress relief.

Please give it a try.

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Nakajima Junko

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Tug-of-war with a newspaper using your feet

Quick “newspaper tug-of-war” with feet

Tug-of-war is one of the most exciting events at a sports day, isn’t it? It brings everyone together to cheer as a team and deepens communication.

This time’s “newspaper tug-of-war with your feet” can be done while seated, making it an easy activity for older adults of all abilities to join.

To keep it safe, be sure to sit firmly in a chair and hold onto the handrail while participating! The key to winning is to skillfully use your feet to pull the newspaper toward you.

Please enjoy it together with everyone.

Using your feet also helps strengthen your muscles and core, so it’s highly recommended.

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Nanaka

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Lightly lifting the ball with the foot

[Sports Recreation] A quick leg-ball toss 🦵 #dayservice #minigame #minigames #recreation #elderly #caregiving #shorts

Let me introduce “Foot-Toss Flick,” a game that doubles as lower-limb functional training.

Prepare a small inflatable pool or a box, and place an overturned trash bin inside it.

Add raised areas around it and assign each area a point value.

The harder the spot, the higher the points.

Once you have some beanbags ready, the game begins.

Place a beanbag on the top of your foot and flick it toward a scoring zone.

Do this 10 times and compete on total points.

Unlike simple stepping in place, doing it with a clear goal can be more effective for maintaining leg function.

Give it a try!

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kojifumi

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Bell cracking

[Day Service] Sports Day

The real thrill of a sports day is everyone on the team doing their best and getting lively over wins and losses, right? This time, we’d like to introduce “Suzu-wari,” a team event that really gets the crowd going.

You’ll need two large colanders, red and white tissue paper flowers, and some balls.

Attach the red and white tissue paper to the large colanders, then face the openings of the colanders together and stick them to create a big kusudama (paper ball).

If you put small pieces of paper in various colors inside, it’ll look beautiful when it opens, like a shower of confetti.

Once you hang the kusudama, all that’s left is for the players to throw balls at it! It’s fun and also serves as training from the shoulder to the fingertips, so even those who aren’t fond of rehabilitation will be happy to participate with this activity.

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kojifumi

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Balloon kick

Recreation for seniors: fun and engaging, easy for those with moderate to severe conditions to join—let’s kick the balloon into the goal!

This is a balloon kick game where you kick balloons into a target frame! Attach the cut-off bottom of a milk carton to the balloon’s knot as a weight so the balloon doesn’t drift around.

Then just kick the balloon so it fits neatly into a frame made from twisted newspapers or similar! Because balloons are light, they travel far even with a small amount of force, so older adults can kick them while seated and still send them flying nicely.

You can also prepare multiple frames and set rules to score the total points of the frames the balloon lands in, or try other variations to enjoy the game in different ways.

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yuri

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