For Seniors: Enjoy Every Day! A Collection of Senior Recreation Ideas

Animal Battle

Let's make and play a card game

Let’s make our own original cards and have some fun! First, prepare six cards.

If you’re repurposing unused cards, we recommend putting a card and a piece of white paper into a sleeve to create one.

After choosing a theme you like—such as animals or vehicles—write the card’s name, a number showing its power from 0 to 6, and draw an illustration on each card.

Two players battle with three cards each.

Both players place a card face down, reveal them at the same time, and the card with the higher power wins.

You play three battles, and the first to win two is the overall winner.

It sounds fun from the very process of making your original cards.

The rules are simple, and you can play with just a few cards, so give it a try!

Urashima Tarō Game

Win by luck without trying! The Urashima Taro card game is effective brain training for seniors.

Watch out for the tamatebako! Let me introduce a Urashima Taro card game.

First, prepare 18 Urashima Taro cards, 9 Princess Otohime cards, 9 Tamatebako (mystery box) cards, and 18 Turtle cards.

Stack them all face down.

Take turns flipping one card at a time.

If you reveal Urashima Taro and a Turtle, you get 1 point.

If you reveal a Tamatebako, you get 0 points and all the cards you’re holding are confiscated.

If you reveal Princess Otohime, you get 1 point, plus you reclaim any confiscated cards and may draw 2 additional cards.

The player with the most points from the cards they’re holding at the end wins.

Since which card appears is entirely up to luck, even people who aren’t confident at card games can enjoy it casually.

Give it a try!

Kanji Puzzle

Kanji puzzle day service recreational activities for seniors

Here’s a kanji puzzle to boost creativity.

Print out kanji characters and cut them in half.

Try combining the pieces to form the correct characters.

Once you get the hang of it, you can raise the difficulty by cutting the kanji into quarters.

If you laminate the printed and cut pieces, you can use them over and over.

It’s a fun brain workout that builds your ability to visualize kanji shapes and identify where each component belongs.

You can make it even more exciting by setting a time limit or forming teams.

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mayumi

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Mackerel and Spanish mackerel: a game where you only take the cards with the same kanji

Card battling game, two types, elderly people, recreation, day service, rec activities, caregiving, indoor game, party, game

If you want to train your visual discrimination, try this! Here’s a game where you only grab cards with the same kanji.

First, write two similar-looking kanji—such as 鯖 and 鰆—on cards, making sure each one appears the same number of times.

When the game begins, one person quickly gathers all the mackerel (saba) cards, while the other quickly gathers all the Spanish mackerel (sawara) cards.

The player who gathers all of their cards first wins.

Because you have to instantly tell apart similar shapes, it naturally boosts fine visual recognition, and it also seems to improve concentration and decision-making.

It’s fun to include a variety of kanji, symbols, or pictures, too.

Give it a try for inspiration!

Onigiri Game

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Let us introduce the “Onigiri Game,” a fun way to rehabilitate from fingers to arms.

Connect a stick and a plate with a string, placing the stick on your near side and the plate on the opposite side.

Set the rice balls (onigiri) on the plate to start.

Participants use their hands to turn the stick and wind up the string.

The plate will gradually be pulled closer, but don’t let the onigiri fall.

Wind steadily—neither too fast nor too slow—while watching out for obstacles.

The player with more onigiri at the end wins.

You can enjoy it repeatedly by adding more obstacles on the table or making the onigiri lighter, and so on.

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kojifumi

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Okonomiyaki Game

Recreation for seniors: Okonomiyaki game

Let me introduce an okonomiyaki game that’s guaranteed to get everyone excited.

Cut cardboard into circles, stick on printed okonomiyaki designs, and make about 20 okonomiyaki pieces.

The thickness of the cardboard is up to you, but if it’s too thin, flipping them might be a bit harder.

Once you spread the 20 okonomiyaki pieces out on a table, the game begins.

Use a spatula to flip the okonomiyaki one by one.

Time yourself, and when you’ve flipped them all, you’re done.

The challenge is how many seconds it takes to flip all 20! It’s great brain exercise too—highly recommended.

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mayumi

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Rolling beach ball

Recreation for Seniors – Easy to Prepare & Hilarious! Rolling Beach Ball

It’s a game where you skillfully control a string connected to the chair opposite you to move a beach ball resting on it.

Your ability to judge how moving the string in your hands affects the ball’s motion is put to the test.

You move the ball by changing angles and widening the span, while simultaneously being careful not to let the string slack—this dual task helps stimulate the brain.

The longer the string, the harder it is to control, so once you get used to it, we recommend gradually trying longer setups.

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