For Seniors: Enjoy Every Day! A Collection of Senior Recreation Ideas
Wishing that older adults can spend each day in good health!
In this article, we’ll introduce senior activities that we truly hope you’ll try—ones that can energize you from the bottom of your heart.
We’ve gathered a wide range of options, from brain-training types to activities that get you moving.
There are ideas you can quietly work on alone, as well as recreational activities everyone can do together.
Read through to the end, think it over carefully, and choose the ones that are perfect for the seniors who will be participating!
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- [For Seniors] Today’s Recommended Activity: Fun and Engaging
- [For Seniors] Have Fun! A Collection of Group Game Recreation Ideas
- [For Seniors] Have Fun with Recreation! Origami Ideas
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
- Liven up the Respect-for-the-Aged gathering: A roundup of recreational activities everyone can enjoy.
- [For Seniors] Fun and Engaging Brain-Training Recreation
- [November Health Topic] Indoor Recreation Ideas for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Recommended Handmade Activities! Simple Ideas
- [For Seniors] What's in the Box? A Collection of Exciting Content Ideas
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- [For Seniors] Brain-training puzzle game you can enjoy solo! Perfect pastime for killing time
[For Seniors] Enjoy Every Day! A Collection of Senior Recreation Ideas (41–50)
2525 calisthenics
Let me introduce a finger exercise that also helps with brain training and fall prevention.
While saying “Niko niko nī,” you raise two fingers and five fingers.
You can add hand claps between raising the fingers, and make 2 and 5 with the fingers on each hand separately.
Mixing different movements increases the difficulty, right? Thinking about multiple things activates the brain.
Moreover, doing two or three things at the same time is said to help prevent falls.
As we get older, we tend to laugh less, but it seems this exercise can also help bring out richer facial expressions.
Singing game of “Antagata Dokosa”
Some older adults may have memories of playing ball games to the temari song “Antagata Dokosa.” Here’s a finger play that matches the “Antagata Dokosa” song.
Make a gun shape and a fox shape with your fingers to match the imagery in the lyrics.
To the melody, alternate the finger shapes between left and right.
Once you get used to it, try speeding up the tempo.
In addition to moving your fingers, taking on tasks that feel “a bit difficult” is also said to activate the brain.
Rolling Curling Game
Curling is a sport where you slide round stones with handles, called “stones,” across the ice.
A few years ago, curling even became a boom in Japan.
Here’s an idea for a casual game that’s like real curling.
Use a paper fan to roll toilet paper tubes and compete for points.
If you paint the toilet paper tubes or decorate them with origami paper to make them colorful, you can create a game that looks great, too.
It’s easy to make, so it seems like something you could enjoy together with older adults from the crafting stage.
Since it can be played while seated at a table, many seniors are likely to be able to participate.
Inchworm Brain Training Exercise
Let’s stimulate your brain with a finger play that mimics an inchworm’s movement.
Inchworms move by stretching and contracting their bodies, right? We’ll recreate that motion with your fingers as a hand game.
Touch the tips of your index finger and thumb together on both hands.
From there, bend one thumb and touch it to the index finger of the other hand.
Then alternate by bending an index finger to touch the thumb on the other hand, and keep repeating this pattern.
The motion looks like an inchworm, doesn’t it? At first, it can be hard to make each finger meet the opposite one smoothly, but working to make the connections is said to help activate your brain.
Brain training with Rock-Paper-Scissors on Mito Komon
Many older adults have probably watched the drama Mito Kōmon at least once, don’t you think? It’s about Mito Kōmon traveling around Japan, and the show’s theme song is famous too.
Using the theme song “Aa Jinsei ni Namida Ari,” let’s do a finger-play activity with the rock-paper-scissors motions.
Clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and pull it toward yourself, while making a hand (paper) with the other and extend it forward.
Another pattern is: clap your hands, make a fist (rock) with one hand and extend it forward, then use scissors to pull it back.
It might be easier for older adults to participate if it’s a song they already know.
Paper Cup Sumo
There’s a game called paper sumo, where you play with paper wrestlers.
Some older adults may have played it at least once.
Using paper cups and a fan, you can try a different version.
Divide the tabletop in half to set territories, and place paper cups as the wrestlers.
The wrestlers move using the force of air when you flap the fan.
Since it’s sumo, if a wrestler falls off the tabletop ring, they lose.
Flapping the fan back and forth will surely liven up the recreation.
It’s a game where you can almost hear the chant, “Nokotta, nokotta!”
Frog kick
A recreation where you kick with a hop! Here are some ideas for a Frog Kick activity.
How about hosting a recreation themed around frogs that love the rain? Once you stick frog illustrations on the floor, you’re all set! While seated, place a beanbag or a weighted paper cup on your feet and kick it up with a burst of energy.
If it lands on the frog illustration, you clear the challenge! It’s a bit like the old shoe-toss game—many people may feel a wave of nostalgia.
Give it a try!