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

Pull with your feet! Snail race

Senior Recreation [★uf Rec] #5: “Pull with Your Feet! Snail Race” — Let’s create recreation activities enjoyable for everyone from children to seniors — Lower-limb exercise rec!

Let’s try a foot-powered indoor exercise! Pull with your feet! Here’s the idea for a Snail Race.

Indoors, your movement range is limited, so your activity level can drop…

Does that sound familiar? That’s when you should try this: Pull with your feet! The Snail Race.

Spread a towel under a chair and place a plastic bottle on the towel with a snail motif attached.

The game is to use only the strength of your feet to pull the “snail” toward you as quickly as possible without knocking it over.

Give it a try!

Association Quiz ~Food Edition~

[Elderly Care Recreation] Association Quiz — Food Edition — [10 Questions Total]

Let me introduce a game called “Association Quiz,” where you guess the food in question using three hints.

As the hints are revealed, the identity of the food gradually becomes clearer, but those with sharp intuition might reach the answer before the final hint.

You can write the questions on a whiteboard or read them aloud so anyone can join, and it works well for both small and large groups.

It’s also great fun to play while chatting with the person next to you—saying things like, “What could it be?”—so I highly recommend it.

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kojifumi

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Association game: various surnames

[Word Association Game] Various Surnames

There are many different surnames in Japan.

Depending on the region, you might find people with rare surnames, or areas where many people share the same surname.

According to one theory, surnames have various origins: some come from the family line one was born into, others from occupations, and still others from the places where people lived.

So this time, we’d like to introduce “Word Association Game: All About Surnames.” Give participants one minute to think of as many surnames as they can.

After one minute, have them say the surnames they came up with and write them on a whiteboard or similar.

One person can aim for 10, or the whole group can aim for 50.

It’s perfect as a mental workout, so please give it a try!

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kojifumi

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Single-Overlaid Kanji Association Quiz

Single-Character Overlaid Kanji Association Quiz! Who will claim the glory...? [No way!]

Let me introduce the “Overlapping Kanji Single-Character Association Quiz,” which features a two-step challenge: writing multiple kanji stacked in one spot, then guessing what the combined kanji makes you think of.

First, you have to decipher the kanji gathered in one place—but it won’t be straightforward.

Don’t rush; tackle them one by one.

Once you figure out the overlapping kanji, derive an answer such as something associated with that character—an object, a person’s name, or a place name.

Since it’s quite difficult, it’s a good idea to start with problems that overlap just two kanji.

Be sure to savor the sense of accomplishment when you get it right!

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kojifumi

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Chinese cuisine card

@firstkidstv

We played a fast-paced Chinese-food-making card game as a family and it was a blast 🤣👍Supersonic RestaurantFamily game

♪ Original Song – First Kids TV – First Kids TV

Feel the irresistible rush! How about enjoying a card game that uses the names of Chinese dishes? Players hold cards with parts of dish names like “tan,” “men,” and “chā.” They take turns quickly stacking their cards onto the plate in the center so that the combined cards form proper dish names.

The player who runs out of cards first wins.

Because you have to instantly recognize dish names and play your cards, it really tests your reflexes and sense for word sounds! It’s a humor-filled game that’s sure to spark laughter with slip-ups and the creation of weird new “dishes.” Give it a try and make your own version at home!

Mix-and-match flag

@hirose_ds

TranslationElderlyRecreationRecriMix togetherFlag#Cognitive functiondeclinePrevention

♬ HandClap – Fitz & the Tantrums

The Mix-and-Match Flags activity also deepens knowledge about colors.

The method is very simple.

First, give participants origami paper in various colors.

Next, present a target color.

If the target is “pink,” for example, one person would hold up red origami and another would hold up white.

The idea is that participants cooperate to create the target color.

If you first explain which color combinations produce which colors, it can also help train memory.

Have everyone work together and enjoy the excitement.

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yamamoto

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A game where you make long words using the Japanese syllabary (gojūon)

[Fun Recreation] Brain Training with Japanese Syllabary Cards! Directly from Kenichi Yamaguchi!

Simple yet fun! Here’s a game where you make words using the Japanese syllabary (gojūon).

The rules are easy: Prepare cards with hiragana for all the gojūon and lay them out in order.

Participants create words using the gojūon; they get to keep the cards for the characters used in their word.

Repeat this, and when no more words can be made with the remaining characters, the game ends.

The player with the most cards at the end wins.

It’s perfect brain training because you have to come up with words using limited letters! You can also play in teams and brainstorm words together for extra excitement.

Give it a try!