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[For Seniors] Enjoyable September Event Activities
September is a season with various events such as Otsukimi (moon viewing), Respect-for-the-Aged gatherings, and the Autumnal Equinox Day.
In senior care facilities and day services, it’s recommended to incorporate these events as caregiving recreation activities.
Experiencing the seasons through events can help invigorate both mind and body.
It’s also a good idea to include seasonal items unique to September in your activities to enhance the sense of the season.
When staff lead the recreation, try starting with a question like, “What comes to mind when you think of September?”
This question format stimulates imagination and provides positive cognitive stimulation for older adults.
Use this article as a reference to create September caregiving activities that seniors can truly enjoy.
[For Seniors] September Events and Activities to Enjoy (1–10)
Moon-viewing wall decoration
Let’s create a moon-viewing scene that’s perfect as a wall decoration for September and display it on the wall.
There are many elements: a beautiful round full moon, tasty tsukimi dango that are a staple of moon viewing, cute rabbits gazing up at the moon, and pampas grass swaying in the night breeze.
Staff can create a full-wall display, or everyone can enjoy a craft activity by assembling detailed paper parts like a papercraft to make individual moon-viewing scenes to display.
It’s fun to make, and enjoyable to look at after it’s put up.
Grape jelly cake
It would be fun to enjoy a snack activity using autumn flavors and seasonal fruits.
Let’s make a whole grape jelly cake using seedless grapes with edible skins.
The method is very simple: mix sugar and gelatin into water, heat to make the jelly mixture, then pour it over grapes that have been firmly packed and arranged in a mold, and chill until set.
Since swallowing whole grapes can be a choking hazard, cut the grapes when slicing the jelly, or halve them before adding them to the mold.
It’s a smooth, easy-to-eat treat that goes down nicely.
Osmanthus (kinmokusei) aroma diffuser
How about making osmanthus flowers using washi paper? Osmanthus has adorable tiny blossoms, and we’ll create its flowers and leaves with washi.
If making such small flowers feels too delicate, or if piercing a hole in the center with a needle seems dangerous, staff can prepare the flowers for you.
Gather the small flowers into a cluster, use floral wire to form the stem, and wrap it with tape.
A lovely feature of this osmanthus is that if you add a few drops of essential oil to the washi, it also works as an aroma diffuser.
If you have osmanthus essential oil, it will feel even more true to life!
Pacific saury catching
Autumn is the season for reading, appetite, sports, and the arts—there’s so much to enjoy.
It’s also known for having many delicious seasonal foods, like rice and fruits.
And among the fish that represent autumn, pacific saury (sanma) is surely one many of you look forward to.
Let’s enjoy a game using sanma! Use chopsticks to pick up the many sanma placed on a grilling rack and serve them onto a plate.
If that’s too easy, try the challenge with your non-dominant hand.
How many can you place on the plate?
Pacific saury exercise
A quick brain-training exercise you can enjoy even in short spare moments.
You can do it standing, but for older adults, exercises done while seated that engage the whole body are ideal.
Another key to making it fun is choosing moves that fit the season or event.
How about trying the “Pacific Saury Exercise,” inspired by sanma, a fish that represents the flavors of autumn? Spread your arms wide and sway them gently as if you were a fish swimming in the sea.
Next, mimic grilling that sanma over a charcoal brazier—fan it briskly with an uchiwa.
You might be surprised how much that fanning motion works your upper body!
Respect-for-the-Aged Gathering
The third Monday of September is a national holiday, Respect for the Aged Day.
Many places likely hold celebrations for it.
At these events, there are performances put on by staff and activities that residents participate in.
Let’s plan a fun celebration by mixing both in good balance.
Staff can put on plays or dances, and comedy acts like impersonations are also popular.
For participatory activities, karaoke is a great choice, as is enjoying seasonal treats together in a lively atmosphere.
May your Respect for the Aged Day celebration be filled with everyone’s smiles!
Laugh-and-Roll Game
How about trying a winding game that also exercises the fingers? Put a ball or other items in an empty box, attach a long string, and reel in the string to pull the box toward you.
It seems like it would be exciting as both an individual and a team competition.
You can also get creative with the rules: for example, stand paper tubes of various sizes on a flat tray and see how many you can bring back to yourself without knocking them over—that sounds fun, too.
You could assign points based on the size of the paper tubes and have players add up their scores themselves, which also makes for good brain training.