[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.
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- [For Seniors] Enjoy Brain Training with September Trivia Quizzes & Fun Facts
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- [For Seniors] Liven Up November Day Services! Fun Autumn Event Ideas
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Day Service: A Collection of Fun Event Ideas
[For Seniors] September Events and Activities to Enjoy (11–20)
Making a wreath with celebratory crane and longevity turtle
Crafts are one of those activities you can enjoy in tune with the seasons and events—and they really liven things up.
Since September includes Respect for the Aged Day, how about making a celebratory wreath featuring a crane and a tortoise to honor everyone’s and their families’ health and longevity? Using origami with gold or silver accents adds an extra festive, elegant touch.
Origami also makes a great brain exercise since it uses fine finger movements.
With the celebratory crane and tortoise, the wreath has a three-dimensional feel and looks very luxurious when finished.
It’s a bright, eye-catching decoration for your home or room.
Chestnut Picking Game
Easy indoor recreation you can enjoy! Here are ideas for a chestnut-picking game.
When you think of autumn, various nuts come to mind, right? This time, how about making chestnuts out of construction paper or cardboard and turning it into a game? What you’ll need are leaf-shaped construction paper or origami, and chestnut motifs made from construction paper or cardboard.
If you write point values on the chestnuts, participants can join in with extra excitement and anticipation.
The key is to pick up the chestnuts with a cane or stick and place them into a basket!
Torn-paper collage: Moon-viewing rabbit
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Otsukimi (moon-viewing) is one of Japan’s long-standing traditions.
So, let’s make a moon-viewing scene with a rabbit for the September calendar using torn-paper collage.
Because you use your fingertips to tear and paste the paper onto a backing sheet, this kind of collage can also serve as brain training.
The September moon-viewing is known as Jūgoya or the Harvest Moon and is held on the full moon around September 15.
It became cherished as an autumn harvest festival, and because people offered taro as a prayer for a good harvest, it came to be called Imomeigetsu (“Taro Moon”).
Many older adults may also be very familiar with September’s moon-viewing.
Try making it while chatting about Otsukimi.
Rabbit cookie
Let’s bake rice flour cookies with a delightfully crisp, addictive texture—no wheat flour or butter needed.
September is the month for moon-viewing, so shaping the cookies like rabbits turns them into a seasonal treat.
The ingredients are soy milk, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, potato starch, almond flour, and rice flour.
Mix everything thoroughly, shape into rabbits, and bake in the oven.
You can also make a chocolate pen with unsweetened cocoa, sugar, and water to draw cute faces.
The finished cookies are crisp and crumbly, with a gentle, comforting flavor.
Rabbit pudding
A dessert inspired by September’s moon-viewing: an adorable rabbit pudding so cute you’ll hesitate to eat it.
Pudding goes down smoothly and is a popular dessert for everyone from small children to the elderly.
Simply mix eggs, unsweetened soy milk, sugar, and vanilla extract, strain once, pour into heatproof containers, and steam.
Even without a steamer, you can easily steam it in a frying pan.
For the topping, add whipped cream, draw the rabbit’s face with a chocolate pen, and decorate with strawberries cut lengthwise into quarters to look like ears.
ohagi (sweet rice balls coated with red bean paste)
September brings the autumn equinoctial week (Ohigan).
Let’s try making ohagi, a familiar dish for Ohigan.
I’m sure many of you will have lots of fond memories to share—how you used to make them often or had them made for you.
Ohagi can seem a bit tricky and fussy since they use glutinous rice and sweet bean paste, but if you cook the glutinous rice in a rice cooker, it’s no trouble at all.
Once it’s cooked, mash it well, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it cool.
It’s also fun to wrap or coat them with your favorites, like red bean paste, roasted soybean flour (kinako), or aonori seaweed.
Using store-bought sweet bean paste makes it even easier.
[For Seniors] Enjoyable September Event Activities (21–30)
French toast on a hot plate
How about serving the stylish treat of French toast as an autumn snack activity for seniors? Using an electric griddle is recommended since several people can enjoy cooking together.
The buttery aroma of French toast whets the appetite, stimulates the brain, and will likely be a hit with older adults.
Also, cutting the bread into dice makes it easier to flip while cooking and easier for seniors to eat.
By working together, everyone can experience cooperation and a sense of accomplishment.
