[For Seniors] Enjoy September’s Autumn Fun! A Collection of Craft, Game, and Exercise Ideas

Potato Digging Game

Potato-digging game starts! Gyoda City Day Service Koubouan

Let’s make use of old newspapers! Here’s an idea for a sweet potato digging game.

When we think of digging sweet potatoes, we usually imagine digging them out of the soil, but this time, let’s enjoy it indoors! Fill a kiddie pool or large basin with shredded newspaper and sweet potatoes made from construction paper, and you’re all set! Using plastic scoops, kids can push aside the newspaper to search for the potatoes, enjoying the thrill of the hunt.

Try incorporating this sweet potato digging game—it’s just like a treasure hunt!

Grape decoration making

[Elderly Recreation] Grape Decorations [Autumn Craft]

When it comes to the flavors of autumn, grapes are a top pick, aren’t they? How about making delicious-looking grapes and muscat clusters using toilet paper rolls and tissue paper? They’ll instantly brighten up even a simple wall when used as decorations in senior care facilities! They’re also great as a day-service recreation activity.

Cut toilet paper rolls, wrap them with tissue paper to recreate the grape berries, and add a bit of roundness for a cute finish.

Once you’ve made a few, glue them together to complete the cluster.

Use brown tissue paper for the stem and green origami for the leaves to create realistic grapes.

The 3D look makes them stylish as a garland, too—just thread a string through!

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miyabi

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Pumpkin Kintsuba Making

How to Make Kintsuba: Pumpkin Kintsuba Vegan Recipe

Kintsuba-yaki is one of the classic wagashi sweets, and many older adults love it! This time, why not make kintsuba with an autumn twist—using pumpkin? If you prepare pumpkin that’s pre-cut and peeled, even seniors can make this pumpkin kintsuba easily.

You don’t need boiling water; just microwave the pumpkin to soften it, so it’s very simple.

The steps are beginner-friendly, even for those who rarely cook, so please give it a try!

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sasashina

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Making moon-viewing dumplings

Tried making mitarashi dango for seniors at the Moon-Viewing Party! The surprising texture?!

The big event in September is Otsukimi, the moon-viewing festival.

How about making essential moon-viewing dumplings as a snack activity? Usually you knead dumpling flour or shiratama rice flour with water, but using tofu makes the texture smoother and helps keep them from hardening even after they cool—perfect for older adults.

Roll the dough into small bite-sized balls and press a slight indentation in the center so they cook through more easily.

Drop them into boiling water, and once they float to the surface, transfer them to cold water to cool.

Drain well and serve with your choice of toppings, such as sweet red bean paste or a sweet soy glaze.

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utatane

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Grill the Pacific Saury Game

Let's grill Pacific saury! Recreation event ★ Refresh Life Shitoro, a fee-based nursing home

This is a game themed around saury, a quintessential autumn delicacy, that tests the delicate finger movements needed to use chopsticks skillfully.

All you need to prepare are strips of newspaper rolled into saury shapes and a mesh placed on top of a paper cup.

Using disposable chopsticks, you place the newspaper “saury” onto the unstable mesh.

The challenge is to see how many saury you can stack without knocking over the paper-cup base.

Let’s train fingertip control with chopsticks, concentration when placing items on the mesh, and the sense of balance needed to set the saury down neatly.

If the location of the saury and the mesh are far apart, you’ll also engage grip strength and arm power to maintain hold with the chopsticks—making this variation highly recommended as well.

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kappamaki

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Sports day activity

[Senior Recreation] Four Effective Activities for a Facility Sports Day [Preventive Care]

With autumn being the season for sports, many facilities may be planning to hold sports days.

Even if you don’t go as far as a full sports day, how about incorporating common athletic-meet-style games as recreational activities to get people moving? For example, a baton relay where each team lines up in a single file, passes the baton backward down the line, and once it reaches the last person, passes it forward using the opposite hand; or tamaire, where participants sit in a circle with a box in the center and toss balls into it.

Let’s capture the spirit of a sports day with these lively activities and get everyone excited!

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utatane

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Origami calendar for the night of the full harvest moon

[Komu-chan] Origami Calendar ♪ September

Speaking of September, there’s the night of the full harvest moon, also known as the Mid-Autumn Moon.

Let’s make an origami piece inspired by the Fifteenth Night and turn it into a calendar.

Rabbits, pampas grass, and rice dumplings all come to mind for the Fifteenth Night.

And since it’s also called the “Potato Moon,” how about folding some taro as well? As they fold the origami, some older adults may recall memories of moon-viewing with their families.

It might spark lively conversations.

With summer ending, creating this calendar can help us feel the arrival of autumn.

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Nakajima Junko

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