[For Seniors] Enjoy September’s Autumn Fun! A Collection of Craft, Game, and Exercise Ideas
September is the season when the summer heat eases and the air turns crisp.
As it becomes more comfortable, you might find yourself wondering if there’s something fun to do.
September, with its moon-viewing, the equinoctial week, and cosmos flowers, offers plenty of activities to enjoy both indoors and outdoors.
You can hang a handmade wreath, do exercises together while singing, or get excited with fun games.
It’s also a great time to hold seasonal events like Respect-for-the-Aged gatherings and sports days.
Spend some heartwarming, enjoyable moments with your family and friends.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable September Event Activities
- [For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games
- [For Seniors] Easy Snack Activity Perfect for September
- Liven up the Respect-for-the-Aged gathering: A roundup of recreational activities everyone can enjoy.
- September Health Topic: Introducing Recreational Activities That Capture the Feeling of Autumn’s Arrival
- [For Seniors] Recreation Games Related to October Events
- Wall decoration ideas for seniors recommended for September
- Simple, Recommended Autumn Crafts for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recommended September Origami to Feel the Autumn Season
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Simple Tabletop Games: Fun and Engaging Recreational Activities
- [For Seniors] Fun Activities That Liven Up Cool Evening Festivals and Summer Festivals
- [For Seniors] Fun Small-Group Recreation
[For Seniors] Enjoy Autumn with September Activities! A Collection of Craft, Game, and Exercise Ideas (31–40)
raccoon dog
The moon and tanuki are said to be closely connected.
It’s believed that tanuki gather on moonlit nights, drumming on their bellies like taiko and dancing.
On the night of the harvest moon, when offerings like rice dumplings and taro are placed out, you might even hear their lively dance.
Try incorporating tanuki into your September calendar craft—fold a tanuki with origami and paste it onto the calendar as decoration.
As you work, some older adults may be reminded of the children’s song “Shōjōji no Tanukibayashi.”
Full Moon Rabbit
Because the pattern on the full moon looks like a rabbit, we often associate rabbits with moon-viewing.
So let’s turn the Harvest Moon and a rabbit into a calendar.
With a single sheet of origami paper, you can create a piece featuring a rabbit against the full moon.
There are some detailed folding steps, so older adults who enjoy origami can really focus on the activity.
If it seems difficult, please support them by folding together.
Once it’s folded, draw eyes and a mouth on the rabbit’s face.
Adding the rabbit’s facial features will also bring out each older adult’s individuality in their work.
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.
Moon-viewing game
One of the events that comes to mind in September is the moon-viewing festival on the night of the full moon.
Let’s get excited with a game inspired by this moon-viewing! Place a sanpō (the three-sided wooden stand for moon-viewing dumplings) in the center, and see how many round objects, representing dumplings, you can stack on top.
The team that stacks the most wins.
Lay the newspaper sheets flat, pick them up, scrunch them tightly into balls, and stack them.
In addition to newspaper balls, try combining various round items like rubber balls or beanbags.
It works perfectly as a team competition where everyone cooperates, but it’s also fun as an individual contest.
For Seniors: Enjoy Autumn with September Activities! A Collection of Craft, Game, and Exercise Ideas (41–50)
Apple cake
Autumn is the season when fruit tastes especially good.
Among them, apples are a fruit with many varieties and are easy to find.
How about baking a cake using those apples? Even though it’s called a cake, it’s very simple: just four ingredients, and you make it in the microwave instead of the oven.
The ingredients are apples, pancake mix, milk, and eggs.
Mix everything except the apples thoroughly to make the batter, and slice the apples into quarter-moon pieces about 2 mm thick.
Put the apples in a microwave-safe dish, pour the batter evenly over the top, smooth it out, and microwave for about 5 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Karaoke Contest
Back when today’s seniors were in their youth, I don’t think karaoke boxes like the ones we have now existed yet.
If people wanted to sing together, they probably relied on so-called sing-along cafés or the “8-track” karaoke machines in snack bars.
Some might never have sung in front of others at all.
A casual, in-house karaoke party would let everyone enjoy singing without worrying about those around them.
If you’re shy about singing solo, forming a group and singing children’s songs could be a good option! Raising your voice is said to be good for your health, so it’s a plan that kills two birds with one stone.
Small prizes would make it even more fun.