Games and recreational activities enjoyable in a wheelchair
We’ve gathered a selection of recreational games that people who use wheelchairs can enjoy.
When you’re playing together with someone who uses a wheelchair, what kinds of activities do you choose?
If everyone is using a wheelchair, a few ideas might come to mind, but it can be tricky when people who use wheelchairs and those who don’t are playing together, right?
So in this article, we’ve selected not only recreation that can be enjoyed in a wheelchair, but also activities that people who use wheelchairs and those who don’t can enjoy together.
Use this as a reference and have a great time with everyone!
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Games and Recreational Activities Enjoyable in a Wheelchair (11–20)
A game where you place a ball on a towel
It’s a game where you roll a ball from a short distance toward an opened towel, and you succeed if the ball stops on the towel.
You can play with various variations, such as changing the distance or the towel’s size and placement, having multiple people surround the towel and try to land the ball on it at the same time, or adding a time limit.
butterfly case
There’s a game called “Butterfly Catch” where someone drops butterflies made from chiyogami or tissue paper from the second floor, and you try to catch them.
It’s simple, but really fun.
Here, we’ll introduce a variation called “Butterfly Toss” that you can play while seated in a wheelchair.
First, make paper butterflies—use the lightest paper you can.
With leftover paper, make a ring to catch the butterflies and place it on a table.
Then use a fan to flutter the butterflies into the air and guide them into the ring.
It’s a recreation activity you can enjoy starting from making the butterflies themselves—highly recommended!
NG word
This is a conversational game where you can enjoy a battle of wits! You stick a card with a word on your forehead, and if you say that word out loud, you lose.
The last person remaining is the winner.
The interesting part of this game is that you can’t see what word is written on your own card.
Use clever conversation to steer your opponent into saying their word! But be careful—you might accidentally say your own word while trying to lead others.
It’s a surprisingly deep game that challenges you to use your brain to trap your opponents.
Whac-A-Mole
Let’s easily recreate the classic arcade whack-a-mole game, where moles pop up and you smack them! Prepare two tables of the same height and place them with a gap in between.
Attach a piece of cardboard across the gap with holes big enough for moles to pop through.
The person playing the mole goes between the tables and sticks their arms—wearing mole puppets—through the holes.
How many moles can the player hit within the time limit? Having a toy hammer that makes a squeaky sound would be cute and fun!
Forehead Biscuit
Here’s a recreation activity I’d love wheelchair users to try as well: the “forehead biscuit” game, which is great for playing with your facial muscles.
Prepare a small biscuit, tilt your head back, and place it on your forehead.
From there, use your forehead wrinkles and move your cheeks to guide the biscuit into your mouth—the first person to get it in wins.
If you drop it, you have to start again from the forehead.
It’s a surprisingly hard game to pull off, but the fun part is that it engages facial muscles you don’t usually use.
Shake and shoot
Here’s a game you can enjoy while sitting together: Shake and Shoot.
First, prepare a piece of cardboard with several holes in it, then attach another piece of cardboard of the same size directly underneath to complete the board.
Two players hold the board by its edges, and place an equal number of plastic bottle caps—painted in two different colors—on top.
Once everything is set, the game begins.
The two players gently shake the cardboard to make the caps fall into the holes.
When all the holes are filled, the player with more caps of their color in the holes wins! It’s a fun activity that provides moderate exercise, as the arm movements used for shaking help stimulate the muscles.
baseball game
A sport many of you have likely been familiar with since childhood—baseball—can be enjoyed as a wheelchair-friendly recreation.
Place a relatively long tube at home plate so that even someone seated there can hit the ball, and set a soft, non-bouncing ball on it.
The batter then strikes it with a plastic bat or similar.
Ahead of where the ball will roll, prepare a cardboard wall and floor zones labeled with things like “Home Run” and “Double.” The score is determined by which zone the ball rolls into.
It’s a dream-like recreation where anyone can step up to the batter’s box with ease!
tug-of-war
It’s a game where you tug on an opened newspaper until it tears, and the person who ends up with the larger piece wins.
It’s usually played by two people facing each other, but it’s also fun with four people, each holding one corner of a single sheet of newspaper and pulling.
Card flipping
Prepare cards that have different colors on the front and back, like Othello.
Flip them against each other within the time limit, and the one with more cards showing their color wins! All you do is flip the cards, but since it requires speed and quick decision-making, it also seems great for brain training.
balloon volleyball
How about balloon volleyball—the classic recreation that wheelchair users can enjoy to the fullest? It’s not the kind of volleyball with a net in the middle; you can play across a table, sit in a circle, or set it up in any way that works.
The rules are simple: everyone keeps the balloon from touching the floor and continues the rally together.
It’s good exercise, and it’s sure to get everyone fired up.
Setting a target—like how many hits you can keep the rally going—can make it even more effective!