For Seniors: Festive Attractions to Liven Up Festivals—Games and Recreational Activities
We’re introducing games and recreational activities recommended for festivals at senior care facilities.
There are plenty of attractions that can be enjoyed while seated so that older adults can participate comfortably.
Activities like “goldfish scooping,” “target shooting,” and “lucky string pull” may bring back memories of festivals enjoyed in childhood.
Festivals are exciting events for both adults and children.
They can also spark communication with people you don’t usually interact with.
Use this article as a guide to plan a festival that allows seniors to have fun safely.
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For Seniors: Crowd-Pleasing Festival Attractions—Games and Recreation (11–20)
lottery game with many strings (Senbonbiki)
Do you know senbon-biki (the thousand-string lottery)? Lots of strings hang down, and prizes are attached to the ends.
However, there are so many strings that you can’t tell which prize is on which one.
It’s exciting to see what you’ll win.
Even without something elaborate, you can easily make one with just cardboard, string, and S-hooks.
It’s fun to find out whether you’ll get the prize you’re aiming for.
ball throwing
“Ball Toss” is a game where you throw balls at a stand lined with many tubes.
The stand’s tubes are arranged in three colors at random.
The player must throw each ball into a tube of the same color as the ball they’re holding.
For example, if you have a red ball, you must throw it into a red tube; if it goes into a blue one, you score zero points.
Decide beforehand how many balls each player gets, such as three balls per person.
For extra excitement, prepare one very tall, hard-to-hit tube in the center—if a ball goes in, the score is multiplied by 10! Adding a higher level of difficulty makes the game even more fun.
target practice
How about everyone enjoying a target game together? Stretch a string tight and hang folded pieces of paper on it.
Write illustrations and point values on the papers.
Then throw your beanbags at the papers to knock them down.
The number of throws is fixed, so compete by totaling the points of the papers you knock down with all your throws.
Make the illustrations large and easy to recognize.
Balloon scooping
Here’s a very simple and easy activity that still requires balance and really gets everyone excited: Balloon Scooping.
You know the small water balloons used for yo-yo fishing at summer festivals? For Balloon Scooping, use those balloons, but inflate them without water.
Place about 10 balloons on a flat surface like a table, set a box next to them, and use a handheld fan (uchiwa) to scoop up the balloons and put them into the box.
How many seconds will it take to get all the balloons in? The balloons float and wobble, making them hard to scoop—which makes the game even more fun.
Target shooting game
Some seniors may have played shooting gallery or target games at festivals, don’t you think? This time, we’ll introduce a simple “target game” you can make with paper cups.
Cut out the bottom of a paper cup, tie off a balloon, cut off its tip, and stretch it over the cup.
With that, you’ve created an easy tool to launch small balls at targets.
Line up paper cups to create the targets.
Drawing illustrations on the target cups or decorating them with stickers will enhance the atmosphere.
It’s also great to have seniors participate from the crafting stage.
You can expect benefits for finger dexterity and brain training.
It’s a game that may help them recall fond memories of playing target games.
Takoyaki Game
When you think of food stalls at summer festivals in Japan, many people probably picture takoyaki.
But actually making takoyaki can be a bit challenging—the griddle gets hot and dangerous, and you can’t always use an open flame.
So how about getting into the takoyaki mood with a game instead? Use an empty egg carton as a stand-in for the takoyaki griddle and place plastic bottle caps in the compartments.
Put the caps in upside down, and at the starting signal, use chopsticks to flip the caps right-side up one by one.
You could also time it and see who’s the fastest.
[For seniors] Festive attractions for livening up a festival: Games and recreational activities (21–30)
Treasure Hunt
Let’s all have fun with a treasure hunt game! There are slips of paper inside paper cups placed upside down.
If you draw a winning slip, you’ll get a prize.
If you don’t, you’ll have to answer the question written on your slip.
Most questions are easy enough for anyone to answer, but there might be a few that are a bit tricky.