I need some good ideas for games to be played at a nursing home?

Question

It is a birthday party for some residents of a nursing home. Does anyone have any good ideas??

Answer 1

I’m one of the writers for Gilbert Guide (the foremost resource for everything senior care) and, in my time writing reviews of nursing homes, I’ve come across many activities for seniors, some common and others more innovative. Here are some ideas:

•Dominoes—they even come in larger sizes with Braille, as well as with bigger dots or colors instead of dots for people with vision impairment.
•Scrabble is also available with larger lettering or with colored tiles.
•Card games
•Bingo
•Beanbag toss or other target throwing games. This will give less mobile residents an opportunity to move at least a little.
•Seated lightweight bowling. They sell plastic bowling sets at toy stores; the great thing about this activity is that it can be done both seated and standing.
•Reminiscing. Perhaps everyone could share a story about his or her favorite birthday.
•Chair exercises. Even people who can’t stand can get their arms moving!
•Charades or Pictionary-type games are fantastic choices because they require concentration and thought and encourage people to work as teams.
•Karaoke! I know my grandfather wasn’t shy about grabbing the microphone in his day. If you don’t have a karaoke machine, they can easily sing along with songs on the radio, or you could bring some music from the 30s and 40s to both jar their memories and get them humming, whistling and maybe singing along.
•Story telling. This is a game I’ve played with both children and seniors, and it’s a crowd pleaser every time. One person starts the story by creating an opening line, and then the next person continues it by adding a sentence, and so on.
•Two truths and a lie. Everyone says three things about themselves, two that are true and one that’s a lie. The other players try to guess which is the lie. The great thing about this game as it serves to get people better acquainted.

I hope these ideas give you a good place to start. I’m not sure if you work at this nursing home or are visiting for a birthday party, but you may want to ask about the population. Do the residents participate in activities throughout the week? Are they generally active or usually sedentary? This will give you a good idea not only of what might interest them, but what they’d benefit from, as well.

Keep playing—
The Gilbert Guide Team

Answer 2

They can have a blank piece of paper on their laps (magazine underneath) and they can draw a picture of the birthday person with their eyes open or closed (you decide) Best picture gets a candy bar.....
2) they can guess number of jelly beans in a jar.(.1 bag full.).
winner gets to keep them....
3) Have them guess a persons middle name that no one knows
give booby prize to closest. guesser.
have fun!!

Answer 3

twister J/K

try clue, bingo, and there's also a bunch of games at store sites

a good idea is to ask them what they would like to play

Answer 4

You could play bingo, hot potato, trivia, scrabble

Answer 5

BINGO CHESS CHECKERS UNO