15 Fun Activities That Seniors Will Love!

Modern families have more intergenerational connections than ever before, with grandparents often taking on some portion of childcare responsibilities or helping out in other significant ways. Despite more time being spent together, the age-old question remains: what are we going to do?

It can be challenging to find entertainment options that can truly be appealing to all ages, and it can be easy to fall into the same predictable patterns until they’ve slowly turned into repetitive schedules. When this happens, your whole family is missing out on making more special memories and appreciating the time you have together. Instead, spend more mindful and meaningful time together with one of these fifteen fun activities that seniors will love!

Go for a Drive

Driving around your town, whether near your own neighborhood or far across town, is a fun way to have a little adventure and a little conversation. If your family lives in the same town that the kids’ grandparents grew up in, have the grands take the role of tour guides to explain how the town has changed since when they were kids. If you don’t have family history in the town, consider learning more about it by driving to neighborhoods that have historic buildings.

Upgrade: Take your drive to the next level by including grandparents on your next family road trip or vacation adventure! The whole extended family will enjoy playing games in the car and the kids can show the grands their favorite things to do on their tablets.

Board Games

Along with other tabletop classics like card games and puzzles, board games are shown to improve memory and other important mental skills. Of course, everyone benefits from having a stronger brain, but those who usually see the greatest benefit are those whose brains are still at the earlier stages of development and those whose brains need regular exercise to stay in tip top shape (hint: the second group is everyone!).

Upgrade: Next time you’re playing a classic board game on family game night, take a look at the history printed on the inside of the box for the board game you’re playing and shock the youngest family members by revealing the age of the game.

Video Games

For the first time in the history of the world, most grandparents have had some contact with and knowledge of video games throughout their lives. In fact, at least one of these grandparents discovered video games by getting a brand new Nintendo Entertainment System “for the kids” and then spent months sneaking out of bed at night to play Super Mario Bros. (We’re not going to say which of us it was, but it was definitely someone.) Even those who didn’t personally take a deep interest in video games at least understand the general idea and have probably played a few games or watched friends play.

Turn this common awareness into a family activity if you have a gaming console (or if the grands do!). Whether the family bonds over sharing classic games like Pong and Pac-Man or teams up to play competitively online, don’t overlook the potential for seniors to love video games!

Explore Nature

Early fall is the perfect time of year to go outside and take in the sights of the great outdoors! The weather is more comfortable than the oppressive heat of summer or the bitter cold of winter, and we think fall is just objectively the better season. Between the gorgeous foliage, the harvest festival spirit that overtakes the city planning decorating committee, and the endless opportunities to get cozy with a hot drink, you’re passing up a great time if you don’t go for a walk during the fall.

Get the Backyard Ready for Winter

If your senior family members have a garden—or if you have a big backyard that needs some work, turn it into a family project! Get everyone together to mow the lawn, trim the bushes, prepare the flowers and vegetables to stay cozy and safe through the cold months, and never ever admit that this was a clever scheme to get all the yard work done with as little effort from you as possible (you legend).

Have a Picnic

Take your nature exploration a step further by enjoying a meal or snack time al fresco. Pack a cooler and a backpack with your provisions of choice—we recommend the choicest of provisions, like sandwiches with travel mugs full of hot soup and hot cocoa or hot cider to drink—then go to a local park, outdoor fun center, playground, or your own backyard!

Upgrade: Turn your stationary meal into a movable feast by having different people prepare (or choose, depending on age) a part of the meal and choose where it will be enjoyed. This can become a whole day if you have a list of locations and a series of snacks, the only limit is how many snacks you want to haul around a park.

Go to the Library

If you haven’t been to your local library for a while, going with grandparents is the perfect reason to stop by! The kids can choose a book they want to read with their grands—take turns reading to help learn important social skills. If you time it right, you could have the opportunity to participate in a library activity for young patrons (check your local library’s website for more information on their children’s programs).

Go to the Movies

Spending time with grandparents is special. Getting to go to the movies is special. Therefore, getting to go to the movies with grandparents is extra special. If your kids are old enough to go to the movies with minimal drama, consider making your next family movie night—or weekend matinee—a larger family affair by inviting the grands. Movies for very young kids have the advantage of truly appealing to all ages because the youngest moviegoers can’t go by themselves, and parents like to watch movies too.

After the movie, get a conversation started about what everyone thought about the movie. Ask about the parts they liked, the parts they didn’t like, and what they would have changed to make it better.

Go to a Baseball Game

Or any outdoor sport! Watching sports together as a family is a great way for kids to bond with their grandparents and watching live games up close and in real time is a rare and exciting experience for anyone. Make sure to ask questions about what it was like for the grands when they used to go to sports games when they were younger, how the game has changed over time, and whether the foods on offer have changed. Your kids might be surprised by what they learn!

Whether you go to a professional game, a college game, a junior league game, or a casual game being played by a hobby sports league, you’ll be glad you went after you see how much fun the seniors had, along with everyone else.

Visit the Zoo or Aquarium

Zoos and aquariums have the advantage of being places that are super exciting and fun while also being interesting and educational. Next time you plan a visit to the zoo or aquarium, include the grandparents on the trip (make sure to ask about the senior discount when you get tickets!). The whole family will have a chance to see animals up close and personal and learn lots of new fun facts to share with friends when they get back. 

Upgrade: You’ll do a surprising amount of walking, so be sure everyone is wearing comfortable shoes and clothes, take along personal refillable water bottles, and pack a snack or full meal depending on your plans. If you’ll be outside, remember to prepare with sunscreen and a jacket, just in case the weather turns.

Family Dinner Night

How often do you have an extended family dinner where you invite over family members who don’t live in your household? If your answer is “never,” we have a suggestion for you, and we’ll give you one guess what the suggestion is! Invite the grandparents over to your family dinner night to spend a casual night in with family members your kids don’t usually get to spend a lot of time with.

For extra fun, have family members take turns choosing the dishes that will be served or deciding on a theme for the meal or any other part of the planning and preparing. Giving everyone a chance to share their favorite foods with the rest of the family will inspire new conversations and new connections.

Ice Cream Social

Fall is upon us—and we love it!—but there are still enough warm days ahead to justify a Build Your Own Ice Cream Sundae Party (this is how you can explain an ice cream social to young kids). Go all out and have a going away party for summer and celebrate with summer’s favorite food: ice cream!

Have every family member choose a flavor and a few of their favorite toppings and decorate like it’s an old-fashioned ice cream shoppe. Let everyone build their very own monster ice cream sundaes just the way they want them, and then dig in! Take time to share stories about all your favorite ice cream memories and soda fountain dreams.

Backyard BBQ

Who doesn’t love backyard barbeques? No one. The answer is no one. Backyard barbeques are a universal good, and everyone loves them. Now that that’s been settled, backyard barbeques also happen to be a fun activity that seniors will love. (Because, as we’ve established, everyone loves backyard barbeques.)

Next time you’re planning a backyard barbeque, add the grandparents to the invite list! We love backyard barbeques (they’re our second favorite thing in the world!). Backyard barbeques are the perfect excuse to get a bunch of friends and family together, share good food and drinks, play some games, have some conversations, and make some memories. This is the ideal situation to invite grandparents for some bonding time with the grandkids and the rest of the family too.

Mini Golf

If there’s a mini golf course near you, we recommend you take a visit there with your elder family members. Mini golf requires balance, coordination, spatial awareness, and dexterity—all things that senior citizens and kids both tend to be working on improving.

Don’t have a mini golf course near you? You can set something up in your own backyard using the same ideas! Create a series of small obstacle courses that have to be navigated by a golf ball to the finish line (a disposable cup, a jar, a small bucket, anything that a ball can go into). Kids can join in by creating their own courses to challenge other family members.

Cornhole

When it comes to games that are easy to learn and fun to play for all ages, you can’t go wrong with Cornhole! You can play one on one, in teams of two, or make up your own rules and play however you want (we won’t tell). Cornhole is a fun time-killer when you’re waiting for the big game to start, and it’s also a big game all on its own. It can be played outdoors or indoors, during the day or with some added lighting, any age or ability. As a bonus, seniors love Cornhole!

Upgrade: Make your home Cornhole games even more fun with your own custom cornhole board from Cornhole Worldwide! All you need to do is submit a request, and one of our digital artists will bring your design to life. We also have hundreds of themed sets if you aren’t interested in designing your own.

Now that you have some new ideas for fun activities that seniors will love, the next steps will be choosing which ones to do and coordinating everyone’s schedules!