As our minds age, exercising your mind is just as important as exercising your body. Getting sufficient sleep, staying socially active, and exercising regularly are great ways to keep your mind active. But not all brain exercises are as clinical sounding. You can exercise your mind just by playing games! Games, even video games, have the potential to improve your cognitive functioning by engaging your memory, visual-spatial senses, processing speeds, and attention. Whether digital or classic, games are a great brain-training tool to keep your senses sharp and your brain feeling young!
Here Are 6 Games That Hold Some Great Brain Benefits
Jigsaw Puzzles
Let’s start with a classic! Jigsaw puzzles aren’t just a great way to occupy a few hours of your day alone or with friends or family to help out. Jigsaw puzzles are proven to be highly beneficial since they engage your short-term memory and multiple cognitive abilities, like strategy, problem-solving, and visual-spatial abilities. Jigsaw puzzles are a cheap and widely available game with great brain benefits!
Learn a New Language
Learning a new language might initially sound intimidating, but challenging your brain by learning something new is the best way to strengthen your brain health and even lower the risk of developing memory issues and dementia.
Some of the best ways to learn a new language:
- Apps like DuoLingo
- Local classes, sometimes offered by community centres or libraries
- Books and audiobooks
Word Puzzles
Fun and sometimes challenging word-based puzzles, like word searches, crosswords, or games like Wordle, are an awesome way to stay entertained and exercise your brain. Word puzzles have been proven to improve memory and cognitive skills. One study found that individuals who did crossword puzzles regularly had the potential to delay memory issues, like dementia, by 2.5 years.
Try a Brain Training App
There are tons of brain training apps available; it can be hard to tell yourself if they actually work or if they’re just a gimmick to get people to download the app. Studies have shown that brain training apps and games can help improve general cognitive skills and the ability to perform even simple day-to-day tasks. The best thing about apps is that you can use them anywhere on your tablet or phone! These apps can help you improve your concentration, visual-spatial skills, math, literacy, and problem skills.
Get started by trying these popular apps:
Bingo
A classic game of bingo is a fun game that encourages social interaction and challenges your memory and numeracy skills. Bingo engages your brain by listening to numbers when they’re called out, visually searching for numbers on a bingo card, and your sense of touch when you use pieces or daubers to mark the card.
Get a good bingo session going with:
- In-person bingo events, like the ones we host in our communities.
- Virtual bingo games like Bingo Blitz.
Trivia-Based Games
Trivia is a great workout for your mind. Trivia engages your memory, cognitive skills, and problem-solving abilities. Plus, trivia is a fun way to get social interaction into your day! By gaining new knowledge and recalling information in your mind that you don’t get to use often, trivia is the perfect way to stretch your brain.
To stretch those trivia muscles, try:
- In-person trivia battles
- Online trivia games, like Trivia Crack or Jeopardy.
There are many ways older adults can stimulate their brains, learn new things, and improve their mental health and cognitive skills. Engaging in these brain-stimulating activities regularly can have major benefits to the health of your brain. Research found that these mentally stimulating activities have the possibility of improving your memory equivalent to about 10 years! Did you know that we offer some awesome brain-boosting activities like bingo, crafts, and trivia in our communities? Be sure to check out our event calendars to see what we’ve got going on!
