As we get older, keeping an active mind is just as important as keeping an active body. One of the best ways to keep your brain healthy is to challenge it with games and activities!
Word Games
Word games are a great way to work out various parts of your brain including Broca’s area and the angular gyrus. Keeping these areas active will help not only with speaking and understanding but also with recall and memory. Some good games are:
- Connections game – there are a pair of words that are somehow related, and you have to come up with a third that connects them all together.
- Writing haikus – write 3 lines containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables. They don’t have to rhyme and can be about anything you want!
- Crossword puzzles – fill in numbered spaces based on the answers to corresponding questions.
Puzzles and Board Games
Puzzles and board games offer analytic, logical, and creative challenges, exercising both hemispheres of your brain! There are a wide variety of puzzles and board games out there, but here are some of the best ones:
- Sudoku – fill in the grid so that each column, row, and box all have the numbers 1-9 in them.
- Math puzzles – these are different than math problems in that they are meant to be leisurely done and don’t necessarily have a set algorithmic answer.
- Good old fashioned puzzle – whether it’s a 3D mechanical puzzle or a 500 piece jigsaw, puzzles of all kinds are a great way to exercise your brain.
Crafts
Crafts are the perfect way to embrace your inner child while keeping your brain active. By using your creativity and your hands, crafts are a great way to activate the motor cortex in the brain and have fun while doing it! Coloring books, painting, or any other kind of artwork is always a solid option. There are tons of resources online to get ideas, ranging in difficulty, for crafts to make. It could be handmade gifts for the grandkids, holiday wreaths, or little trinkets; the only limit is your imagination!
Online Games
There are thousands of brain-boosting games on the internet that can help improve memory and enhance the brain’s functioning as a whole. For those who are not very tech-savvy, there are websites that make playing their games easy for anyone. The tools are out there to educate yourself and work out your brain at the same time!
Staying social and keeping your mind healthy at the same time are some of the best things we can do for ourselves. Here at Foxtail, we care about your mental health and want you to stay active not only for your body, but for your brain, too!
