Healthy longevity and brain health can also benefit from exercise and a healthy diet. All of these elements together can help ensure that our minds remain functional and well-tuned, even as we age. A Bridge to Brainpower. An accomplished freelance writer and editor, Cheryl is passionate on how to bolster our resilience in old age and reshape the course of decline. Home Care Assistance can help you or a loved one today.
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How long would you they need care for? How many hours of care do you expect you they need? By requesting a consultation, I consent to be contacted via email, phone call, or text message. Unsubscribe at any time. The Importance of Brain Games for Adults Studies demonstrate that card games, puzzles, and board games are good mental stimuli and help promote brain health.
There are cards games of varying difficulty levels you can choose from: Bridge. The objective is to match three of the same candies in a row to increase your score and progress to new levels. Privacy, security, the latest trends and the info you need to live your best digital life. Backgammon is a classic board game that could be played in the living room or even by the pool.
Backgammon can be played on a Mac or a PC. Additionally, it can be played online so you can play with friends and family from anywhere in the country. This game is great for anyone who loves word puzzles. Wordscapes is a combination of a traditional crossword puzzle and a letter scramble.
The objective is to create as many words as you can with the letter provided to fill in the blanks of the crossword. For aging people, the game is excellent cognitive training.
The game has over 6, levels and will certainly fill up your free time. Wordscapes is available in for Apple and Android. Flight Simulator Xtreme is one of the coolest games on the list. Games for computers and mobile devices can often be downloaded for free or played online at no cost.
Here are some electronic games that are especially worth checking out:. Bejeweled : Swap bright gems of different shapes and colors in order to form rows of matching gems, earn points, and move to the next level. Candy Crush Saga : Switch around colorful pieces of candy in order to form three-of-a-kind matches and reach a particular goal within a time limit or a fixed number of moves.
Snipperclips Plus : Solve all kinds of creative puzzles in this funny game for the Nintendo Switch by interacting with various objects and cutting paper characters into different shapes. Gummy Drop! Puyo Puyo Tetris : Quickly rotate and position falling blobs of color or shaped blocks so that they land in places that will help complete a puzzle in this game for the Nintendo Switch.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 : Grow various kinds of plants in strategic locations in order to defend your home from a horde of brain-eating zombies. Words With Friends 2 : Challenge your friends or family to a crossword-style mobile game that's similar to Scrabble. AARP's free online games : Play a huge variety of card, puzzle, word, strategy, sports, and arcade games directly in your web browser.
Gametable's free online games : Enjoy easy-to-play games like checkers and tic-tac-toe on your computer or mobile device without any distracting ads. World of Warcraft WoW : Take on the role of hero within a huge virtual universe of fantastical characters and environments as you go on an adventurous quest and interact with a massive online community of other players. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim : Go on an expansive quest to defeat a world-eating dragon in this role-playing game that lets you explore its entire virtual world at your own leisure.
Civilization : Build a virtual empire that lasts by choosing strategies related to issues like exploration, diplomacy, warfare, and technology. When it comes to portability, it's hard to beat a deck of cards. After all, card games don't require any electricity. In most cases, aside from cards, the only thing you need is a flat surface and sometimes a paper and pen. Generation after generation has celebrated card games for their ability to facilitate pressure-free social gatherings, relaxing recreation, and memorable conversations.
Whether you play games of chance or strategy or both , you're likely to have tons of fun. Plus, you can make these games even more accessible by purchasing oversized playing cards , decks with large print , playing card holders , or an automatic card shuffler.
Gin Rummy : Get all of your cards into sequences i. Bridge : Choose a playing partner and work together to defeat another team by making "bids" and winning "tricks. Canasta : Play this rummy-style game with a partner, scoring points by collecting sets of cards that have the same rank. Cribbage : Use a special peg board optional to keep score as you try to win by being the first player to reach points. Spades : Partner up with somebody and play together as you "bid" on the strength of your hands and get as close as you can to that estimate when winning "tricks.
Crazy Eights : Get rid of all your cards before the other players by laying down eights or cards of a specified suit.
Old Maid : Discard your cards as quickly as possible by laying down pairs of matching cards until one person is left holding the card designated as the Old Maid. Pinochle : Exchange and collect various combinations of cards in order to score as many points as possible in accordance with an opening "bid.
Snap : Win every card in a deck by frequently being the first one to yell "Snap! Euchre : Team up with a partner and win at least three out of five "tricks" in this fast-moving game that is similar to bridge.
Go Fish : Collect as many four-of-a-kinds as you can by asking opponents for cards of a particular rank or "fishing" from the undealt deck when they don't have them. War : Collect all the cards in a deck by winning enough battles in which your card outranks your opponent's. UNO : Be the first player to get rid of all your cards by matching them, one by one, to the upturned color or number cards on the top of the deck when it's your turn. Phase 10 : Complete 10 hands of rummy-style play, each one requiring you to collect a different grouping of cards or risk being left behind.
No Thanks! Sometimes, the only things you need to have fun are a few dice , a pad of paper, and a pencil. Like cards, dice are ultra-portable. And dice games offer the chance for just as much enjoyment and social bonding. Plus, there's something uniquely satisfying about rolling the dice and watching them all land in exactly the way you had hoped. Try popular dice games like:. Bunco : Win as many points as you can by rolling numbers that match each numbered round of play. Mexico : Be the last player standing by avoiding the lowest roll in each round.
Liar's Dice : Outlast your opponents by successfully deceiving them and recognizing when they are bluffing you. Farkle : Race your opponents to a predetermined scoring level by constantly deciding between taking a risk or playing it safe. Yahtzee : Defeat your competition by rolling the highest-scoring combinations you can. Can't Stop : Beat the other players by taking risks, getting lucky, and avoiding the trap of being too much of a gambler for your own good. A lot of seniors enjoy keeping their math or language skills sharp by playing fun games or solving satisfying puzzles related to words or numbers.
For example, it can help to stimulate three key senses: hearing when the numbers are called , touch using the pens to dab and holding the card , and sight. Bingo is also a great social activity that can help to reduce loneliness and increase a sense of wellbeing. There are hundreds of brain boosting games available online that can help to enhance memory and improve mental health in the elderly whilst out and about.
Even for the least techno-savvy individuals, online games are easy to find, quick to access, and fun to play. They can even be played in multi-player mode. Logic puzzles allow you to think outside the box, create new solutions, and can also help to solidify memories.
Logic puzzles are ideal for older people since they enable lateral thinking and can help to fire up neural pathways that have likely been dormant since retiring. You can find logic puzzle books online, or in most good book stores, but below is an example to get you started:.
Can you figure out which direction the bus is travelling? Hint: the bus is either traveling left or right. This is not a trick question. For many, jigsaw puzzles may be the first brain training game that we play. However, as we age, we may forget how effective jigsaw puzzles are at stimulating the mind. Another benefit of puzzles is that they can help older people relax, by reducing blood pressure and slowing breathing rate. Some even see jigsaw puzzles as a kind of meditation - ideal for older people with busy minds.
Here are some games that target memory and attention — essential skills for older people which can easily diminish with lack of use:. Name two objects for every letter in your first name. Look around wherever you are and, within two minutes, try to find five red things that will fit in your pockets, and five blue objects that are too big to fit. Sudoku is a brilliant brain game for people of all ages and abilities. Simply put, Sudoku is a logic game that involves problem solving and looking for number patterns.
The skills developed with this game have real-world implications by helping older adults assess the repercussions of decisions that they are faced with every day. As Sudoku is a challenge, completing puzzles can also give a great sense of accomplishment that can be hard to achieve in other activities in later life. There are an endless number of trivia topics that can be utilised for a trivia game, dependant on the group or individual with whom you are playing.
Exciting topics include musicals, current affairs and history. Keep scores if playing in teams or in a group in order to boost competitiveness and add more of a challenge. Questions can be called out or written down - dependant on the skills and preferences of those playing. Then you can check the answers to see how many were correct.
Winners could even be given prizes. Trivia is a fantastic way of stimulating the minds of older people whilst also having a bit of a laugh. Chess has been around for centuries, but it is often overlooked as a game that can boost brain health and mental wellbeing.
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