6 GOOD BRAIN GAMES FOR SENIORS

When you think of exercise, you probably think about the many options you have to work out the body. As we age, physical exercise becomes even more important to help us maintain strength and agility.

Did you know that exercising your brain is just as important as exercising your body?

According to the National Institutes of Health, exercising the brain can improve memory, reasoning, and the speed of processing information. Other studies show that seniors who exercise the brain enjoy greater independence and a lower risk of developing dementia. One of the most effective ways to exercise the brain involves playing what mental health experts call brain games.

If you are searching for an assisted living facility in Phoenix, Arizona, you should verify that any of the senior housing facilities on your shortlist promote healthy brain games for their guests.

Let’s look at six good brain games for seniors.

Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles do a great job of exercising the brain because they require developing keen foresight to see how words form several steps before the time comes to create them. Your senior loved one can find crossword puzzles in a wide variety of print publications. Crossword puzzles do not require the participation of another person, which means your senior loved one can work on one at any time during the day.

Bingo

We go from crossword puzzles that can be done alone to a good brain game that requires the participation of dozens of other people. Many assisted living facilities host bingo night, which attracts a large group of residents. Bingo requires staying on top of the numbers you have in front of you, as well as reacting quickly whenever one of your numbers gets called out. Senior centers typically put on a bingo night once a month as well.

Checkers

The next two good brain games provide the ultimate tests of exercising brain power. Checkers is a fun game to play, as well as a relatively easy one to learn for seniors. This good brain game is less about developing strategy and more about the process of making logic-based decisions and improving hand-eye coordination. Games sets come in a wide variety of sizes to accommodate the vision needs of seniors.

Chess

Chess represents a much more complex game than checkers because of the multiple layers of strategy involved in moving the pieces around the board. However, learning chess is highly beneficial because it improves problem-solving skills, as well as enhances deductive reasoning. Chess even can improve your senior’s patience, which is something that often diminishes as we grow older.

Scrabble

As the classic brain game associated with seniors, playing Scrabble is an entertaining activity while at the same time giving memory a robust workout. Scrabble also is one of the best games for improving or restoring a senior’s vocabulary. This good brain game brings together seniors, which is a plus considering the isolation that can develop while living apart from family members.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Your senior loved one can work on a jigsaw puzzle alone or with one or more friends. Jigsaw puzzles strengthen problem-solving and strategy-developing skills, while also requiring your senior loved one to exhibit a high level of patience. This good brain game varies in complexity, depending on the number of pieces and the type of picture design.

At the MorningStar Arcadia assisted living facility in Phoenix, Arizona, our culture is “to honor, to value, to invest” in our residents. This type of culture separates us from other memory care facilities in Phoenix, AZ. Learn more about our beautiful community by submitting the online Contact form.