Brain Games for Seniors
Don’t you just love brain games? Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Scrabble . . . the list goes on and on, and here’s the really great news: playing brain games often can help keep your mind sharp and protect against memory loss and diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Everyone knows the importance of physical exercise and why it’s so vital to stay in shape, but you might not realize that it’s just about equally important to exercise your brain regularly. No matter how old you are, your brain can form new neural pathways and connections through mental stimulation. Some research even suggests that brain training exercises and a strong social network can help seniors live longer! Train your brain to stay in tip-top shape by trying a few of these fun, challenging games and exercises. 
Crosswords: Doing crossword puzzles won’t just help expand your vocabulary, it’ll also help keep you mentally sharp. Since doing a crossword requires sustained focus and interest for a certain period of time, it can also help cool off anger and magnify patience. And experts say that seniors who do crosswords regularly (at least a few times per week) have a much lower risk of getting dementia than seniors who don’t do crosswords. So sharpen that pencil, get out your dictionary, and put on your thinking cap! Sudoku: This number puzzle from Japan became a craze across the world several years ago, and older adults should all be glad for that. As any senior who does these brain-training exercises regularly can tell you, Sudoku requires strict mathematical and logical thinking. Since real-life situations aren’t usually like Sudokus, the puzzles can expand an elderly adult’s critical-thinking skills and present an alternate problem-solving focus. Keeping track of all those numbers also helps stave off memory loss.
Card Games: Solitaire, hearts, spades, euchre . . . whatever you like, keep playing it! Along with number brain games like Sudoku, card games can help seniors keep their memories sharp. They can also help expand creativity, as there’s often a choice of more than one play on the same turn, and thinking about different possibilities opens up the opportunity for creative solutions. 
Party Games: If you’re a socialite, you probably already have a healthy brain. But if you’d rather sit back with a mug of tea and a book than with a table of other people, try to ease in to a social scene with board games or a conversation icebreaker. These brain exercises encourage creativity and force seniors to think on their feet. That kind of improvisation is great for the brain. So send out your invitations for a brain-games party today!
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Left-Handed Brushing: This one may seem strange, but trying to do routine activities with your non-dominant hand is a great brain game for older adults. Since the brain controls motor skills and issues specific muscle commands, seniors can become better coordinated and form new neural connections by using their non-dominant hands more often. Try using those hands to brush teeth, brush hair, write a note, cook, or pencil in answers for one of the brain-training exercises above!
