4 Fun Brain-Boosting Activities for Seniors
The best way for seniors to avoid cognitive decline is to stay mentally engaged. As senior care experts suggest that the best cognitive exercises should also be enjoyable for seniors, helping your elderly loved one prevent mental decline can also be fun. Presented by Home Care Assistance of North Coast, here are 4 fun activities that help promote senior brain health.
1. Learn a Language
As learning a new language challenges several areas of the brain, encourage your loved one to practice French, Spanish, or another language. To get started, try finding beginner language materials, like the Rosetta Stone, at your loved one’s public library. Then have your loved one commit to twenty minutes or half an hour of study every day. This way, your relative will work at promoting his or her brain health while also developing feelings of pride and accomplishment as his or her language skills grow.
2. Try Sewing
If your loved one’s fine motor skills are up for it, sewing or quilting can be a fun cognitive exercise. Since sewing requires that your loved one follow a pattern, count stitches, compare colors, and read directions, he or she will be developing new mental paths that will keep his or her mind fresh. Plus, if your loved one joins a quilting circle in his or her community, he or she can socialize with new people. Because studies show that seniors with quality social ties live longer than other seniors, participating in a quilting circle can reap social and cognitive benefits.
3. Play Trivia Games
For many seniors, playing trivia can be a competitive and enjoyable way to exercise the brain. Playing trivia alone or with an hourly caregiver in North Coast can also relieve stress and reduce anxiety. If your loved one lives alone, he or she does not have to abandon trivia games. Sporcle.com, a website that has hundreds of quizzes and trivia games that challenge the mind and memory, is a wonderful alternative for seniors who live alone, or for seniors looking for a fun activity to play with their grandchildren.
4. Sudoku
Obviously exercising the brain is important for maintaining mental function, but activities such as Sudoku can also be relaxing and may provide an escape from everyday life. A 9 by 9 grid puzzle, Sudoku requires the player shuffle the digits 1 through 9 until there are no repeated numbers in the rows, columns, or smaller 3 by 3 grids. This puzzle comes in a variety of levels, so it can be a fun and mentally stimulating way for your loved one to pass the time. As an added bonus, Sudoku is easy to do wherever your loved one is, so if he or she loves to sit outside or is going on a long car ride, the game can come too.
If your elderly loved one has a memory condition like Alzheimer’s or dementia, mentally engaging activities can help slow the progression of some symptoms. At Home Care Assistance, our Alzheimer’s and dementia care in North Coast also include revolutionary care methods that can help prevent or delay cognitive decline. To learn more about the benefits of aged care for your elderly loved one, give a trusted Care Manager a call at (02) 6646 3527 and schedule a free in-home consultation.
