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What game can help seniors prevent memory loss?

Solitaire Card games like Solitaire help to keep elderly adults' brains sharp. Solitaire is recognised as one of the most popular card games in the world and it can be played either in person or online here. Card games are thought to benefit Alzheimer patients by increasing thinking and memory skills.

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Here we’ve listed 25 of the best brain games you can play with your elderly relatives or loved ones to help keep their brains active. Each brain training activity or game is a fun and effective way to improve overall mental health for all ages, particularly older adults. We’ve included an activity or brain game to suit all abilities, and the best part is they can be enjoyed almost anywhere.

1. Trivia Quizzes

Trivia is a great way to stimulate elderly adults’ minds, and it can also provide a good laugh! With the infinite amount of trivia topics available online, it is up to you to decide on which topic and whether or not it will be played in groups or individually. Creating teams is a fun way to add a bit of competitiveness and winners can be rewarded with a small prize. Choose whether or not answers are called out or written down, depending on the ability of the elderly adult you’re playing with.

Trivia topic suggestions –

Musicals

Current affairs

History

General knowledge

Literature

TV shows from the past

2. Sudoku

Solving Sudoku puzzles is excellent for keeping seniors’ minds sharp by preserving their logical thinking skills and mental abilities. Sudoku is a popular game among the elderly as it encourages them to utilise different parts of the brain they may not necessarily use in everyday life. Best of all, a successful game of Sudoku can provide older adults with a great sense of accomplishment. Your elderly loved ones can play this game online, or if they aren’t comfortable with using a computer, there are plenty of printable resources available.

3. Keep the hands and mind busy with arts & crafts

Arts and crafts are one of the best activities for the elderly to participate in as not only does it encourage the use of the mind, but it keeps the hands busy too. Using their hands helps to maintain dexterity, and being able to explore their creative side helps with the use of the imagination. Your elderly loved one might like this activity simply because they enjoy being creative, or perhaps they want to create a gift for family and friends.

Consider trying these easy arts and crafts at home –

Greeting cards

Painting

Drawing

Knitting

Beaded bracelets

Scrapbook

4. Word puzzles

Get your elderly loved one’s brain buzzing with enjoyable yet challenging word puzzles. Word puzzles are a fantastic way to keep elderly adults entertained and exercise their brain. It doesn’t matter if they don’t complete the word puzzle, they will still enjoy searching for words or trying to think of the missing words, depending on the type of word puzzle you choose. There is a range of word puzzles available online, or you can find them in most book stores.

Here are some word puzzles that are popular with seniors –

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Word search

Crosswords

Hangman

Finish the saying

Boggle

5. Bingo

Bingo is an old favourite amongst the elderly community as it encourages social interaction, typically played in care homes, but it can still be enjoyed in your own home. While this is a fun and enjoyable game for the elderly, it also provides some essential health benefits.

Health benefits include stimulating the following key senses –

Hearing: listening to which numbers are called out

listening to which numbers are called out Sight: when looking for the numbers on the bingo card when looking for the numbers on the bingo card Touch: using a pen or marker to dab out numbers As this is such a social game, there is the added benefit of reducing loneliness and increasing general wellbeing levels.

6. Learn a new language

Learning a new language might sound a little daunting, but challenging our brain is the best way to enhance brain health and reduce the impact of aging. Depending on your loved one’s physical and mental health condition, there are a variety of ways to learn a new language.

Here are some suggestions:

Online: OpenLearn, Memrise, and Busuu

OpenLearn, Memrise, and Busuu Mobile and tablet apps: DuoLingo, Babbel, and Rosetta Stone

DuoLingo, Babbel, and Rosetta Stone Check local community centres for language classes

Books and audiobooks from local libraries

Why don’t you have some fun and try out these Spanish words:

Hola / Hello

/ Goodbye ¿Cómo estás? / How are you?

7. Try a brain training app

As long as your elderly loved one has a mobile phone or tablet they will be able to download apps to help with brain training. The best thing about using apps is they can be used and accessed anywhere. Depending on the type of app being used, these apps can improve concentration levels, visual-spatial skills and problem solving. A quick search in the app store will provide you with hundreds of brain training apps to choose from. Here are a few app suggestions that may help stimulate your elderly loved one’s brain:

8. Online games

The internet provides a vast amount of resources for online games for the elderly. Just be sure you read any online reviews or try the games yourself first, as sometimes it can lead to frustration if the game is too challenging. Above all, ensure the games are fun and enjoyable. If the games are too difficult your loved one may become disinterested. You don’t need to be an experienced computer user to enjoy online games; they are easy to access and quick to find. Plenty of online games provide multi-player mode, so if you would like to keep this a sociable activity you can play too!

You might like to take a look at the following online games:

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9. Think outside the box with logic puzzles

Neural pathways in the elderly can become dormant after retiring; this is why logic puzzles that require lateral thinking are great for stimulating these pathways. Logic puzzles are specifically designed to test how you use the information provided to you. These types of puzzles will encourage your loved one to think outside the box by creating new solutions and help them to think logically. You can check out some online brain teasers here.

10. The classic game of Chess

Chess is a game of strategy and is beneficial for strengthening logical reasoning and problem solving among elderly chess players. Your elderly loved one might be worried about playing chess as it can seem complicated at first. However, once they get the hang of it, after just a few months they could see great benefits such as an increased IQ and increased levels of focus. If you have a chess set you can play with your loved one in person, or they can play alone online here.

11. Special tasks to boost memory and attention

Memory loss is one of the most common complaints among elderly adults, which is why it’s important to engage in some simple games to help with improving memory and retention.

Consider the following games:

Stating the months of the year in alphabetical order

Using the letter ‘S’ name six or more things you can wear on your feet Observe the objects around you for two minutes, then try to find five red items that will fit in your pockets and five blue objects that are too big to fit (choose suitable colours depending on your surroundings) Say two objects for every letter in your first or last name, stating different objects each time

12. Jigsaw puzzles

If you want to start with a simple activity to stimulate the mind, try completing a puzzle. While this might seem basic, there are a multitude of benefits for your elderly loved one, such as a slower breathing rate which aids in reducing anxiety and lowering blood pressure levels. Jigsaw puzzles can also be a great distraction to help slow busy minds.

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