Play These Games to Improve Senior Brain Health

Play These Games to Improve Senior Brain HealthGames aren’t only great fun for seniors, they’re also a big help when it comes to senior brain health. Whether your loved one plays them by themselves, with you, or with the grandchildren in their life, there are many reasons why doing so is an important part of their senior health.

Why Games are Important to Senior Brain Health

There are two reasons why games are so important to senior health. These include:

  • These are a great way for your loved one to relax. Whether they do so by themselves or with a group of family members this is a fun way to pass some time.
  • When games are played with other people there’s the added benefit that games will keep them happily engaged in life so they don’t suffer from the dangers of isolation (e.g. increased risk of dying earlier, poorer quality of life while alive, sabotaging their own health, not taking medication, eating irregularly).
  • Playing games takes the pressure off a forced conversation and helps people not feel so awkward simply because they don’t know what to say or do.
  • Shared activities help everyone get to know each other better.
  • Games also offer great health benefits because they encourage your loved one to think in different ways than they usually would (e.g. strategizing, keeping track of things, doing math).

What Games you Should Play with Your Senior

While there are many games available for you to choose from today, not all of them are as good as these:

  • Checkers helps your senior engage the part of their brain that’s used for strategizing.
  • Bingo isn’t only a fun game, but it’s also inexpensive since you can print your own game from online then use small plastic chips to mark the spaces.
  • Connect Four is like playing a vertical game of tic-tac-toe – something people of all ages can enjoy.
  • Yahtzee is another inexpensive game that helps with senior brain health by keeping your loved one mentally sharp.
  • Card games (e.g. 21, blackjack, war, go fish, crazy eights, gin rummy) can range from extremely simple to as complex as you’d like them to be. All you need is a deck of playing cards and you can find instructions for many different games online.

Gauging Senior Brain Health While Playing Games

As you play games with your loved one, you’ll get a sense of how their senior brain health is doing. This is important because their brain health is one of the key factors to their overall sense of senior health and wellbeing.

When you’re playing games with your loved one, make sure they can easily hear what’s going on around them. This is another important part of senior health. If you find that they’re struggling to hear and thus holding back when it comes to participating, make sure you reach out to Countryside Hearing Aid Services. Over the years they’ve helped thousands reclaim their hearing and your loved one should be next. Countryside Hearing has been in business since 1979 and serves Clearwater, Dunedin, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor and Tarpon Springs. Countryside Hearing is a BBB Accredited business with an A+ rating!

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