How often do you also think about including your brain in daily exercises when you’re working out? Physical activity is also one way to exercise the brain, but there are others.
A study determined that physical activity involving muscle contractions improved attention and memory skills. When mice were put onto treadmills and studied, researchers found that the hippocampus area of the mice’s brains developed new neurons.
Physical activity does help the brain stay healthy, but there are other ways to exercise the brain. Here are some of the best options.
Play Video Games Together
Some video games work on hand-eye coordination. Purchase detective and puzzle games to play with your parents. There are mysteries and puzzles to solve to advance the game’s plot. Games can be set in the past, present, or future.
Some games have you playing as a character, such as the Sherlock Holmes mystery games. You follow the story, look for clues, put the clues together using analytical skills, and solve the crimes or mysteries. There are many games where you must solve puzzles to escape areas or complete a challenge to move to the next level.
Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle
Purchase jigsaw puzzles to work on together. Challenging puzzles take time, and they require a lot of critical thinking skills as you match colors, patterns within the picture, and shapes of the pieces.
Do a Crossword Together
Print out the daily crossword and complete it with your parents. You may know words they’re struggling to fill in, and they’ll know some you don’t. It works on recollection and vocabulary. Purchase a crossword book if you don’t feel like printing them out.
Take Dance Lessons
Take dance lessons together. Learn by watching videos or enrolling in a class. Dance is a great aerobic workout, but it also requires memorization and counting to get the steps down. You have to remember how to complete the movements in the proper sequence.
Visit Escape Rooms
You’re looking for a fun family outing to go on with your parents. Have you looked into an escape room? Often, you can have a group of up to ten people. The rooms are private, so only family is within the room. Escape rooms are cleaned between groups to prevent the spread of germs.
Work together to solve the puzzles, unlock doors, and work your way to the escape. There are different themes, and escape rooms change regularly. You can visit regularly and try a different room each time.
How Personal Care at Home Can Help
When you aren’t able to be there to help your senior keep their mind busy, personal care at home can step in to help. Personal care at home providers offer more than just medication reminders and ambulatory assistance. Companionship and social engagement are just two of the many other benefits of personal care at home providers.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770965/
