Senior brain-sharpening games and practices (friend, adults, relationship, best)
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I do constant reading about a variety of subjects: history, paleoanthropology, and others. In addition I teach chess to school-age children. I am on the board of directors of a 26-unit townhouse HOA, and I just became president of it. That duty is not always joy and rapture, but there are problems to solve, which I think is a good thing for my brain.
I don't notice any particular results, except that I don't seem to be losing any mental acuity at age 70. I suppose that is the best result possible.
I do constant reading about a variety of subjects: history, paleoanthropology, and others. In addition I teach chess to school-age children. I am on the board of directors of a 26-unit townhouse HOA, and I just became president of it. That duty is not always joy and rapture, but there are problems to solve, which I think is a good thing for my brain.
I don't notice any particular results, except that I don't seem to be losing any mental acuity at age 70. I suppose that is the best result possible.
Now chess is something I could never wrap my head around as it's logistics and strategy, and I imagine it's fantastic for the brain. I was a neighborhood Checkers champ at age 4 though.
My sister played a lot of board games with her kids when they were young, and they turned out to be quite good a logistics. I am an intensely visual and audial person, understanding all manner of art and music on a deep level, but logistics not so much. Alright, not at all, lol. I wonder what I might do at this advanced age to work on that.
I do Suduku puzzles online, in a paperback edition, and in the newspapers.
I play several different versions of Solitaire online or with a deck of cards.
I like to solve problems at the end result, working back to find where the errors occured and correct them. (I had a friend who could never balance her checkbook, which I would do as I worked at a bank and did this for customers. When she moved to Florida and me to Texas, she actually sent it to me to fix, which I was able to do. She only sent it the once. I was happy to balance it for her, I love a challenge).
I have taught my 2 young granddaughters to "improvise" when they need something and don't have it. Example was a string broke on something while we were in the car, I had to think and came up with using dental floss, which I carry in my purse. Now they "improvise" (it is so heartwarming to hear them say out-loud "we'll have to improvise"). I am proud they use their minds to figure out a solution.
I love to play memory/matching games with them. I taught them one of my secrets. I always turn over the 4 corners first (2 each time my first two turns) so I at least can remember those when I find their matches mixed up among the many other pieces.
Last edited by Lodestar 77; 07-16-2014 at 08:51 PM..
Reason: Corrected punctuation.
Escort, congrats on getting to be president of the board. It sounds like a lot of responsibility and not always fun and games but I am sure you are up to it. If that doesn't keep your brain sharp, nothing will.
I think just being on the internet and doing research on subjects that interest you is good for your brain. Reading books also. In my mother's old age I gave her crossword puzzle books and she got interested and was very good at it. In fact, even in the last days of her life when she was in a nursing home, I sat and did crossword puzzles with her and she still got the answers and it gave her something to think about.
The crossword puzzle thing came about because I had read somewhere that it was good for older people. Any games would seem to be helpful because you have to think and figure things out rather than being passive. I think watching tv can be very passive although there are some shows that the watcher becomes involved in and some thinking is involved.
If you are interested (and don't mind getting addicted), I think genealogy keeps your brain sharp too. It's another sort of puzzle and it forces you to think and figure things out.
I do Suduku puzzles online, in a paperback edition, and in the newspapers.
Oh Sudoku! I'll never forget the time my sister made us miss our flight to Maryland (being rather dim-witted about the time) and we had to spend TWELVE hours in the airport waiting for another flight. She sat there and did Sudoku the entire time, asking me to run and fetch her snacks and drinks. She declared she was doing this to keep her brain sharp. LOLOL
I tried doing it but gave up after 10 minutes. My brain hurt and my eyes crossed and all I wanted to do was fling a paintbrush around a very large canvas. That's what I mean, no sense of logic (except with English grammar and usage; that tiny pocket of my right? left? brain kicks in for some reason).
Now chess is something I could never wrap my head around as it's logistics and strategy, and I imagine it's fantastic for the brain. I was a neighborhood Checkers champ at age 4 though.
My sister played a lot of board games with her kids when they were young, and they turned out to be quite good a logistics. I am an intensely visual and audial person, understanding all manner of art and music on a deep level, but logistics not so much. Alright, not at all, lol. I wonder what I might do at this advanced age to work on that.
Just a quibble, but aren't you using the word "logistics" there in a rare meaning, namely to mean arithmetic calculations? The primary meaning of "logistics", and the only one most people know, is "the procurement, distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and personnel." So in that main or primary meaning, logistics has nothing to do with chess.
Of course I agree that chess involves mental calculations, but I don't think those calculations are primarily mathematical in nature. They have to do with somewhat complex spatial relationships and the imagination required to foresee possibilities involving several variables at once. Pattern recognition is also very important in chess.
I would say there is probably a positive, but weak, correlation between mathematical ability per se and chess ability. Many mathematicians are indifferent chess players, and many top chess players are not mathematicians at all. Bobby Fischer, who some experts consider to be the greatest player of all time, was a very indifferent student academically and dropped out of high school at age 16.
Last edited by Escort Rider; 07-16-2014 at 09:09 PM..
Walking improves memory and walking backwards enhances. Sideways has advantages. Shoot for 10,000 steps per day and there are smart phone apps to track you walking and progress.
I do 3-4 crossword puzzles each day. I also play with numbers like balancing the checkbook.
Oh yeh, the playing with numbers games. There's one called Paying the Bills that keeps me well occupied.
Good on the crossword puzzles, they really stretch the mind.
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