9 Games To Exercise The Mind
Games to exercise the mind are ageless. Children, adults and the elderly in their third youth, we can all get caught up in the pleasure of these cognitive proposals, in which curiosity is mixed with challenge and ingenuity with discovery. These original proposals are an injection of vitality for the brain that we should take advantage of every day.
Today, we have an advantage that our parents did not have: new technologies. In mobile phones, computers and tablets we have a thousand possibilities to activate the mind thanks to millions of applications available in the market. However, yes, let us not renounce either the pleasure of the physical, the delight of making checkmate with a good chessboard.
In the following list we list a series of proposals. However, it should be noted that there are many more, since the imagination has no limit and there is always the possibility of creating new games or variations of those that already exist.
Games to exercise the mind
Games to exercise the mind are often defined as vitamins for the brain. And indeed, the metaphor is very successful. Sometimes we meet people who say that in their day to day they do enough to keep the brain active. Although we are not mistaken. Multitasking, for example, what you actually exercise is stress and anxiety.
Thinking a lot, sleeping little, and being busy all day contribute to cognitive decline. It does not matter how much we move or what diet we follow if we do not attend to cognitive flexibility, if we do not awaken the curious attitude or if we do not allow ourselves to learn new things.
Brain plasticity – that ability to change its structure based on our behaviors and approaches to better adapt to the environment – is an exceptional process that we all have within our reach. It is enough for these games between half an hour and an hour a day.
If we also accompany them with good habits of life, body and mind will appreciate it. What’s more, a healthy, agile and curious brain is synonymous with psychological well-being. Why not give it a try? Here we have a series of more than interesting proposals …
1. Logic games to develop your lateral thinking
Riddles, enigmas, challenging stories, incomplete series … Logic games are an ideal resource to force us to think creatively, applying both inductive and deductive capacity as well as innovation.
Example:
What is the question that no one can answer?
Answer: Are you asleep?
2. Creative writing games
Among the games to exercise the mind we cannot ignore those referring to creative writing.
We only need three things: paper, pencil, and a lofty imagination. Here are a series of interesting proposals that we can share with friends and family:
- “Manual has spent three hours looking for the red sock” -> Write five proposals that explain this situation.
- You have just been shipwrecked on a desert island: “What message would you put in a bottle before throwing it into the ocean?”
- “The seven capital sins”. Choose a cardinal sin and write a story.
3. Chess, a classic
In recent months, chess has become topical again thanks to series such as Queen’s Gambit. In this way, for those who still do not know its rules, master its techniques or control all its movements, it is time to start in the game of games.
Studies, such as those carried out at the University of Vila Velha, for example, indicate that chess practice optimizes cognitive function, develops attention, concentration and even improves problem solving.
4. Backgammon, one of the oldest games
Anyone who was a fan of the Lost series will remember some of its characters playing with a unique board of elongated triangles and round tiles. It is backgammon, a game that already existed, at least in a primitive way in Ancient Egypt.
In fact, among the belongings of the pharaoh Tutankhamen, this same resource was found, which, yes, requires players with “fine-tuned” knowledge of strategy.
5. Sudokus, a sweet brain food
Among the games to exercise the mind, one of the most classic is undoubtedly sudoku. Is there anyone who has not had a good time solving this mathematical proposal?
It was invented in the late 1970s and today these grids continue to challenge our minds for hours.
6. Scrabble or word games
Scrabble, Apalabrados … Today it is still one of the most downloaded games on our mobile applications.
The objective of this proposal is as simple as it is interesting: to form words from different cards that contain very specific letters.
7. Chinese ladies
We all know the classic game of checkers. However, the thing becomes more original, as well as complex. Chinese ladies require two to six people.
The purpose is to move the pieces to the corners opposite the starting position using one-step movements or movements where some pieces jump over the other.
8. Games to exercise the mind: puzzles and Rubik’s cubes
Among the games to exercise the mind it is decisive that we always have manipulatives close by, such as the classic Rubik’s cube.
Putting technological applications aside and opting for physical manipulation of objects in the form of a game is also a great option to improve visuospatial skills.
9. Find the hidden object
Regarding this proposal, it is interesting to go to the proposals of our online applications or in the app-stores, to discover this resource.
Hidden object games, in addition to being beneficial, allow to improve attention span, discrimination, concentration and patience.
If a few decades ago we had the Where’s Wally books , today we can delve into mysterious castles, mysterious islands and fantasy-filled settings in which to find those hidden objects. The entertainment never ends.
Finally, although we could add many more proposals to this list, it is very possible that many of us still do not know a good part of those described here. It is time to exercise the brain, it is time to dedicate a part of our time to one of these games.
