4 Fun Brain-Boosting Activities for a Sharper Mind

How often do you work out and engage in physical activities to keep your body fit and healthy? Even if you just do simple activities like daily walks, it’s still benefiting your body. But what are you doing for your brain? Just like the rest of your body, it’s important to keep your brain sharp and healthy, especially as you start to age. If you’re feeling confused about how to work out your brain, we’ve got you covered with four fun brain-boosting activities for a sharper mind.

Jigsaw Puzzles Are Great on Many Levels

If you’ve never tried a jigsaw puzzle, now is the time to change that. Jigsaw puzzles can be incredibly challenging, but that’s a good thing. They will sharpen your cognitive abilities and boost your brain. These puzzles boost your short-term memory, improve your visual-spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills, and tap into your concentration skills.

The key is not to get too frustrated with the puzzle, especially as a newbie. A good tip is to pick one that is meant for beginners, which means not too many pieces. You also need the ideal space in the home to lay out the puzzle so that it won’t get disturbed. Chances are the puzzle will take days, even weeks to complete depending on how much time you have and how big the puzzle is.

It’s Time to Learn a New Skill or Hobby

Learning new skills or hobbies has no age limit, which means any time is perfect to learn something new. It’s a way to feed your brain and keep it active and engaged. Some of the best hobbies for boosting your brain include knitting, quilting, dance lessons, piano lessons, computer programming, learning a new language, and painting. You can learn these hobbies and skills solo or enroll in a class.

Word-Based Games and Puzzles Combine Fun and Learning

Games are typically equated with fun, but how about games that also have a learning aspect to them? That’s exactly what you’ll find with word-based games. You’ll have the challenge of the game itself, while potentially learning new words, improving your spelling and using your critical thinking skills.

Some great brain-boosting games include word searches, crosswords, and word unscrambles. If you’re the type that often gets frustrated at these styles of games, especially unscramble games where you’re given a random bunch of letters and expected to make words from them, try the Unscramblewords.net tool to help you out.

Don’t forget, many of these word-based games and puzzles are available in app form so you can play them on the go.

Video Games Can Be Full of Benefits

How many times have you heard people, parents in particular, discuss how bad video games are? And while their arguments may be valid, sometimes video games don’t get the accolades they deserve. In reality, there are lots of benefits. There are plenty of games that will help improve your attention span, cognitive flexibility and problem-solving skills. Look for video games that are strategy-based, contain puzzles and have action in them. And it’s also wise to practice moderation; sitting in front of the gaming console all day isn’t ideal.

Some video games that can enhance your problem-solving skills and boost your brain include:

• League of Legends
• Call of Duty
• Minecraft
• Fortnite

So, if you haven’t prioritized brain-boosting activities in the past, it’s time to change that way of thinking. Feeding your brain now and keeping it sharp is something that offers immediate benefits and can help you as you age. The good news is that it’s never too late to embrace these tips and activities.