Boardgames have been played for many years by many people. Surely you and all your friends and family have played a kind of board game. You must think they are intended to have fun and you are not mistaken but they are also a learning tool; a way to exercise your mind. So they a useful tool for seniors.
Board games will improve our cognitive skills since they stimulate our mind and they are a fun way of thinking. Mental illness like Alzheimer’s or dementia can be restrained by being part of these fun activities. Studies show that elderly people who partake in such activities reduce the risk of being affected by these diseases by 75%.
Depending on the level of cognitive skills they require some board games might be better than others. Caregivers that know their clients, their likes and dislikes, can easily find a suitable game for them which they will enjoy. For instance Scrabble can be perfect for someone who likes word games or Black Jack if they like card games. It is very important to know what are the senior’s preferences and here are some games and come of their characteristics:
Scrabble
Since the left side of our brain deals with words these kind of games are known as left-brain games. They involve the use of semantic skills and short-term memory.
Chinese Checkers
Sequencing and problem solving are the main characteristics of this simple game. By the activities that have to be performed this is also a left-brain game.
Card Games
Depending on the level of difficulty some card games might be more beneficial than others as long as cognitive skills are concerned. Some well known games are Poker, Spades or Hearts or Black Jack, but there are more possibilities when cards are involved such as matching games. Matching games can be play with all sorts of cards; containing numbers, pictures or words. The way you play this game is by putting the cards face down, then everyone plays takes turns to flip over two cards until they find a match. This exercise of remembering where the right cards is one of the best mental exercises for seniors.