7 exercises for your brain

Just as our bodies change with age, so do our brains and our mental function. Mental decline is common but cognitive impairment is not inevitable. Research has shown that activities that challenge the brain can stimulate new connections between nerve cells and may even generate new cells.

Written by

Sheila Frampton

Regardless of age, exercising the brain will help improve memory, mental agility, focus, improve concentration, and keep your brain active.

There is evidence that engaging in stimulating activities from playing word games to learning a new language or new skill, may help lower the risk of dementia and age-related cognitive impairment. As no one activity has been shown to be better than another, choose something you enjoy.

What has been shown, however, is the more mentally stimulating activities you do, the more you exercise your brain; so do as much as you possibly can. The activities don’t need to be intellectual – knitting, crafting, gardening, and dancing all help keep the mind active.  

The following are some of our favourite mind-stimulating activities.

A woman painting in her home
A scrabble board
An older lady gardening with her grandson

1. Word Games 

Word games actively engage different parts of your brain, enhance your language skills, expand your vocabulary and improve mental agility. 

What’s more, word games are something you can enjoy alone or with all the family. Playing word games daily will certainly help keep the brain active – but do try different games. If you can play with a friend or family member it is even better because word games become social activities but there are lots of online versions of word games that you will be able to access free of charge.

Scrabble

People of all ages enjoy Scrabble and, over the years, it’s become a competitive game.

Scrabble helps expand your vocabulary, improve your word derivation skills, teaches you to play strategically – making the most of double or triple word scores to maximise points, helps improve concentration and is a sociable game.

If you’re playing alone, take a look at Wordmeister online here. Wordmeister gives you a virtual competitor but one word of advice, turn the sound down because the music is quite repetitive and can be annoying.

Two people playing scrabble
A boggle board

Boggle

Like Scrabble is an excellent way to improve vocabulary, concentration, and memory. 

It is simple yet challenging and can be played online if you don't own a physical version of the game.

There are a number of websites where you’ll find boggle including wordshake.com and wordplays.com. You can also buy Boggle from many retailers, including Argos

Wordle

Since its global rise to fame back in 2021, Wordle is a game where you need to guess the hidden word within six attempts.

You provide different words in each turn to receive hints. Coloured squares indicate clues, with a yellow letter meaning that it is present in the word, but not in the correct location, and a green letter showing that it is in exactly the correct position in the word. 

Each day Wordle provides a new word, which is the same for all players globally, and it is easy to share your results with friends and family. We recommend giving Wordle a try, why not set up a competition with your friends, family or perhaps your neighbours? 

Visit the New York Times website to play. 

Wordle being played on a phone
A woman sat in her garden on her phone

Lexigo

This is slightly different to other word games because it arranges letters in a honeycomb pattern and the letters are hexagonal.

You can use the same letter more than once and you must find the target word based on a hint.

You can find Lexigo online on the Puzzle Society website.

Wordsearches and Crosswords

If you enjoy crosswords or wordsearches, there are plenty online – and, of course, you can find printed versions in many daily newspapers, or even dedicated puzzle books.

If you try the crosswords on The Independent's website you can be entered onto a scoreboard and you’ll be competing against other crossword players. 

Playing a crossword

2. Card Games 

Recent studies have revealed that engaging in social activities such as card games can have a positive cognitive function.

As well as cognitive stimulation, they provide socialization and improve mental wellbeing. The best card games are those that involve strategy, problem solving and memory skills and which require players to think critically, make decisions and remember cards that have been played.

The best card games to play alone

A pile of cards

Solitaire:  this is a classic game which uses strategy and critical thinking. If you haven’t played before take a look at this guide.

Spider Solitaire:  this game involves sorting cards into sequences, building stacks and strategically moving cards around the board. Instructions can be found at can be found here.

Pyramid Solitaire:  you try to remove pairs of cards that add up to 13, which requires careful thinking and strategy. You can play online at pyramidsolitaire.com.

The best card games to play with friends

Bridge:  Read our blog on Bridge which provides lots of information on learning to play Bridge in different areas.

Hearts:  This involves paying attention to the cards being played and thinking strategically about which cards to play, which helps improve memory and concentration. This is a good one to play with the family – take a look at this guide on how to play.  

Poker:  This is an ever-popular game requiring you to make quick decisions based on incomplete information which helps develop critical thinking. It helps you ‘read’ other players which improves social and emotional intelligence – but is particularly enjoyable if you are good at ‘bluffing.’  You’ll find information on how to play here.

A group of older people playing cards together

3. Puzzles

Brain gym

There are plenty of puzzles that you can try but if you want a variety, there’s a website called Brain Gymmer with puzzles designed to improve your cognitive skills.  This is almost addictive.

There are puzzles to test your mental flexibility, your pattern recognition, your working memory, your concentration, your planning skills, your maths skills and your visual perception.

I particularly like the impulse control where you focus on a particular shark in the middle of a shoal and indicate which way it was facing – the images of the shoal of sharks comes thick and fast and the middle shark changes direction frequently – or not.  These puzzles really do challenge the brain.

An older lady using her computer at a desk.
A sudoku and a pencil.

Sudoku

This is a puzzle game designed for a single player. It resembles a crossword puzzle and comprises a grid of ‘cells’ which are stacked nine high and nine wide making 81 in total.

The puzzle comes with some of the cells filled in with numbers and you have to complete the rest whilst sticking to the rules. This is a puzzle that really makes you think.

You need to focus on placing the numbers, which helps improve your concentration. Critical thinking is required to avoid making mistakes and ensuring no digit is duplicated in a row, column or section.

The more you play, the better and quicker you will become at identifying the patterns and the practical solutions which enhance your memory skills. There are plenty of guides to playing online – including on sudoku.com

Jigsaw puzzles

These are a fantastic way of challenging the brain and are very satisfying. What’s more you can do jigsaws alone or with friends and family. 

There are even 3D jigsaws which enable you to create a model of a landmark. The act of scanning for specific colours and shapes and fitting together hundreds of pieces challenges your mind, enhancing focus, spatial reasoning, and problem-solving skills.

They also help improve hand-eye coordination and enhance mental endurance.

Jigsaw puzzle pieces

4. Knitting & Crafting 

A lady knitting

Knitting

Knitting has been around for centuries but research has shown that knitting can boost memory and concentration, promote mindfulness, and reduce stress – and give the brain a workout.

Whether you follow a pattern or create your own, when you knit you stimulate the creative centres of your brain, which help improve problem-solving and perception.

Working through patterns, counting stitches, and remembering sequences engages the memory, strengthening neural pathways and improving the ability to recall information – which is useful in many areas of day-to-day life. Rectifying mistakes or adapting patterns engages problem-solving skills – and, of course, producing a garment – from a scarf to a sweater – is incredibly satisfying and can bring lots of pleasure to others.

Younger members of the family will appreciate knitted toys. Crochet also has similar benefits.

Crafting

If you want to exercise your brain, crafting is a great way to do so – and there are so many crafting activities to enjoy. From painting and drawing, sewing and embroidery and woodworking and carving to pottery and ceramics, there’s something for everyone.

Whatever you choose to do, your crafting activity will improve your dexterity, co-ordination, and fine motor skills, relieve stress and anxiety, and stimulate the brain, boosting thinking, reasoning and problem-solving abilities which result in improved memory function and mental health.

Crafters tend to have better concentration and attention to detail. Various studies have shown that adults who craft have a lower chance of experiencing mild cognitive impairment – particularly those who engage in painting and ceramics. 

To maximise benefits, incorporate crafting into your daily life, starting with small projects, experimenting with new techniques, and perhaps joining a crafting community.  There are workshops and classes, online forums and social media groups, local crafting clubs – at one Beechcroft development, homeowners hold a weekly crafting session in the residents’ pavilion.

Pots of craft materials, pencils, scissors and paint brushes

5. Learning new skills

Learning new skills can have a profound impact on our brains enhancing brain function by forming new connections and neurons.

The learning process releases dopamine, a chemical made in the brain which plays a role in many functions including movement, motivation, mood, and attention. Learning also promotes the growth of myeline which affects how fast signals travel through our nerve cells. What’s more, learning new skills staves off boredom which has a negative effect on both mental and physical health.

Dancing

This is one of the best ways to boost your memory and improve your physical fitness. Dance has been shown to help manage the symptoms of a number of conditions including dementia.

Dancing increases the brain’s hippocampus, an area which plays an important role in learning, memory and spatial awareness – and has a fast and significant impact on brain chemistry.  Dancing in time with others – in a dance class, Zumba class or dance-fitness class – can improve mood, generate feelings of social bonding and release pain-relieving endorphins after just 10 minutes.

Learning steps and routines is good for the memory, stimulating the growth of new brain connections and long-term memory.

A fitness class taking place
A man playing guitar in his living room

Playing an instrument

Learning an instrument or starting to play after some time is good for the brain.

Musical training can change brain structure and function for the better – there are numerous studies supporting the correlation between improved memory and playing an instrument.

Musicians have also been shown to have better reaction speed and cognitive functions. Music is also relaxing and mood enhancing – and playing in an orchestra or with others has immense social benefits.

Learning a new language

There are so many ways to learn languages these days – in class or with organisations like the U3A, online or with various apps.

With retirement comes the opportunity to travel and it’s always satisfying to be able to speak the language of the regions you enjoy visiting.

Learning a new language in later life also has significant benefits for the brain. Being able to speak another language has been linked to better cognitive performance particularly in tasks requiring mental flexibility.

Learning generally increases the plasticity of the brain which preserves and improves cognitive health as we age but switching from one language to another also activates the area of the brain responsible for executive functioning which decreases cognitive decline and can delay the initial effects of dementia.

A teacher in a classroom
A woman playing lawn bowls

Learning new sports

Exercising in general is good for the health of both the body and the brain but neurological studies have shown that learning a new physical skill in adulthood leads to an increase in the volume of grey matter in parts of the brain related to movement control.

In the USA, researchers in Iowa found a single bout of exercise improves cognitive function and working memory in some older adults. In experiments that included physical activity brain scans and working memory tests, participants experienced cognitive benefits and improved memory from exercise.

Being physically fit brings its own health benefits as well as releasing happiness-inducing hormones. There’s such a wide variety of sports on offer – take a look at our blog on exercise and you might find something new that appeals.

6. Creative Writing 

It has been said that ‘everyone has a novel in us’ – that may not be true but those of us who belong to the older generation have had experiences that might make this the case. And, if we don’t have a novel in us, then many of us might have a short story or two.

Creative writing can be extremely satisfying, cathartic, engrossing and even addictive. If you’ve never tried writing, there are writers’ courses and groups all over the country who can help you get started or give you ideas to improve your work.

If you don’t want to write for profit, you may just wish to write for pleasure – keep a journal or document family history for younger members to read. Anyone can write and creative writing can have a significant effect on your mental and physical health.

The process of recalling memories, recording them, and reading them back boosts memory and understanding whilst the creative process of crafting a story stimulates parts of the brain. Creating characters, plot, scene, dialogues, and settings invigorates the brain – engaging the mind and forming new neural pathways.

If you’re an aspiring writer, Arvon runs courses, classes and workshops including online sessions and residential stays at their centres. Ask at your local library for any writers’ groups or see if the local U3A runs any writing sessions.



7. Join a book club or reading group

Reading is an excellent way of passing the time, reducing stress, enhancing sleep, improving memory circuits, sharpening decision making and possibly delaying the onset of dementia.

Reading provides a mental workout, strengthening the brain’s neural network and making the mind more receptive to learning and memory retention. It’s even more beneficial if you can share your love of reading and your response to different books with others.

Joining a book club or reading group enables you to widen your social circle and you won’t have to worry about making conversation as you’ll be talking about the book your group has been reading.

You’ll be introduced to books that you may not have considered reading before and discussing your reading matter will help enhance your memory and give you a deeper understanding of the books you have read. Local libraries and bookshops should be able to provide information on reading groups.

A woman writing
A men reading a book
A lady reading a book on a sofa

Other tips for keeping your brain active

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