Memory Care: Top Activities to Stimulate the Brain | A.G. Rhodes

Here’s a look at six great activities for sharpening mental skills and stimulating the aging brain!

Test Your Recall Ability

Sit down with a pen and paper and write out a list of grocery items, things to do, relatives’ birthdays or virtually anything else that comes to mind. Memorize the list and an hour or so later, quiz yourself on how many items you were able to recall. The more challenging and specific the items on the list, the more you’ll stimulate your brain.

Put Your Musical Brain to Work

Numerous research studies have found that attempting new and complex skills, such as learning to play an instrument over an extended period of time, is extremely beneficial for the aging brain.¹ Pick up that instrument you’ve always wanted to play, sing songs around the house or listen to music that stimulates your mind and soul. Not only will this give your brain a good challenge, you’ll have fun, too!

Learn a New Language

The careful listening, hearing, and thinking involved in learning a new language is a great way to stimulate the brain, regardless if you’re 10 or 80 years old. Not only will learning a new language and showing off your skills to friends and family members make you feel great about yourself, building upon your vocabulary has also been shown to reduce the risk of experiencing cognitive decline!

Enroll in a Cooking Class

Learning to master a new cuisine is a fun activity that exercises and invigorates your sense of smell, taste, touch and sight, giving each of these distinct regions of the brain a healthy workout. Enrolling in the class with a close friend or family member is also a great way to spend quality time together and boost your social/emotional well-being.

Create a Map Strictly from Memory

The next time you visit a new place – whether it be a town, grocery store or even someone’s house – try to roughly sketch the area on paper as soon as you get home, and repeat the activity each time you visit a new place for the first time. Not only is this a great way to exercise your memory skills, many people find the challenge and act of drawing the map quite fun!

Paint Word Pictures in Your Mind

Without using a computer or pen and paper, visualize the spelling of a moderately challenging word in your head, then do your best to come up with other words that begin or end with the same letters. For example, if the word you initially spelled out in your head is “fasten,” the next word you try spelling could be “finesse” (same first letter), “nuanced” (first letter is the same as previous last letter) or, if you want to really challenge yourself, “fallen” (same first and last letter).

Compassionate Senior Care Services in Georgia

At A.G. Rhodes, providing older adults in the Marietta and Atlanta area with the quality, attentive, individualized senior care services they need to live the safe, healthy and happy lives they deserve is what we do best. All three of our renowned nursing homes offer a wide range of senior care services to meet each patient’s unique extent of care needs and preferences, in an environment that promotes healing, improved quality of life and most importantly, feels like home.