Puzzle and Memory Games for Seniors
Puzzle games and memory games are a great brain workout for seniors. According to research, a cognitively active lifestyle has positive effects for older adults and may even delay the onset of dementia by as much as five years. Puzzle and memory games are both entertaining and mentally stimulating, which makes them great choices if you’re hoping to promote a cognitively active lifestyle for a senior in your life. Below, we’ll go through a few fun puzzle games to try out!
Jigsaw Puzzles Jigsaw puzzles exercise mental abilities and spatial reasoning, and if a senior does them often enough, it could have a protective effect on their cognitive aging. Jigsaw puzzles are also a great option because they don’t require any special technological equipment, prior knowledge, or understanding complicated rules. In other words, they’re fun, accessible, and a good mental workout.
Pictionary Pictionary is a fun group game that’s easy to play. It requires 3 or more players, split up into two teams. In a nutshell, each player draws a card with a word on it, and they have a minute to draw a picture of the word on a pad of paper, in the hopes that their team can guess it correctly. The game requires seniors to think creatively and engage with other players, which makes it a fun and mentally stimulating choice.
Cranium Cranium is a multiplayer board game that involves solving puzzles, answering trivia questions, guessing word definitions, sketching, and acting things out. This engaging game encourages teamwork and exercises all sorts of mental faculties, so it’s a great option for seniors.
Ubongo In Ubongo, players race against each other to solve puzzles as fast as they can to earn gems. After 9 rounds of playing, the player who has collected the most gems in a single color wins. The puzzles in Ubongo are made up of interlocking geometric shapes, and they’re a great brain workout for seniors.
Qwirkle Qwirkle is a multiplayer game that’s simple to learn but also very strategic, which makes it a good choice for seniors who are looking for some cognitive exercise. The game involves drawing tiles with different colored shapes on them, then arranging them in lines that are all the same color or shape to earn points.
Trivial Pursuit The goal of Trivial Pursuit is to correctly answer questions in each of the 6 categories: geography, entertainment, history, art and literature, science and nature, and sports and leisure. This game allows players to exercise their memories, and it’s perfect for seniors who want to show off their trivia knowledge!
Scattergories Scattergories is a fun game that requires quick thinking and a great memory. To play Scattergories, each player or team will receive a copy of the same category card, which lists 12 random categories (reality TV shows, things in your car, celebrities, etc). You’ll then roll a die with letters on it and have 3 minutes to write down a word that starts with that letter for each of the 12 categories.
Memory matching games Matching card games are a great brain workout, and the rules are simple to understand. To play, you’ll lie all the cards face down on a flat surface, and each player will take turns turning over two cards at a time. The goal of the game is to remember which cards are where, so that you can match up pairs. The player who has collected the most pairs of matching cards at the end of the game wins! There are lots of fun variations of Memory out there. You can get memory games with famous artwork or cute dogs on them, for example.
Board Games for Seniors
Board games encourage problem-solving and strategic thinking. This exercises seniors' brains, which is good for their cognitive health. And, since board games tend to involve multiple players, they also give seniors a chance to socialize and connect with others, which can have a positive effect on their mental wellbeing. Below, we’ll go over some fun ones for you to try out.
Clue Clue is a classic murder mystery board game that’s super fun to play with family or friends. Throughout the course of the game, each player makes guesses about the location, weapon, and perpetrator of a murder. The player who correctly guesses all three wins!
Ticket to Ride In Ticket to Ride, players compete to claim train routes between major cities in North America. This popular game is pretty easy to play once you learn the rules, and it could be a great choice for a family game night with the senior in your life.
Sorry Sorry is a fun board game that’s pretty easy to learn for seniors of all ability levels. In this 4-player game, each player has four pawns, and their goal is to move them around the board and into the home space. Players draw cards that tell them to move either forwards or backwards, and if you land on the same space as another player, they get sent all the way back to the start.
Monopoly Monopoly is a bit more complicated to play and takes longer than a few of the other options on this list, but it’s still a fun classic that many seniors love. At the start of the game, each player is given a certain amount of money, and the object of the game is to bankrupt other players by buying and developing properties. Bankrupt players get eliminated from the game, and the last player left standing is the winner.
Chess Chess is a classic game of strategy, and it’s a beloved pastime of many seniors. Since chess is such a cognitively active game, there’s also some evidence that suggests playing chess reduces the possibility of developing dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other mental illnesses.
Checkers If chess is a bit too complicated for the senior in your life, checkers is a great option because it’s simpler and easier to learn. The goal of checkers is to capture or block all of your opponent’s game pieces, so that they can no longer make any moves.
Card and Dice Games for Seniors
Games to play with a standard deck of cards Card games are a wonderful pastime for seniors. Many of these games test seniors’ memory and encourage them to think strategically, while also helping them connect with others socially. Here are a few fun games that can be played with a standard deck of 52 cards: Gin Rummy: A classic 2-player card game that involves using your hand to form “melds,” which are either sequences of three or more cards of the same suit, or groups of three or more cards of the same rank. It’s a bit complicated to learn, but very rewarding for seniors once they master it! Bridge: In bridge, each player is dealt 13 cards. One person plays a card from their hand, and all other players must play a card of the same suit (if they can). Whoever has the highest ranked card wins that round (called a “trick”) and leads the next one. Players are split into teams, so this game is a wonderful way for seniors to engage in some teamwork. Crazy Eights: Each player receives 7 cards, and the rest of the cards form the discard pile. To discard a card, it must match either the rank or suit of the card that’s at the top of the discard pile during your turn. The goal of crazy eights is to be the first player to discard all of your cards. Hearts: The object of hearts is to be the player with the lowest penalty score at the end of the game, so players try to avoid ending up with heart cards (which = 1 penalty point) and the queen of spades card (which = 13 penalty points). Old Maid: To play old maid, you’ll need to remove three queens from the deck. The remaining queen is the “old maid” card. Each person takes turns playing pairs of cards of the same rank and color, until there are no more pairs to be played. The player who is left with the old maid card (the queen with no pair) loses, while everyone else wins.
Other card games There are a few fun games seniors can play that require special decks of cards. These include: Uno: In Uno, each player starts with 7 cards, and the rest of the cards are placed in a draw pile. To play a card from your hand, you need to match it to the top card on the discard pile by number, color, or the symbol/action on the card. When a player has only one card left, they must yell “Uno!” The first player to discard all their cards wins the round. Apples to Apples: Apples to Apples is appropriate for all ages and leads to lots of laughs, so it’s a great option to cheer up a senior who has been feeling sad lately. In each round, one player acts as a judge and picks a green apple card, which features an adjective. Each of the other players puts down a red apple card from their hand that they think matches the adjective. The judge then picks a winner, and that person gets to keep the green card. Exploding Kittens: Exploding Kittens is an exciting card game to play with friends or family, and it’s sure to keep seniors engaged and entertained. Different cards in the deck do different things, like skipping your turn or forcing other players to draw two in a row. The object of the game is to defuse exploding kitten cards before they blow you up (if you draw an exploding kitten card and don’t have a defuse card to play, you’re eliminated).
Dice games Dice games often require strategic thinking, problem solving, memory recall, and even some math when it comes to scoring, so they’re a great mental workout for seniors. Here are a few to try: Yahtzee In Yahtzee, players take turns rolling five dice three times. After each roll, you can choose to keep dice that have landed on large numbers. After the third roll, you stop and add up the dice, making note of the number on your scorecard. The player who has the highest score at the end of the game wins. Bunco: Bunco is a very social game that involves rolling dice to accumulate wins, or “buncos.” It’s very easy to play and doesn’t require any complex skills, so it’s great for seniors of varying ability levels. To play, all you need is a set of dice.
Word & Number Games for Seniors
Word and number games are good mental exercise for seniors. Regularly playing these types of games could contribute to a more cognitively active lifestyle for the senior in your life, which may help them stay sharp and delay the onset of dementia. Word games to try include:
Scrabble Scrabble is a classic game that involves forming words with tiles vertically or horizontally on a game board. Each word must build off of another word on the board to count (for example, you could form the word “animal” using the “n” in “nice”). In general, the longer the word and the more uncommon the letters used, the higher it will score.
Bananagrams Bananagrams is similar to Scrabble, but it only uses tiles with letters on them, not a game board. Each player starts with a certain amount of tiles, and the rest are placed facedown at the center of the table. Players must use their tiles to create their own grid of words in front of them, making sure their words each build off each other like they do on a Scrabble board. When one player uses up all their tiles, everyone takes an extra tile from the center. The first player to use up all their tiles when there are no tiles left in the center pile wins.
Boggle Boggle is a word-finding game that involves shaking up dice with letters on them until they settle into place on a game board. For three minutes, players then try to make words out of the letter combinations on the game board, writing them down on a piece of scratch paper. At the end of the timer, each player reads their words aloud. If more than one player has the word on their list, they must cross it out. Players then score each word left on their list by the number of letters it has (three or four letter words = 1 point and five letter words = 2 points, and so on). The player with the highest score wins!
Crossword puzzles and word searches If the senior in your life is feeling bored during their alone time, try getting them a book of crossword puzzles or word searches. This is a fun way for them to stay entertained while also exercising their brain.
Sudoku If they prefer number games over word games, consider getting them a sudoku book. Research has identified a link between playing number-puzzle games like Sudoku and the quality of cognitive function for adults aged 50 to 90. In other words, Sudoku is not only an entertaining pastime, it’s also a beneficial cognitive workout for seniors.
Large Group Games for Seniors
Group games encourage seniors to connect with others. Many seniors struggle to get enough social interaction, which can negatively impact their mood and even lead to mental health problems. Participating in games with groups of people promotes conversation and connection, which can do wonders for a senior's mental wellbeing! Here are a few popular options:
Bingo It’s a classic for a reason! Bingo has simple rules and can accommodate a bunch of players, so it’s a popular choice at many assisted living homes and community centers. Playing is simple: be the first to match five in a row on your bingo card, then shout out, “Bingo!” You can even purchase your own bingo set to throw a bingo night with your friends, family, and the seniors you know.
Charades Charades is an entertaining (and often hilarious) game seniors can play with a large group. The players start by splitting up into teams and writing words or phrases on paper slips. The slips then get placed into a bowl, and each player picks a slip during their turn. They must act out the word or phrase they’ve drawn without speaking, as their teammates try to guess it correctly.
Head’s Up Similar to charades, Head’s Up is a fun group game you can play using an app on a smartphone or iPad. One player holds the phone or iPad up by their forehead, with the screen facing the other players. The screen will display a word, and the other players describe it without using the word itself. Each time the player with the phone guesses correctly, they tilt the phone downward and score a point. The goal is to guess as many words as possible in 60 seconds.
Name That Tune To play this game, simply make a playlist of fun songs that the seniors in your life love, and play a snippet of each song to see if anyone can guess the title and artist. If you like, you can keep score and award points to each person who guesses correctly, or you can just play for fun. If you have a device equipped with Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa, such as an Amazon Echo Dot, you can even ask Alexa to play this guessing game. Simply say “Alexa, open Song Quiz,” and Alexa will prompt you to choose a decade of music (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, or 2010s). Try picking a decade that would be extra fun and nostalgic for the seniors you’re playing with. Alexa will then play snippets of songs from that decade, and players can guess the song’s title and artist.
Outdoor Games for Seniors
Active outdoor games can do wonders for seniors’ physical health. In fact, getting active can help sharpen their memory, boost their immune system, and improve their energy levels. Games that require a bit of physical activity are a great way to encourage a bit of exercise, while also having fun with family or friends. Below, we’ll go over a few good options to try out:
Pickleball Pickleball is a hugely popular sport that’s a bit like tennis, but it also contains elements of badminton and ping-pong. It’s played on a badminton-sized court, and it involves using paddles to hit a pickleball back and forth over the net. It’s a low-impact way to get your blood pumping, so it’s a great option for seniors.
Bocce Ball To play bocce ball, you’ll need to find a bocce ball court or build a DIY one of your own. To start, the players split up into two teams, and one player throws the jack ball into the marked zone on the court. From there, each player tries to throw a bocce ball as close as possible to the jack ball.
Bean bag toss To play bean bag toss (also called cornhole) start by buying a bean bag toss set. Next, set up the two goals 27 feet (8.2 m) apart, and take turns trying to throw the bean bags into the holes.
Beach ball volley This as an easy and fun option that requires only one piece of equipment: a beach ball. To play, get all the players into a circle and toss the beach ball up into the air. See how long you can all keep the ball into the air by volleying it between each other!
Computer and Video Games for Seniors
If the senior can’t play games in-person, suggest computer games. These are great options for seniors who aren’t able to attend social gatherings in-person very often, or seniors who simply have a lot of alone time they’re looking to fill. There’s even some research suggesting that video and computer games have cognitive benefits for older adults, similar to the way other games do. Here are some games to suggest to them: Words with Friends: If the senior has a smartphone or iPad, they can download this app in the App Store or Google Play store. Words with Friends is similar to Scrabble, and you can actually play with people you know if they have the app, so it incorporates a bit of a social element, too. Nintendo Switch games: To really give the senior in your life a lot of options, consider getting them a Nintendo switch. They can play all kinds of video games on this convenient handheld device, such as Animal Crossing, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Minecraft. AARP’s free online games: If the senior in your life has access to a computer, encourage them to check out the free games on the AARP’s website. They can play word games, mahjong, trivia games, crosswords, and more!
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