6 Brain Games And Activities That Make Memory Care Fun

Do you have someone in your family who is struggling with a weakening memory?

You’re probably familiar with memory care – routines that should be performed in order to help your loved one to retain as much of their memory as possible.

Now, memory care can be a hard process for everyone to go through in a family.

It can be frustrating for the family member who is losing their memory and even harder for those who are trying to help them to retain it.

For many families who struggle with a memory care protocol, the factor that is often missing is a sense of fun.

Lots of activities that can help your loved ones to retain their memory are actually really fun and can be collaborative activities that are great for all ages.

If you’re frustrated with dry and boring exercises that are not producing any results for your loved one, there are better options out there.

Why not try some brain games that will make memory care fun instead?

6 Brain Games And Activities That Make Memory Care Fun

1. Puzzles

This might seem like an antiquated activity that will not generate big results for your memory care work, but puzzles are actually a really great way to help with memory care.

Puzzles access many parts of our reasoning process, from shape recognition to color matching and the process of elimination.

We also use our memory to help recall where that piece we saw a few minutes ago is located or to find items that we might have seen in an earlier perusal of the pieces on the table.

This is a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy together as well (which is a great benefit of this kind of game!).

Remember, human contact can greatly improve your loved one’s overall memory care experience.

2. Memory Card Games

These are the kind of games that most people associate with teaching children to recognize shapes and colors, but they can be fun for those who are working with memory training too.

You can use this fun game to have a lighthearted family game that everyone can enjoy.

The recall, color, and shape recognition that is needed to make the game effective will work wonders for your loved one who is struggling with their memory and recall.

Best of all, these fun games come in many shapes and sizes and you can own a variety of these types of games to keep things fresh for everyone.

You can even play memory games online to mix up your routine a bit.

Classics like Solitaire or Klondike Solitaire are also good options.

3. Trivia

Trivia can be a great option for memory care because it taps into both new and old knowledge.

Some memory care needs are related to loss of short-term memory while other kinds of memory loss are related to past knowledge.

Trivia can train both kinds of memory activation.

For many people who are struggling with memory loss, it’s very beneficial to have recall work done for both kinds of memory and the two can go hand in hand to repair connections that have been degraded between both kinds of memory.

4. Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles are a great way to help the memory care process because they require a lot of different memory skills to complete them.

Crossword puzzles help with the recollection of the spelling and shape of words, as well as the need to access potential answers to clues.

The process of solving small riddles can help with many types of recall for those who are struggling with losing their memory.

Even being able to access basic knowledge (like song titles and other simple trivia) can help to rebuild pathways that have broken down over time.

5. Arts and Crafts

While not specifically a game, arts and craft projects can make sure that your loved one uses their hand-eye coordination and has fun in the process.

You can work on projects together to foster a sense of community and to allow for conversation to flow between people that are involved in the project.

You can also choose a set goal for the project so that shape matching and color matching are required to complete the project.

Arts and crafts are fun for all ages and you can easily make this a great supportive project for the loved one in your life who is struggling with their memory (and their recall of words, colors, and shapes).

An added bonus for this kind of project is using this as a chance to scrapbook with old photographs that can spark old memories and discussion about the things that are going on in the pictures.

6. Bingo

Bingo, as simple as it is, is a great memory recall game.

This is part of why it is fostered in senior centers and other locations which cater to the elderly or care for them.

Bingo requires hand-eye coordination as well as listening and processing skills while marking the cards.

Bingo is also a fun and social game that allows your loved one to talk to others involved in the game as it progresses.

This is a great option for playing at home if you have enough people to read out the numbers and play along with your loved ones.

Memory Care Does Not Have to Be a Struggle

If you have been struggling with memory care activities that are not engaging to your loved one or create a sense of stress and urgency, you will love these great memory care game ideas.

No board game or basic social game is out of the question if you think that it will also help your loved one to stay engaged and use their deductive reasoning to solve problems.

Memory care does not have to be a struggle if you can inject a sense of fun into the process for everyone, but most especially – for your loved one.

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Amber & The Team

Co-authors at ShineSheets.com

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