[For Seniors] Brain Training Recommended for Dementia Prevention
In this article, we introduce brain-training activities that can help prevent dementia in older adults.
As we age, memory is something everyone worries about.
For those concerned, we recommend simple, easy-to-do brain training designed for seniors.
Doing brain training activates the brain and can contribute to overall mental and physical well-being.
There are quiz formats, riddles, four-character idioms, and even brain-training activities you can do while moving your body.
Find the brain training that suits you, and enjoy doing it.
If you’re a caregiving professional looking for brain-training ideas, be sure to check these out.
- [For Seniors] Brain Training! Recall Quiz Collection!
- [For Seniors] Challenging but Exciting! Kanji Quiz
- [For Seniors] Find daily brain training. Today’s recommended brain workout.
- [For Seniors] Lively Wordplay Game: Fun Recreation for Elderly Care
- [For Seniors] Fun Brain Training! Prefecture Quiz
- Recommended for seniors. Brain training with an odd-one-out quiz.
- [For Seniors] Popular Brain Training and Recreational Quizzes
- [For Seniors] Fun and Lively! Recommended Quiz Questions
- [For Seniors] Fun Riddles That Stimulate the Brain
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Brain Training! Finger Exercises That Help Prevent Dementia
- [For Seniors] A Brain-Training, Crowd-Pleasing Word Search Game
- [Brain Training] Lively Word Quiz for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
[For Seniors] Dementia-Preventing! Recommended Brain Training (21–30)
Brain training through singing
This “Sing and Brain-Train” activity isn’t just about singing; by adding other movements, it trains you to “do multiple things at the same time,” which can help prevent dementia and reduce the risk of falls.
In this video, while singing the song “Furusato,” you clap your hands whenever lyrics include sounds from the ka-row or ga-row.
Doing several tasks at once—recalling and singing the lyrics, paying attention to the targeted sounds, and clapping—helps activate the brain.
Song guessing quiz
Here is one of the many recreational activities you can do with just a whiteboard.
It’s called a “Guess the Song” quiz: you write the lyrics of a well-known song on the whiteboard bit by bit, and everyone tries to guess the song title.
Once someone figures it out, it could be fun for everyone to sing it together afterward.
Singing provides beneficial stimulation for the body.
Brain Training Jenga
This is a “brain-training Jenga” you make and play with using milk cartons.
Wrap a milk carton all around with vinyl tape, slice it into rings, and write the Japanese syllabary on them with a permanent marker.
Stack the pieces and use them to form words.
Longer words are harder to stack, so they score higher.
Carefully stack them so they don’t topple over!
Association Quiz
There are many games you can play with just a whiteboard, and among them, this one is great for developing imagination.
You randomly list adjectives in the left column and nouns on the right, then think of combinations of the two.
It’s well-suited for brain training, and by using parts of your mind you don’t usually use, it may even help prevent cognitive decline.
It’s also a nice activity to try at home.
Spot the Difference Game
It’s a game where you look at side-by-side illustrations or photos and find the differences.
It helps train concentration to carefully observe the details of the prompt, as well as memory skills to compare and remember the mistakes you found.
It’s best to start with obvious, large differences and gradually move on to more subtle ones.
If you just can’t find a difference, it may help to use hints that indicate which area contains one.
Encourage players to focus and find the differences on their own to help stimulate brain activity.
PET bottle cap puzzle
Let’s have fun with a puzzle game you can make using plastic bottle caps! Prepare a sheet of paper divided into a 3×3 grid and nine plastic bottle caps, then draw the same letters or shapes on both the paper and the caps.
Once you’re done, place each cap according to the numbers or designs in the squares.
Can you place them all without making a mistake? Mixing in similar-looking designs or letters can also help train cognitive skills.
Since it’s a handmade game rather than a store-bought one, feel free to enjoy it with your own tweaks, like increasing the number of pieces.
Shiritori Card Game
Haven’t many older adults played shiritori at least once? Here’s a familiar shiritori-style card game for seniors.
Prepare cards with each of the 50 Japanese syllables written on them, and deal five cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards in the center and draw one card to start.
Think of a word that begins with the syllable of the drawn card, so that the last letter of your chosen word matches one of the cards in your hand.
Adding a rule like “use three-letter words” makes it even more fun and can help stimulate the brain.
The first person to use up all their cards wins.
Let’s all enjoy thinking of words together while we play.
