Just because you’re a senior doesn’t mean that you aren’t hip—you have a shiny iPhone, you know what’s “in.” But while it’s great that your sense of style as remained fresh throughout the years, it’s important that you also work to keep your mind fresh as well.
No, an iPhone isn’t just a fashion accessory, you can actually download specific apps that if used on a daily basis, can help strengthen your mind and perhaps battle dementia—after all, health experts say the cognitive exercises stimulate blood flow to the brain, making it stronger and healthier. That said, below are 4 iPhone app games that can if played on a regular basis, may just be able to keep your mind sharp throughout the years.
1. Who Has the Biggest Brain
Similar to the successful Nintendo DS game Brain Age, Who Has the Biggest Brain is a cheaper, more simplified way of giving the brain a good daily workout. What it does is give you 12 different mini games, all of which are designed to test and challenge four different parts of your brain: calculation, visual, logic, and memory. The results should be able to give you a peek into the strongest areas of your brain, as well as the areas you need to improve on. The game also promises to give you some insight into your rationale of thinking—for example, do you tend to think more like a scientist or an extraterrestrial? No matter what the case you can choose to play with friends or stimulate your brain solo.
2. Scrabble Word Finder
Scrabble Word Finder is another great tool for helping older people strengthen their minds. Unscramblex is one company that produced a tool that can help them find people find words for this great game. You can just enter the letter tiles in the search field and words will be shown. You can even include up to two blank tiles.
3. Sudoku
Sudoku, the popular logic-based numerical puzzle that can typically be found in every Sunday’s national paper, comes in an “on-demand” digital form for iPhone users (no more waiting for the paper boy). It comes in various skill levels and does not repeat puzzles. Price: Free
4. Words With Friends
Similar to Scrabble, Words With Friends is a fun way to test your vocabulary and spelling. You are given a set of letters and must formulate a variety of words using only the letters given. If you’ve laid out an incorrect word, the game will immediately notify you and you must either come up with a correct spelled-word or pass your turn and lose an opportunity at earning points. You can play with people in your iPhone contact list like your son or daughter (granted they’ll need to download the app as well) or play with strangers. Price: Free
5. NYTimes CrossWords
Lastly, with NYTimes CrossWords you can further improve word recognition by solving the daily crossword puzzles that are featured in the renowned New York Times. Price: Free
Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.
