By: Maria Mallaband
As parents, the importance of keeping your child’s minds active and healthy is imperative. Unfortunately it’s a fact of life that as people grow older, so too do their minds. It is it is important that relatives or children of the elderly adopt the same approach as they would with their own offspring. Keeping an elderly person’s mind healthy and active can increase an elderly person’s life expectancy and quality of life. Who wouldn’t want that for their loved ones?
In the same way you plan and encourage your children to participate in activities that will broaden their minds, so too should be encouraged with your ageing relatives.As retirement hits so too can boredom. Hours that were once filled with taxing activities are now harder to fill. It is necessary that the elderly people who live alone and in care homes are actively encouraged to use their minds and bodies on a daily basis. Here are some ideas that you can easily introduce the retired to. These activities can provide mental and bodily stimulus. It is a hard time in someone’s life when they begin to see their loved ones grow old and less able so encouraging these activities can reap benefits for both parties.
Brain Games
The brain is just like any other muscle and it needs to be exercised in order to work to its full potential. It needs to be exercised on a daily basis in order to keep in perfect working condition. As you grow older your mind begins to lose its strength like most muscles and it is fundamental especially for the elderly that they in particular practice this proven theory. There are several ways to keep a mind active and strong such as learning a new skill. Learning something new, like a language, knitting or pottery can keep improve brain activity in an old aged person. Puzzle and maths games such as Sudoku and crosswords can be easy alternatives to getting the cognitive part of the brain in a perfect working state.
Card Games
Card games are an excellent activity for the elderly to get involved in. One of he many benefits of card games is that they can be played both individually and in groups. Solitaire is a game that can be enjoyed alone, or Bingo is a great way to increase an elderly person’s social interaction whilst improving their perceptive skills.
Video Games
Video games could be overlooked as an activity recommended for elderly people. This could be a simple way of getting an elderly person to keep both mentally and physical agile. There are video games to suit every preferabilityso there should be no trouble in picking something your loved one will enjoy.
Excercise
With the aging population increasing more and more exercise groups for the elderly are popping up all over the place. Groups of elderly people are uniting in their bid to keep it ad healthy. This is a brilliant way to keep fit and socialise at the same time
Gardening
Gardening is also a great way for old people to send their free time. Tending to their garden and plants can be therapeutic and beneficial for their health and mind. Spending time with nature has been proven to increase happiness and ward off depression.
Finally
It is important to take care of your elderly relatives and loved ones, just as you would as a parent for your child. Encouraging the elderly with these activities will keep them young at heart and will help you out on the road to bonding with your loved one as they enter the later stages of life.
I am really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your
weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.
Thank you for the comment. I did purchase the core theme and modified it a great deal to fit the feel of my writing. I still have a lot to learn but goodness don’t we all?