Board Game Fun for Seniors
Enjoy fun, connection, and cognitive benefits with companion care at home through board games and shared activities.
Keeping the brain in good shape can be fun! Playing board games is a great way for your elderly loved one to improve her health in many ways. While board games are not usually a physical activity, they provide many other health benefits, especially for the elderly. Companion care at home providers can help seniors engage and interact while playing games and assisting with hobbies.
Health Benefits of Board Games
Cognitive Health
Board games are a great way to keep the brain active and engaged. They require many areas of the brain to work just to get those pieces moving around the gameboard. And while some games are obvious in how they build cognitive strength, like Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble, even playing a simple board game of Sorry! involves plenty of cognitive-strengthening brain activity.
Memory function is needed to remember rules, when to take your turn, and which direction to go on the board. Strategy is used in even the simplest game as the person plans their next move or where a game piece should land.
Dexterity
Board games are physical games (unlike video games) where game pieces need to be moved, cards need to be flipped, and dice need to be picked up and thrown. All of these activities require your senior to reach, grasp, and move in ways that help build up their dexterity and fine-motor skills.
Social Health
Most board games require at least one other player. That social engagement can be a wonderful way to help your loved one feel connected with someone else, remember what it’s like to take turns, and how to be a good sport when the game doesn’t turn out in his favor.
Even introverts often enjoy the social aspects of playing a board game because it doesn’t require much small talk, and conversations can be focused on the game. But for the extrovert, playing a board game can also be highly engaging as small talk does take place between turns, and there’s the opportunity to engage with someone else.
Five Great Board Games for Seniors
While the top decision of what type of board game your senior should play should be based on what he likes, here are five great board games that have stood the test of time and can be enjoyed with the help of companion care at home or family caregivers:
- Monopoly: This classic game of real estate trading and money management requires not only strategy, but great people skills as well. While it can get long, there are ways to shorten the game if your senior isn’t up for hours of playing.
- Chess or Checkers: Both are great games for seniors and improve cognitive ability, including memory, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills.
- Trivial Pursuit: This is a great game for pulling those memories out of the recesses of the brain.
- Backgammon: This fun game that isn’t too long is great for both entertainment and a bit of strategic thinking.
- Scrabble: The rules are simple, yet this game is one of the best for cognitive strength, as your senior works hard to create words out of a limited number of letters.
Playing Games is a Great Way to Offer Companion Care at Home
If your senior is homebound, having someone come over and play games with him as a form of companion care at home is a wonderful way to help him feel connected and reduce feelings of loneliness. A companion care at home provider can visit regularly for game day, giving your senior something to look forward to each week.
If you or someone you know needs help with Companion Care at Home in Hudsonville, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 560-4057 for more information.
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