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The Playful Mind

from Inquiry Unlimited

Exercise your mind as you would exercise your body.

Core elements of a healthy brain lifestyle: nutrition, socialization, spirituality, mental stimulation, physical activity.*


Notions for discussion



*Bibliography:


Leisure Fun - Brain Boosts from Waltham, MA - Council on Aging at the Senior Center.

SHAPES, WORDS, NUMBERS . . . LOGIC, COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY

Activity: Tangram
Benefits: Geometric thinking; Visualizing spatial relationships; Mental rotation skills; Eye Tracking


Activity: Magic Square
Benefits: Visual pattern recognition; Spatial reasoning; Arithmetic calculation


Activity: Visual perception - illusion
Do you see the young lady? Spot the older lady?
Benefits: Attention; Visual illusions; Alternating between 2 views


Activity: What comes next?
Challenge: Logic; Number sense; Pattern recognition; Word Recognition


Activity: Jigsaw Puzzle - Visual Thinking
Benefits: Hand-eye coordination; Fine motor skills and dexterity; Visual scanning; Visual problem solving; Focus and attention

ORIGINAL SAMPLE
Jigsaw - Put Boston Back Together


Activity: Toothpick Math
Benefits: Visual-spatial reasoning; Logic; Problem solving


Activity: Dominoes
Benefits: Visual sequencing; Problem solving; Logic


Activity: Anagrams - Word flexibility; jumbles
Benefits: Word flexibility; Language deconstruction and reconstruction; Information retrieval

ORIGINAL SAMPLE:
Variation - Jumble About Australia | Alphagram - Vocabulary from Rabbit-Proof Fence


Activity: How many triangles?
Benefits: Whole and part visualization; Visual discrimination; Geometric Logic


Activity: Same and difference
Benefits: Visual discrimination; Focus; Eye scanning


Activity: Folding Boxes
Benefit: Geometric thinking; Spatial rotation; Mental manipulation


Activity: Strategy Games
Benefits: Logic; Problem solving; Cognitive Complexity; Information Retrieval


Activity: Crossword Puzzles - Humor
Benefits:Information retrieval; Word recall; Focus and attention; Problem solving

ORIGINAL SAMPLES:
Old Boston | New England | North America | Crostic - Boston |


Activity: Illustrated word puzzle
Benefits: Word recall; Analytical connections; Information retrieval

ORIGINAL SAMPLE:
Illustrated puzzle - Boston Beckons


Activity:
Matrix Logic Puzzle
Benefits: Analytical reasoning; Problem Solving; Observing patterns

ORIGINAL SAMPLES:
Colonial Tradesmen | Colonial Chores | Apprentices | Patriot Births

Who Owns What? - - A Standard Logic Puzzle


Activity: Missing Object
Benefits:Analyzing visual similarities; Problem solving; Eye focus


Activity: Sudoku
Benefits:Pattern recognition; Logic; Eye scanning; Attention and focus

ORIGINAL SAMPLES:
Colonial Boston Word Sudoku | Word Sudoku Easy | Word Sudoku Medium
Logic with pictures - Food


Activity: Word Box Puzzle
Benefits: Enhance vocabulary; Strengthen word recall; Problem solving skills; Improve focus and attention to contiguous blocks


ORIGINAL Playful Puzzles at Brain Boosts


Inquiry Unlimited | Brain Boosts | The Jewish Experience in Films | Illustrations of Colonial Boston | Boston's Black Initiatives to Freedom

The Playful Mind is a work in progress originating from Inquiry Unlimited. Material was organized for discussion at the Council of Aging, Waltham, MA in the Stanley Senior Center.
Copyright © 2014 Marjorie Duby All Rights Reserved.
Last modified: October 8, 2019

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