We all agree that exercise is good for our body. But how many of us truly believe that we also need exercises for our brain? Many may think that just by being active, by doing regular chores, by doing a regular job from 9am to 5pm, aren’t we all using our brain? Why to separately exercise our brain? Thus we may not feel the need to teach or introduce the concept of exercising the brain to children!
Most of the adults ignore, neglect, or are unaware or do not believe in the concept of exercising our brain. But let me tell you that many studies have proved that simple activities if done all throughout our life can be extremely beneficial in improving our brain memory and overall brain health. It can also prevent or delay the onset of Dementia. Let’s understand top five brain workouts for children and even for adults to keep our mind in smart shape. I am sure, everyone wants to be smart!
TOP 5 Brain Exercises
Aerobic exercises
Basically any form of cardio exercise where heart rate will increase, will pump more blood over all in the body including your brain. Just pick up any aerobic exercise which is of your choice and ability, practice it for 10 to 20 mins every day. It could be running, jogging, zumba dance, swimming, tennis.
Foreign Language
Pick up an evening class or learn it online, choice is yours but learning a foreign language is an amazing exercise for your brain. Learning new words, understanding how to form a sentence in another language is a great way to engage your brain even if you are in a hectic job. Imagine, the fun of using that language to interact with the locals in your next vacation, or with your neighbour or colleague in their native language is interesting as well.
Puzzles
Encourage children and yourself to solve puzzles be it math related like Sudoku, Kakuro or language based like Crosswords. Children who love to solve puzzles not only sharpen their mind but also develop keen observation skills, patience to sit quietly and deep thinking ability to solve a problem.
Music
It is researched and proven that music is like a gym to your brain. It activates different parts of your brain which help in memory building, imporving attention span and complex problem solving ability. So, if you make a family habit of listening to good music and learn to play an instrument, it can really help in improving and retaining good brain health. Your kid need not to be a pro in playing an instrument but few basic lessons will be better than nothing.
Visuospatial Reasoning Activities
{Visuospatial adj. Of or relating to visual perception of spatial relationships among objects}
Learning visuospatial activities from early age will help the children to do better in the academic and professional field of STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). One of the basic ways to introduce it through spatial language sentences like the book is on the table, cookies are inside the drawer. Encouraging the child to speak in spatial language helps in doing better in spatial reasoning tasks. Introducing geometry which includes space concepts like, area, perimeter is another way to develop visuospatial ability. Also, a few more activities like playing video games, flying kites / drones, playing with blocks, Tangram, simple map reading, Origami - paper folding, can improve a child’s mind in manifold ways.
In the words of famous 19th Century French novelist George Sand: “The brain is a tool that gets rusty without constant, albeit moderate, exercise.”
Now, that you know how much exercise is important to your brain - start practicing it today onwards. Happy Practicing!