The human mind has a capacity for critical thinking, finding patterns, problem solving, and much more. For millennia, puzzles, games, riddles, and more have been devised to challenge and exercise the mind. These mental exercises often proved a fine way to amuse someone and pass the time, train the mind for complex work or military strategy, and even teach societal norms and morals. Today, this tradition is still going strong with the likes of jigsaw puzzles and board games, and these family games and hard puzzles (like a 1000 pc puzzle) can be a lot of fun. That, and a 1000 pc puzzle or 500 piece puzzles are a great way to amuse kids and give them mental exercise that they need as they grow up. Many studies are done to track people’s mental health, and many studies show that puzzles like 1000 pc puzzles, board games, card games, and much more have all kinds of benefits. Better yet, these games are often affordable (prices vary of course), and don’t involve electronic screens.
On Puzzles
The oldest known puzzle is a dissection of a square that Archimedes once discussed in 250 BC, but in the more modern sense, puzzles appeared in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The idea is simple enough: a puzzle is a sheet of cardboard or similar material, often in a rectangular shape, with an image printed on thin paper on top. That sheet is then cut up into many pieces that have knobs and recesses so that they fit together and reform the whole. One benefit of puzzles such as 1000 pc puzzles is that they’re often much less expensive than game consoles and electronic games, and they’re easy to store and can be fun to collect. Doing puzzles can be a solo activity, or a few friends or family members may gather and complete a large 1000 pc puzzle or even a huge 2000 piece puzzle. It can be great fun to finish a puzzle together.
These puzzles vary in the total piece count for adjustable difficulty, but one thing that’s the same is the mental benefits. Doing puzzles is not only fun, but this and similar activities have some mental benefits such as coordination and gross motor skills, since the user has to pick up and move pieces around. That, and problem solving skills and intuition of figuring out the final image on the puzzle and how to assemble it. This is a great idea for giving kids mental exercise, since childhood is a very important time for mental development. Logic puzzles and physical play are important for kids, and allow them to grow up smart. In fact, for kids and adults alike who are doing puzzles, neurotransmitters may release dopamine while doing puzzles, and research suggests that doing puzzles activates the brain and relaxes the person psychologically. In a way, doing puzles may put the player into a meditative state.
Meanwhile, an elderly dementia patient, such as someone with Alzheimer’s disease, may also benefit from these puzzles. Performing these mental exercises and logic puzzles may even help slow down the advance of Alzheimer’s symptoms, a non invasive and fun way to combat this degenerative condition. That, combined with a strong social life, may do a lot of good for those with Alzheimer’s.
Sports and Board Games
For more dedicated players, playing sports board games and other board game types may be a great way to practice critical thinking, problem solving, strategy, teamwork, good sportsmanship, and more. For older players, sports games may use many statistics and complex boards, as well as dice or cards, to simulate games such as baseball or American football. Meanwhile, even more dedicated players may play games that simulate battle, which are a fine way to exercise strategy, risk taking, thinking ahead, and more. This ranges from chess to games that take up huge boards with many game pieces, often involving moving around many different pieces. These games may often lend themselves to related hobbies, such as collecting, painting, and assembling high quality game figurines and realistic pieces of terrain for gameplay.
