Brain-Boosting Activities for Cozy Winter Days

About Miles McGuinness

Miles McGuinness is a copywriter at Brookdale. Originally from Ohio, he graduated from The Ohio State University with a double major in English and marketing. Prior to Brookdale, he worked in digital marketing for a major cleanup and restoration company. When he’s not reading or writing, he enjoys watching movies, trying new restaurants, traveling, and cheering on Cleveland sports.

a hand holding a pencil and doing a crossword puzzle

As temperatures drop, it can be tempting to just cozy up on the couch and nap or watch TV all winter long! While there’s nothing wrong with a midday snooze or a relaxing movie day, here are several stimulating activities you can try to help keep your brain active throughout the colder days ahead.

Solve a Puzzle

Research shows that doing crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, Sudoku and other types of puzzles can help slow cognitive decline. In fact, working crossword puzzles, even just once a month, can assist in improving focus and attention. One study showed that regularly engaging in crossword puzzles helped delay memory decline by two-and-a-half years. Similarly, number-centric puzzles such as Sudoku can help with attention and reasoning skills, and working jigsaw puzzles has been shown to engage multiple cognitive abilities, requiring the use of visual-spatial working memory. Who knew those old jigsaw puzzles we put together as kids could be so beneficial?

Read

Reading is a particularly good activity for chilly winter days, as your only requirement typically is a book! Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction or just reading the local paper, any type of engaged reading on a regular basis can help improve memory and potentially delay cognitive decline. Additionally, reading can be especially helpful for strengthening episodic memory (memory for events), since you must remember what happened previously in a story to understand what comes next. Reading can also help with working memory, allowing you to keep track of and understand material from recent paragraphs. So, whether you prefer a physical book, an e-book or something else, consider making a trip to your local library to find a good story you can get lost in. For help finding a book, check out our blog on useful apps for book lovers.

Dance

Just because you’re indoors doesn’t mean you have to stay snuggled up by the fireplace or under a blanket. Dancing has been proven to help enhance cognitive ability and is something you can do just about anywhere. From assisting with visual, motor and auditory skills to helping improve your cardiovascular system, dancing, if done with others, can also be a tactile activity. And it can be pretty effective in getting your heart pumping, too. Studies have shown that ballroom and line dancing are particularly helpful for improving cognitive function and memory. Ready to bust a move?

Learn a Language

Is there a language you’ve always wanted to learn? Tools like Babbel, Duolingo, Rosetta Stone and others can help you dive right in and get started. Among its several benefits, learning a new language can help boost brain neuroplasticity — our ability to learn and adapt. This can help us grow mentally over time as we tackle life’s challenges and absorb new information. Additionally, learning a new language can help with concentration, problem-solving, memory processing and storing and recalling information.

Play an Instrument

Whether you’re a fan of the piano, violin, guitar or oboe, the music-making possibilities are seemingly endless. Studying music and learning how to play your favorite songs has been shown to help stimulate new connections between nerve cells, and also to help the brain generate new cells entirely. Playing the piano, specifically, can even assist in improving our attention, processing speed and verbal fluency. Time to break out the sheet music and channel your inner Beethoven!

Try Model Building

Gather up the glue, paper and paintbrush — it’s time to model build! Constructing a model airplane or a ship in a bottle is more than just a creative endeavor; it can help challenge your brain, relieve stress and improve focus and concentration. It can also give you a sense of pride and accomplishment when your latest masterpiece is complete.

Play Online Games

With the benefit of the internet, there are countless online games you can play from the comfort of your computer or smartphone. Games like Connections, Contexto and Wordle are popular options, but you can also take your gaming back to basics with classics like FreeCell, online chess and solitaire. Requiring concentration skills, reasoning, strategy, the use of verbal memory and more, these are games you can play again and again.

Play Card Games

If you like traditional pastimes, card games can be a fun way to keep your brain engaged. Promoting skills such as problem solving and critical thinking, card games of all varieties — from the simplicity of Go Fish to the strategy of poker and blackjack — can also assist with stress reduction, memory improvement and more.

Crochet, Knit & Sew

The fiber arts — which include crocheting, knitting and sewing — have been shown to be cognitively stimulating. From helping reduce stress to mitigating the risk of mental decline, impairment and dementia, these sorts of tactile activities can be extremely calming and perfect for cozy days at home. Depending on your skill level, you could keep things easy and take it slow; or, for an added challenge, you could attempt more difficult patterns. You might even consider joining a local crafting group. These activities can help boost your focus and attention span, all while treating yourself or someone else to a sweater, blanket or other warm item.

Exercise

From chair yoga to tai chi and core and isometric exercises, the act of moving your body has surprisingly good effects on your brain. Like dancing, exercise helps send blood flow to the parts of the brain that help with thinking, increasing connections between brain cells. This ultimately can help the brain become more flexible, adaptive and reactive. Exercising can also help improve emotional well-being, as it releases feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins.

Ready to Nourish Your Noggin?

Just as keeping your body in shape requires consistent activity, such as walking or going for a run, your brain also needs regular exercise to stay active and healthy. Trying mental-fitness activities like those above can help you keep your brain healthy. As an added bonus, you can stay entertained and have some fun, too.

So, what are you waiting for? Dust off that old deck of cards or open the crosswords page in your local newspaper or an app. The world of brain-boosting activities awaits!

_{The above content is shared for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on our site. References to any products or services, or links to any third-party websites, do not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation of such products, services, or third parties by Brookdale or its affiliates.}