Remembering Your ABC’s Is Not Just for Kids!

By admin · Saturday, January 10th, 2009

As children we are surrounded by parents and teachers wanting us to learn the alphabet, teaching us via spelling bees, reading and of course through puzzles. Unfortunately as we get older, whether it be that time doesn’t allow, we lose interest due to other life events or simply because we don’t have anyone pushing us, we tend to forget about exploring the alphabet via the English language.

Getting older also increases our awareness of illnesses such as Alzheimer’s Disease and memory loss and studies have shown that the best weapon in the fight against these conditions, is to continue to exercise our minds. The old adage “use it or lose it” has never been more apt than when referring to our memory.

The perfect way to keep your mind active is by reading but reading isn’t for everyone. For a lot of people, the thought of sitting and reading a novel is a very daunting task.

Rather than making mental exercise a chore it is time to make it a pastime that you enjoy taking part in. One of the simplest ways to exercise your mind is reading the newspaper while having breakfast, not only do you get to catch up on the news but you are also keeping your mind active at the freshest part of the day and without having to make it feel like hard work. The other pastime you can start to take part in is puzzles! Puzzles come in all forms including crosswords, word finds, code words and Sudoku and in levels to suit everyone. You don’t need to be a Maths or English Professor to be able to have fun doing puzzles, it is just a matter of finding the puzzles that suit you the best.

You might not be great at spelling but love numbers so you can spend your leisure time completing Sudoku and codeword puzzles that are based on the use of numbers, letters, and playing ‘detective’ to crack the code. They are great fun, challenging and suit all ages and skill levels. Crosswords and word finds also come in various forms, and can cover any topic you care to mention. Word finds are perfect for those not so keen on spelling and make it easier to identify and match up words which helps spelling too.

Rather than spending your leisure time wondering what you can do or watching whatever is on television purely because there is nothing else to do, get yourself a crossword or puzzle of some description and start puzzling! Every puzzle will help you improve your memory and exercise your mind.

Have fun keeping your brain active by doing puzzles regularly.