Working the memory is just as important for its health as exercising the muscles is for strength. According to Alzheimer's Disease Research, regularly engaging the brain with games and exercises may protect it from memory loss later in life. It also helps facilitate faster learning in school and at work. A variety of these activities will keep the brain sharp and foster memory skills now and through the years. Memory-enhancing games are often available online for added convenience.
Break Routines
According to Neurobics.com, altering an everyday routine presents a new way for the brain to approach a task. For example, write with your nondominant hand or take a new route to work. This allows the brain to confront a challenge, which activates parts of the brain that aren't always in use. Other ways to break routines include rearranging household furniture or shopping at a new store.
Letter Games
This game can be played alone or with several people. The idea is to think of objects that begin with the different letters of the alphabet. For example, choose a letter and come up with as many words that start with that letter as possible. A variation is choosing a category, such as countries, foods or car models, and trying to think of one item from that category for each letter in the alphabet. According to YourAmazingBrain.org, these types of exercises make the memory more adaptable, allowing the retention of information as well as the acquisition of new material by recalling items stored in the brain that aren't thought of all the time.
Mnemonics
Mnemonics involve associating information with other items that helps a person remember certain pieces of new material. Chunking is one form of mnemonic memory exercises. This activity is commonly used to remember phone numbers or Social Security numbers, because it works by breaking the string of numbers into groups of three or four numbers each. Another form of mnemonics is acronyms, or using initials to remember things, such as FACE for musical spaces on a treble staff, says HelpGuide.org. Visualization is also an effective mnemonic device for improving memory and works by associating something, such as a person's name, with an actual object that can be recalled when presented with that person at a later date.
