Play Benefits Seniors, Too

We often think of games as children’s pursuits, but there play benefits seniors and other adults, too.

The concept of play has evolved significantly since you were playing hide and seek, dodgeball, and boardgames as a kid. Research shows that play is more than just fun. For children, it helps their brains develop and nurtures creativity and critical thinking skills, making it a useful learning tool in early education.

Play-based activities have taken on much the same role for older adults, but instead of helping their brains develop, the activities can help prevent cognitive decline .

Toymaker Hasbro, in conjunction with Ageless Innovation, a company that designs toys for older adults, has come out with new versions of Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and Life. Larger fonts and game pieces and modified content are targeted to the older generation.

More ways play benefits seniors

Loosen up, laugh, and act like a kid

Just because play comes with cognitive benefits doesn’t mean you should ignore what play was intended for in the first place: fun! According to Walter Boot , professor of psychology at Florida State University, “It’s an ageist notion that everything that we design for older adults needs to serve some kind of cognitive purpose instead of just designing games for them to have fun.”

Whether you’re gathering with friends for a game of cards or pickleball or playing a scavenger hunt with your grandchildren, play is an opportunity to break out of your routine, loosen up, laugh, and be in the moment. There doesn’t have to be any point to the activity. According to the founder of the National Institute for Play, Dr. Stuart Brown , “play” can simply be “purposeless, all-consuming and fun.”

Play relaxes you

Have you ever been playing cards or focusing on a craft project and found that you forgot a pain or a problem that had been nagging at you? The National Institute for Play reports that “adults who play experience less stress and more optimism and well-being.” That’s because fun-filled activities trigger the release of endorphins , the hormones that bring about a sense of well-being.

For example , David Cameron, Britain’s former prime minister, for example. After a long, hard day, he unwinds by playing the videogame “Angry Birds.” Soccer icon David Beckham finds building with Legos calming.

My own mother was proof of how play can relieve stress. Dealing with end-stage COPD for about the last decade of her life, she continued dressing up for the kids every Halloween, walking and playing with her dogs, and at 81, less a year before she passed away, sitting cross-legged on the floor and teaching her 26-year-old grandson to shoot marbles, a game she played as a child. Her playful personality likely helped defuse the stress she was feeling because of her illness and helped her keep going.

Related: Never Underestimate the Benefits of a Good Laugh!

Forges connections

Playing games and enjoying other fun-filled activities can help you connect with others and build intimacy. When you share laughter and amusement, it fosters empathy, compassion and trust with your “playmates.”

Interestingly, play doesn’t have to involve an activity like bingo or tennis. Being playful in the way you approach life, i.e., laughing easily, enjoying a good joke or prank, and not taking things too seriously can help you avoid awkward social interactions, remain calmer in stressful situations, and lighten the mood.

Related: Games to Enjoy Across Generations

Fills up your life

Incorporating play in your life can also keep you young. When you let loose and cut up with others over a game of Pictionary or Charades or while playing hide-and-seek with the kids, it makes you feel like a kid again.

George Bernard Shaw said it best: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

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