2 Ways Activity Books are Great for Your Brain Health

As children, we’re interested in activity books for the fun games and interesting pictures. But did you know that activity books for adults are more than just an interesting diversion? In addition to endowing you with bragging rights as a crossword champion or cryptogram master, there are several ways that activity books are great for your brain health! 

1. Activity Books Support a Healthy Memory.
   
   There is some evidence suggesting that activity books, particularly those with visual word puzzles like word searches and crosswords, are great for the health of your immediate memory.The immediate memory is an important function between your brain’s short- and long-term memory systems.In one study, a man who completely lost the ability to form long-term memories was still able to store new information in his memory in a long-term capacity, with a caveat. The new information had to be learned by playing a crossword puzzle! It appears that the combination of visual (the puzzle itself) and verbal (the words) input plays an important role in how this works.

2. Activity Books Can Combat the Negative Effects of Too Much Screen Time.
   
   Another reason that activity books are a boon for your brain? Quite simply: they’re keeping you off a screen. We all know intuitively that at the societal level we are getting too much screen time, which is impacting our brain health in several ways. In fact, the average American spends more than 7 hours looking at a screen every day. As a result, we’re having a harder time getting to sleep, huge percentages of the population struggle with depression and anxiety, and our collective attention span has reduced pitifully. Replacing just an hour or so of daily screen time with an activity book instead, especially during the evening hours when your brain needs to wind down, can help your body regain a healthy circadian rhythm and maintain a proper attention span, all while having fun and perhaps even learning something new!

When selecting an activity book for brain health, make sure that it includes some visual word puzzles such as word searches and crossword puzzles. There are so many options available that you are sure to find an activity book that matches your interests, and you’ll be supporting a healthy memory and avoiding the negative effects of too much screen time, all at once! Check out the wide selection of puzzle activity books here on the Puzzle Favorites website and start sharpening your memory now!