There is no excuse to be a dumb Jock anymore when you have the free solitaire.org video games for fun, intellectual stimulation, and learning – over 100 of them!!
Researchers see educational and learning potential in a multitude of video games. I will share my favorite games from Solitaire.org and the results and benefits I exhibited from them. I will add that I do need to concentrate a lot with these games, so I like to add only a simple isometric exercise like the wall sit or just sitting on a Balance Ball for my Body and Mind Combo Training.
DAILY WORD SEARCH: I enjoy the daily word search game where a word search is different each day. You can do the current day or go back and do a previous day. My best so far has been 12:02. Interestingly, I was never a big fan of word searches till this game. At first I felt overwhelmed and thought I would be too slow. I quickly developed a strategy to pick up the pace – finding all the “letters” for the first letter of a word. Then, I could sift through and find words faster. I found longer words more easily than three letter words. I find a great sense of self esteem to just complete these games in a timely fashion.
ZUMA BALL: My all time favorite game on any video game website involves bubble shooting. On this site, my favorite is Zuma Ball. I feel like there is logical thinking and strategy that needs to be made in order to be successful and move up the levels. I also know reaction time and hand-eye-coordination plays a part in your success in this game. There are similar shades of yellow and red balls, which can come quickly and you need to match them in 3 to remove them. You need to stay focused to match the right shade of color. I feel I get into a zone as I move up the levels and my concentration increases. I block out any distractions and I think fast, but I need to react even faster. Right now, my best result after a few days of practice has been reaching level 8 out of 10 levels.
DAILY 15UP: I never played a math video game before till I played Daily 15UP logic puzzle. At first, it seemed quite difficult and it took me 8 minutes to complete my first game. The math is easy, but there is logical thinking and a process to add up the math to make 12 addition problems. I kept getting stuck finding #12. After a few attempts, I got a lot faster and figured out the logic. My best time to complete the game is now 1 minute and 30 seconds. Just like with anything – practice makes performance.
PALACE HOTEL HIDDEN OBJECTS GAME: I found the Palace Hotel Hidden Objects game to be unique and exhilarating. I was so excited to get through all 10 levels on my first try at the game! It reminded me of my self defense course where I teach people to be aware of their surroundings and pay attention to details. I felt like a detective sent out on a hunt for missing objects and I had to find everything as fast as possible. I can see where this game improves memory recall and reaction time.
LETTER SCRAMBLE: The letter scramble video game was a great mental challenge with only 3 levels. I was happy to make it to level 2 of 3 on my first attempt. It tests your vocabulary, speed reading ability, reaction time, cognitive function, critical thinking, and memory recall. Different letters get shuffled around and you need to remember where a letter was placed to keep coming up with words quickly. Think of words with the letters you see and then spell them out. The game increases speed at each level.
There are well over 100 FREE games at solitaire.org. I just shared with you some of my favorite ones. They are probably most known for card games, so I wanted to share some of the other game categories available there. Time to get your Body and Mind Training in TODAY!
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