5 Fun & Easy Mental Exercises to Give Your Brain A Boost

Keeping your brain in tip-top shape can be challenging, especially for busy moms, but it is essential that we make sure that our whole body, including our brain, gets a good workout on a regular basis. Working out your brain doesn't have to be boring; this might become your favorite regular workout!

I will share with you 5 fun ideas on how to give your brain the regular exercise it needs to stay sharp. Don't worry it doesn't take a lot of time or expensive equipment to get a mental workout in every day. You only need a few minutes each day to flex your gray matter.

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Mental Self-Care For Busy Moms

Self-care, especially for busy moms is so important. Taking a little time each day to focus on taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually will not only make you feel better but it will help you be a better mom. 

Exercising your brain can benefit you in so many ways like improved concentration and focus as well as other important cognitive functions. Here are a few more benefits from flexing your mental muscles:

• boost your confidence & self-esteem
• improve your memory & attention
• make you smarter & sharper
• improve decision-making ability
• enhance positive mood & attitude
• boost your creative energy
• improve your communication skills

Everyone will benefit from a few minutes each day of active mental activities and exercises. Your quality of life as a busy mom depends on it! Here are 5 simple, budget-friendly games you can start doing today and get your brain in tip-top shape.

5 Fun & Easy Brain Games To Exercise Your Mommy Brain

WORD SEARCH

I find word search puzzles so relaxing! It is a great way to fill time when you are waiting for an appointment, sitting in the car pool line, or just taking a few moments to unwind after a long day. 

Whether you like the electronic versions or the printed softcover book style you can still give your brain a great mental workout! Word searches come in a variety of themes like Bible verses, vacation themes, science, and seasonal themes. There is almost no limit to the themes these kinds of puzzles offer. 

App Recommendation: Word Search Explorer by PlaySimple Games (Google Play Store)

Classic word search puzzles with beautiful scenery to help you relax your mind. This app offers free to play word search puzzles that will help you grow your vocabulary as you solve the puzzles.

Printed Recommendation (softcover) : Large Print Bible Word Search Puzzle Book 

This puzzle book that you can purchase on Amazon has over 1,000+ hidden words! Each puzzle page contains a verse from the Bible with words selected within the verse that are hidden in the puzzle. Not only are you spending time exercising your brain but you also benefit from reading Scripture verses! This puzzle book makes a great gift for a senior friend or family member because of the large print size. Tuck this book into your bag, purse or tote to take along with you on vacation or to appointments. 

SUDOKO 

Sudoko is a great workout for your brain! This working-memory training activity, like chess, requires you to think three or four steps ahead to your next move. Fun and challenging games like sudoko will really work your gray matter.

App Recommendation: Sudoko-Classic Brain Puzzle by Shared Fun (Google Play Store) 

Beware, this is an addictive game that can help you train your brain!

Printed Recommendation (softcover): 1,000 + All Easy Sudoko Puzzle Book

MAZES

A maze puzzle not only challenges your brain but it helps with eye hand coordination too. These types of puzzles come in a variety of shapes and levels of difficulty too. A favorite puzzle for kids, mazes are also popular with adults. Completing a maze creates a sense of accomplishment while keeping your brain active and working in top condition. 

App Recommendation: Mazes & More (Google Play)

Printed Recommendation: The Amazing Book of Mazes (Amazon)

This book is full of handcrafted mazes for you to enjoy! Seventy-five fun mazes for you to solve.

CROSSWORD PUZZLES

A popular past time that has been around for decades, crossword puzzles are still a popular activity for people of any age. The benefits of working on a crossword puzzle offers more than just a challenging game. According to Harvard researchers crossword puzzle clues often force you to link concepts you hadn't pictures together. These features mean that crossword puzzles cause large areas of your cortex to be active, and stimulate new connections in your brain. So if you are looking for an easy way to relieve stress with a good mental workout I recommend that you try a crossword puzzle!

App Recommendation: Crossword Puzzles by Xpress Mobyte (Google Play Store) rated 4.5

Printed Recommendation: Amazing 2024: Easy Exciting Crossword Puzzles for Adults (Amazon)

This fun puzzle book has over 2400 words to decipher! 

BRAIN TEASER PUZZLES

Do you consider yourself a detail oriented person? If so, brain teaser puzzles that challenge you to spot the differences between two pictures or puzzles that you have to find hidden objects will be loads of fun for you. These puzzles can include anything from challenging math puzzles to visual challenges. Brain teaser puzzles are not only fun but they can help prevent short term memory loss. 

App Recommendation: Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles (Google Play Store)

New levels added every month! Rated 4.7

Printed Recommendation: The Fun and Relaxing Adult Activity Book (Amazon)

A collection of different fun activities that will keep you mentally sharp and entertained for hours!

WORD GRID PUZZLE (a.k.a Boggle Solitaire)

These types of puzzles are based on the Boggle board game. The goal of the game is to find as many words as you can with a given grid of letters but you can only make words for letters that touch each other and each letter can only be used once per word. Once you begin to master this type of puzzle set a time limit and see how fast you can complete it! 

App Recommendation: Boggle with Friends Word Game (Google Play Store)

Printed Recommendation: Boggle Your Mind (Amazon)

BONUS GAME - Boggle Solitaire Alternative!

Word Grid Puzzles (aka Boggle Solitaire) are based on the Boggle board game. In Word Grid, you’re given a grid of letters and must find as many words as you can.

The rules are simple: words must be made from letters that touch and each letter can only be used once per word. To make it more challenging, set a time limit!

Want to learn more? Check out How to Play Word Grid for a list of the rules, solving methods, and an example walkthrough. 

Your brain will thank you for all of these fun activities! Get your kids involved and make it a family fun night with a variety of brain teasers.

A Look At Our Homeschool Schedule - What Works and What Doesn't

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Our family has been homeschooling for 8 years now! Through those years I've had to make adjustments as needed to accommodate the personalities of my four kids. After finding the right rhythm for our homeschool the current schedule we follow seems to be working well for us.

Before I go any further please remember that this is a look into our homeschool. My home. Your schedule and what works best for your family will probably be different. I hope you glean something from what we do to help you in areas that might need tweaking in your own schedule, but I would hope that your homeschool looks different from ours.

Years ago I was overwhelmed, frustrated and heading towards burnout! It seemed that chaos and sometimes bad attitudes ruled our school day. It lead to a lot of whining, complaining and fighting from everyone - myself included!

Something had to change - NOW.

So what did I do? Prayed! I prayed for wisdom and that God would equip me to do the job He was calling me to do - homeschool our kids.

My husband and I agreed on a more structured schedule that required the kids to be up and ready for the day by a certain time each day. With time for us to gather together for read-alouds, plenty of time for breaks and independent work.

I hope by sharing our schedule with you it may encourage you or give you some suggestions for your own homeschool structure. So here is what our typical homeschool day looks:

Our Homeschool Schedule

8:15 - Bible Study - my oldest two girls (6th grade & 8th grade) are ready for the day and start working on their Bible study. This gives me time to help answer questions or discuss the lesson with them before their younger brothers need me to help them get ready for the day.

*we attend a weekly Community Bible Study (CBS) class which has a home school and teen core group class. We LOVE it! The class meets every Wednesday and since I am part of the teaching team we are there all day. My oldest (8th grade) brings school work to do during non-Bible study time and my youngest three just play in the gym during that time. I do not require the kids to do school on Wednesday therefore our school week is only 4 days. click the link above to find a class near you.

8:30 - Bible Study - the boys (4th grade and K) get their school day going with Bible Study.

9:00 - Group Read Aloud Time - we gather at the kitchen table and I read either our history lesson or whatever chapter book we are reading to the kids. During this time they can doodle, color, play with slime - anything that is quiet!

10:00 - Math (6th grader) / Language Arts (4th grader)-  At this point my oldest starts her independent work in the order she chooses. While the two middle children do math and language arts I spend time with our youngest playing games or working on reading, math or handwriting.

10:30 - 11:00 BREAK TIME - by this time in the morning we all need a break and this is free time for everyone to do whatever they want. Most of the time they play basketball outside on a nice day or play with Lego's if the weather is bad.

11:00 - Math (4th grader) / Writing (6th grader) 

11:30 - Spelling & Writing (4th grader) / Language Arts (6th grader)

12:00 - 1:00 LUNCH BREAK - we all eat together! During this time I will either read to them or we watch past episodes of CNN 10 to get up to date on current events happening around the world.

1:00-1:45 - Science (4th & 6th grader) - The two middle children have been doing science together for the last 3 years and it has worked out well for us. The curriculum we use has a student notebook/workbook that has both a junior level (lower elementary) and a regular level for the upper elementary students. My youngest loves to do science with us and has his own plain spiral notebook to write in and make lap books with the older two.

1:45 - 2:30ish - Reading / Exercise / Music - this chunk of time includes a lot of different options for the kids to choose. My son (4th grader) takes an online robotics class and uses this time to work on his EV3 robot as well as read his assigned chapter book. My 6th grader practises her guitar or reads her assigned chapter book during this time. Depending on what day of the week it is the kids can also use this time to exercise on our Max Trainer machine (they love it!).

Whew! That is one busy day, right!

My oldest ends her school day at various times during the week depending on how ahead or behind she is with her assigned work. Most days she is usually done with school around 2:30 / 3:00.

I found this great Homeschool Planner Printable on Etsy that offers tons of options for you to use while creating your schedule. If you are not great at creating a schedule from scratch this product is for you!! (affiliate link)

This schedule represents a typical day of homeschool when we are HOME! What is not listed on this schedule are the extra weekly activities the kids do like ballet class 3 times per week, guitar lessons, little league, doodle crate art and a baseball class. With a flexible yet structured schedule our days have been more productive and enjoyable.

Because of these extra activities it is quite common for us to "road school" which means each kid packs a bag with one or two subjects to work on in the car (or waiting room) while we are out and about.

This schedule has taken a lot of "tweaking" to get it working well for us. Here are some tips I thought would be helpful for you as you work on your homeschool schedule.

5 Tips to Help You Create An Awesome Homeschool Schedule

#1 Tip  - pay attention to what time of day your child learns best and schedule their more challenging subject(s) during that time. Also make sure your schedule is age appropriate. I don't know any homeschool kindergartners who have a 5 hour school day!

#2 Tip - Make sure you are consistent yet flexible as you create a homeschool schedule for your family. If the schedule says get up and be ready by 9am - do it! If your child was up late one night cut them some slack and allow a little flexibility for a tired cranky child.

#3 Tip - Don't overload your week with extra activities. I know each opportunity is fun, educational and your kid just wants to do it but there is a limit to how full you can pack your schedule.

#4 Tip - Get your kids involved helping you create a schedule. This will help them feel heard, important and give them a sense of ownership of their homeschool - it is their schedule right?

#5 Tip - Create a calendar just for homeschool so kids know when certain projects, book reports or papers are due, what they should be reading or studying and if you test, when the test will take place as well as any other important deadlines. This keeps everyone on the same page! Don't add items like doctor appointments to the homeschool calendar - Just Homeschool Items ONLY!

I could probably go on and on and I'm sure you can add your own tips to this list but I will save those for another post.

I hope this helps you as you figure out what is best for your family. Flexibility has been a key factor for us as we journey through each year of homeschool. Best of luck to you as you work on your family's homeschool schedule.

If you get stuck and can't seem to figure out why your schedule isn't working I'd love to help you. Please leave me a comment, question or suggestion so we can chat! Don't forget to PIN this post so you can come back to it as you work through putting your schedule together.

4 Relaxing Ideas To Do When You Get Time Alone

So my kids are gone with my husband for a few hours and I am home alone!

ALONE!

I actually can't remember the last time I had a few hours all to myself at home.

The big question now is - What should I do? The list is long and I find myself debating in my head what to do first. Ever have this happen?

I feel like a six year old in a candy store staring at the endless bins of sugary sweets trying to decide which one he wants. I just don't know. I can't decide, and I'm wasting precious time!

Panic, I am actually feeling a little anxiety over this whole dilemma. The clock is ticking people and I need to decide something soon otherwise before you know it the hubby will be pulling into the garage with the kids and I will once again resume the role of Mom.

OK, deep breath.

Here is my top five list of things to do when the rare occasion presents itself and the house is all mine!

1. Watch a TV show - uninterrupted, holding the remote because yes I am now queen of the remote control. Cooking show? Reality show? Movie? Yikes more decisions! My go to is the Pioneer Woman on Food Network. Love her recipes.

2. Pinterest and actually read the links I have pinned. Pinterest is sometimes my gap filler, you know those five minutes here or there that you fill scrolling through the eye candy on Pinterest. I have great intentions to click to visit the actual site but I don't always have the time to read the full text once I get to the site.

3. Home school planning. I have a high schooler next year for the first time so the anxiety to plan is always looming over me these days.

4. Sew or craft. I love to sew but hauling out the supplies, cutting up fabric and then having to put it all away seems a little more than I want to get into with these valuable hours of tranquility. I need days, people, yes, days to myself to tackle some of the sewing projects I want to try out.

5. Clean and organize something, anything. I could have a clean house for more than 5 minutes if I get right on this while the family is gone. Satisfying but short-lived.

Getting used to a break from a busy, noisy, full house is harder than I thought it would be. It is so rare that I don't exactly know what to do. But one thing for sure I know is by the time this moment comes to an end I will have a better appreciation for my kids, husband and our life. Like the cliche says - you don't know what your missing until it's gone.

Is it possible to miss them in such a short time? Yep, but I will cherish this quite house and enjoy it just a bit more than usual when it is once again filled with giggles, loud footsteps, tattling, crying, endless questions, and many "I love you"'s.

My family is precious to me and I love being with them. Sometimes stepping away (or having them leave for a few hours) allows you to regain your perspective and remember what a treasure each moment with those you love is.

Enjoy your Sunday friends! I know I am going to enjoy mine.