Your students probably see Classroom Brain Teasers and brain games as nothing but play time, but they’re also a great way to improve students’ cognitive skills. They can help children of all ages develop logical reasoning and critical thinking abilities, improve attention and concentration, and process, retain, and recall information more quickly.

Experts are split on whether “brain training” has long-term value, but all students can benefit from opportunities to increase their core cognitive skills. Brain games can be especially beneficial for students with ADHD, learning disorders, or language challenges.

Examples of Classroom Brain Teasers & Games

You don’t need to introduce a costly, formalized training program to help your students exercise their cognitive skills. Inexpensive resources can be just as effective.

Brain Teasers for Children — All of these Brain Teasers can be set up in your classroom using crayons, pencils, or popsicle sticks.

7 Second Riddles and Bright Side Riddles – These videos include a series of brain teasers with just seconds to solve each one. These challenging teasers are more appropriate for middle school students.

Brain Exercises on the Go — While these ideas are presented to parents to use when they’re in the car with their children, they can easily be adapted for use in your classroom.

Flexi Puzzle — With just 12 colored cubes, your students can solve over 80 puzzles of varying difficulty. This brain game tests problem solving, pattern recognition, and spatial thinking.

Simon — If you can embrace the extra noise, playing Simon is a great cognitive skills exercise that increases sequential processing, short-term memory, attention, and visual processing.

On the Dot — For older students (10+), this game boosts pattern recognition, visual processing, and spatial awareness skills.

What are your go-to resources for brain games to boost cognitive skills?

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