Mental Agility

The human mind is a very complex matter, and simplifying it may be one of the hardest tasks.

As the genius Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. Also, these words from French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal’s famous letter demonstrates the difficulty of simplifying, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”

Well, it may be hard to understand what these geniuses meant with these words, so we’ll simplify it 🙂

Being able to simplify thoughts and transfer them effectively, think on your feet and solve problems in the most efficient way and learn in the most effective manner requires mental agility.

But how do we achieve it and why is it important for us and our children? Keep reading to find out!

What Is Mental Agility?

Mental agility indicates the ability of an individual to think, learn and quickly absorb new information, systems and processes, in other words, it stands for how well our mind can adjust to new circumstances.

Why Is Mental Agility Important for Children?

One of the most important benefits of an agile mind is the ability to learn fast, however, that’s not all. Here are some other benefits of mental agility for your children:

• Better problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills
• Creativity
• Ability to stand up for themselves
• Calmness
• Evolved reasoning skills
• Greater comprehension of events
• Improved social skills
• Strong communication skills.

Mental agility is not only beneficial for children, it has its perks for adults too! An adult with mental agility will be:

• more efficient at work/home,
• more organized,
• less stressed,
• open for new opportunities,
• easy to adapt to mandatory changes.

The benefits of mental agility for both children and adults are not limited to these. Individuals with agile minds are leaders in their societies, preferred among employers and have a good chance at succeeding at school or work. Therefore, it is crucial to train for agility with proper mental exercises.

Mental Agility Games & Exercises

Check out MentalUP’s online free mental agility games for kids and adults that we created for you to benefit from!

Mental Agility Tests

There aren’t many tests that are able to evaluate the agility of the brain, however, here are the two most common mental agility tests out there:

• Mcquaig Mental Agility Test: This test is constructed to measure an individual’s speed of thought, general mental agility, and several key components of ‘intelligence’. To do so, it assesses vocabulary, verbal reasoning skills, and the ability to perform simple mathematical functions.
• Sternberg Test of Mental Agility: The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT) is an intelligence test that is designed to measure the analytical, practical, and creative intelligence of an individual. The outcome of the assessments of these types of intelligence demonstrates the agility of the brain, thus, mental agility.

How to Improve Mental Agility

Here are five tips that will help you and your children improve your mental agility:

1. Reading

Reading is one of the most effective ways to enhance your brain in various ways and mental agility is one of them. Give a shot at making reading a regular thing in the family! We’re sure it’ll make playing scrabble a lot more fun!

2. Don’t Settle For One

Sometimes, we tend to solve the problem in the fastest way rather than the best way. When you have a problem, do not settle for the first solution that comes to your mind, and advise your children the same. Is your solution just an easy way out, can you find a more permanent solution, have you found the root cause of the problem? A little brainstorming never hurts.

3. Meditate

Meditation is one of the most mind-calming activities. Mindfulness exercises are a great option for your whole family!

If you think that meditation isn't what you are looking for, we strongly recommend other mindfulness techniques! Here’s a free guide that includes tips for teaching kids mindfulness. Namaste! 🧘‍♀️🧘

4. Be Creative

Here’s another quote from Einstein that says it all, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Don’t know how to be creative? Train your brain by starting to experience new things.

Take your next family vacation to a place you’ve never been before, pack lunch for your children that will expand their palate. Give new things a try, and the rest will follow.

5. Mental Exercises

Proper mental exercises such as riddles for adults and kids or fun brain teasers are the most effective way of training your brain to be agile. That said, MentalUP is a scientific app designed to help the mental development of both children and adults.

With MentalUP, one of the best learning math as an adult, you choose which areas you want to improve! The best exercises to become mentally agile are logical, problem-solving, and math games. You can also benefit from focus games that will help with concentration problems, learning difficulties, visual and echoic memory problems, and more!

Join MentalUP family of over 10+ million users worldwide, and train your mind to be agile!