Senior Brain Repair and Tune-up

Senior Brain Repair and Tune-up

Keep Your Brain Flexible at Any Age

Welcome.

I’m John H. Doolittle, PhD, a retired professor who spent many years at California State University, Sacramento helping students strengthen creativity, reasoning, and mental flexibility.

💡 Dr. Doolittle’s Brain Advice For Seniors

Building Strength, Step by Step

When it comes to keeping the mind sharp, I have advised my wife, Judy, to keep her brain flexible by developing a routine with different kinds of puzzles. Just like hitting different machines at the gym, different games train different parts of the mind:

  1. Crossword Puzzles: These are wonderful for exercising your memory and retrieving words you already know.
  • A Tip on Buying: When you pick up a crossword book at the supermarket, look for ones that have increasing levels of difficulty. I once gave my 80+ sister an easy book and a mixed-level book. She quickly dropped the mixed one because it got frustrating, but she absolutely loved the easy one. Thumb through a couple to see how they look. Or, you can try my old motto: “Throw money at the problem”—buy one of each level and see which one feels right!
  1. Deductive Search Puzzles: These are games where you start with a mystery and use simple clues to systematically rule out the impossible until only the answer remains.
  2. Creative Reasoning Puzzles: These include riddles and word challenges that force you into looking at a problem from an entirely new angle, stretching your imagination and mental flexibility.

A Note on “Gumption”: You might have seen popular logic puzzles like Sudoku in the papers and felt they looked daunting or stressful. If so, trust your instincts and skip them! In my forty years of teaching, I learned that if a puzzle is too frustrating, it destroys your “gumption”—your willingness to try. Because of something we in the business call Competency Motivation, you have an inborn desire to get control of your universe in order to quiet your fears of inadequacy or impending doom. The upshot of success in solving a problem is a building gumption, which quiets those fears and gives you a feeling of being able to take on any challenge. Bring it on! can be your motto.

A challenge should always be a reachable reach. It should make you stretch a little bit, but ultimately end in the simple satisfaction of figuring it out.

Because I want you to protect your gumption, I have generated some small, beginner-friendly puzzles right here on this site. They are completely free of number-crunching, start very small, and are designed to build your confidence step by step. No pressure, no grades—just a fun way to try something new.

Over time, I learned something important:

The brain often responds well to small pleasures — curiosity, surprise, humor, and the simple satisfaction of figuring something out.

So here are four short riddles. No pressure. No grades. Just enjoy them. Take your time.

🧩 Four Fun Riddles to Enjoy Today

Riddle 1

Do me to your hands,
Do me to your face;
And then you’ll be clean,
And not a disgrace.

What am I? ________

Riddle 2

Which way do you look,
To see that plane fly?
And if you said down,
No one would know why.

What am I? ________

Riddle 3

You color inside the lines,
As well as you’re able;
And when I wear down,
You peel back the label.

What am I? ________

Riddle 4

Eat me on the cob,
With butter and with salt;
And if you eat too much,
It’s really not your fault.

What am I? ________

A FUN CHALLENGE FOR SENIORS

1. Watch one or more of the science music videos on YouTube or https://www.drdooriddle.com/tips4teachers/

.

2. Pick a scientist or inventor who interests you:

   Maria Mitchell, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, Jane Goodall, and others.

3. Learn a little about how curiosity and observation led to discovery.

4. Then teach somebody!

Maybe:

– a grandchild

– a neighbor

– a homeschool group

– a local classroom

– or even over Zoom.

Share a song.

Share a story.

Share a few Dr. Dooriddles.

The riddles are often as much fun as the songs.

And remember:

“In learning, motivation is the ballgame.”

Curiosity, laughter, surprise, and discovery are what make people want to learn more.

You do not need to be an expert.

Just share the wonder./

🧠 Want More Free Riddles, Puzzles, and Thinking Challenges?

Try your hand at these Associative Reasoning word triads which I like to call CRAZY RELATIVES. Find the single word that links all three clues together (e.g., TUB, SHOWER, ROOM = BATH).

  1. TUB / SHOWER / ROOM — ANSWER: BATH
  2. MOUSE / GRATER / CAKE — ANSWER: CHEESE
  3. BEANS / MUG / CREAM — ANSWER: COFFEE
  4. POND / FEATHER / GOOSE — ANSWER: DUCK
  5. BASKET / EYE / KICK — ANSWER: BALL
  6. SHELL / HOOK / POND — ANSWER: ________
  7. LIP / BROOM / CANDLE — ANSWER: ________
  8. BIRTHDAY / CUP / CANDLE — ANSWER: ________
  9. FRUIT / TREE / YELLOW — ANSWER: ________
  10. SPOON / ROAD / SALAD — ANSWER: ________
  11. FISH / BASKETBALL / HAIR — ANSWER: ________
  12. CLOUD / DIVE / SUN — ANSWER: ________
  13. HEART / DRUM / DANCE — ANSWER: ________
  14. ANT / BARN / ANIMALS — ANSWER: ________
  15. FLY / CASTLE / FIRE — ANSWER: ________
  16. FISH / PEANUT / BEANS — ANSWER: ________

From: ASSOCIATIVE REASONING PUZZLES, Level 3, CriticalThinking.com

🔑 Answer Key

The answer key provides the number of letters in a good answer and the first letter of that answer. For example, BATH would be 4B and CHEESE would be 5C.

  • 1. 4B (BATH)
  • 2. 6C (CHEESE)
  • 3. 6C (COFFEE)
  • 4. 4D (DUCK)
  • 5. 4B (BALL)
  • 6. 4F
  • 7. 5S
  • 8. 4C
  • 9. 5L
  • 10. 4F
  • 11. 3N
  • 12. 3S
  • 13. 4B
  • 14. 4F
  • 15. 6D
  • 16. 5J

💌 A Personal Note

At this stage of life, I simply hope to pass along what I learned and place a few enjoyable challenges into the hands of others.

Visit DrDooriddle.com for more.