Free Brain Games for Seniors, Printable and Online, in Large Print

“Brain games” can mean anything from apps to board games. This guide covers two kinds. There are puzzles and game sheets you print and do with a pencil, and the same puzzles played online on a tablet or computer. Everything below is free on this site and needs no sign-up. Printouts come out in big, clear black-and-white type, and the online games have large letters you can make bigger still.

A quick note on wording. We call these brain games because they make you think, and many people simply enjoy them. Puzzles can be a pleasant daily activity and a good reason to sit down together, but we make no promises about memory or health. If you have questions about that, a doctor is the right person to ask.

What you can print here

Word searches

The word search maker builds a puzzle from one of 20 themes, such as Gardening, The 1950s and 60s, Birds, Music or U.S. states, or from your own list of words. There are three levels:

• Easy: a 10 × 10 grid, words run only across and down. See our easy word search guide for ways to make it easier still.
• Medium: 13 × 13, with diagonal words added.
• Hard: 15 × 15, words in any direction, including backwards. Our hard word search guide has tips for keeping the letters large.

You can change the grid anywhere from 8 × 8 to 20 × 20 and pick Standard, Large or Extra large letters. An answer key prints on its own page. Word searches are a gentle place to start because there is nothing to know in advance: you just look.

Crosswords

The crossword maker has 60 ready-made puzzles in 10 themes, from gardening and travel to food, the movies and the 1950s and ’60s, at Easy, Medium and Hard. Easy puzzles use small grids, about 8 to 10 squares across, with eight words and plain clues. You can also type your own answers and clues and the tool fits them into a grid. Clue text prints at up to 18 point, with an answer key on a separate page.

Bingo

The bingo card generator makes up to 30 different cards at a time, either 75-ball (the usual American B-I-N-G-O card) or 90-ball tickets. One card per page with Extra large numbers is the easiest to read. The bingo number caller runs on a laptop, tablet or TV: it shows each number very large, keeps a board of every call and can read numbers aloud.

Score sheets for card, dice and domino games

Many people already have a favorite game; the hard part is reading a cramped score pad. The large-print score sheets cover Hand and Foot, Canasta, Mexican Train, Pinochle, Phase 10 and Yahtzee, each on one page, with an on-screen score keeper that does the adding up.

Free online brain games for seniors

With no printer in the house, the same puzzles can be played in a web browser, with nothing to install. A tablet is the easiest screen for most people because you just touch the letters, but a laptop or desktop computer works too.

Word search online

Play word search online uses the same 20 themes and the same Easy, Medium and Hard levels as the printable maker. To mark a word, drag a finger across it, or tap its first letter and then its last. Found words are crossed off the list beside the grid. If someone gets stuck, the Reveal button shows every word, and New puzzle deals a fresh grid in the same theme.

Crosswords online

Play crosswords online has the 60 ready-made crosswords from the crossword maker, in 10 themes. Tap a square and the keyboard opens; tap the same square again to switch between across and down. There is a Check button, and you can reveal one letter, one word or the whole puzzle. That makes it easy to get a nudge without giving the game away.

Making the screen easier to read

• Both puzzle games have a Full screen button. It hides everything else and makes the grid as big as the screen allows.
• The Font size control at the top of every page makes the site’s text up to 145% of normal, and the setting is remembered next time.
• Answers are saved in the browser on that device, so a half-done crossword is still there tomorrow. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
• Prop the tablet up. A stand or a cushion holds it at a comfortable angle, and you can tilt it away from a bright window or lamp.

Any online puzzle can also be printed. Press Print this puzzle under the game and it opens in the maker, ready to print with an answer key.

Choosing the right puzzle for the person

The best puzzle is one the person can finish and wants to do again tomorrow. A few guidelines:

• Start easier than you think. Finishing an Easy puzzle feels better than abandoning a Hard one. Move up when it starts to feel too quick.
• Match the theme to the person. A retired gardener may enjoy the Gardening word search far more than a random one. The 1950s and 60s themes often get people talking.
• Use their own words. Both makers accept your own list. Family names, hometown streets or favorite foods make a puzzle personal.
• Pick the print size first. If someone uses a magnifier for the newspaper, start with Extra large and fewer words.
• Mix solo and social. Word searches and crosswords suit quiet time; bingo and card games are for groups.

Tips for activity directors and caregivers

Printing

• Print one test copy before making 20, and check it at arm’s length.
• Use your printer’s normal or best quality setting. Faint, ink-saving prints are harder to read.
• Plain white paper gives the strongest contrast. Heavier paper is easier to hold and does not crinkle.
• To reuse a puzzle, slip it into a clear sheet protector and use a dry-erase marker.

Running a session

• Have felt-tip pens or thick pencils ready; thin ballpoints can be hard to see and grip.
• Good lighting matters as much as print size. Seat people facing away from bright windows.
• Read a crossword clue aloud and let the group call out answers. Shared solving works well when individual puzzles are too much.
• Keep the answer key handy, and treat peeking as part of the fun.
• Short and regular is easier to fit into a day than one long session.

Planning ahead

A simple weekly rhythm saves planning time: a themed word search on Monday, group crossword on Wednesday, bingo on Friday, cards on the weekend. Seasonal themes such as Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Holidays and Christmas are built into the word search maker, so you can match the calendar without writing word lists.

More guides

For detail on each tool, read our guides to printable word searches with answer keys, easy crossword puzzles for seniors and bingo variations for care homes.

For a group, our word games for seniors guide has seven games to play aloud or on a whiteboard, from word ladders to categories.

Want games rather than puzzles? Our guide to games for seniors, picked by group size covers bingo, card games, dice and dominoes.

Need a plan for the whole month? Our four-week assisted living activity calendar sets out one printable activity for each weekday.

Frequently asked questions