Fun Facts about St. Patty’s Day

Here in Chicago, St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal. Not only are there hoards of people dressed in green wandering the streets with leprechaun hats on, but we also dye the Chicago River green! In honor of the upcoming holiday, I did some digging and found out some fun facts about St. Patty’s Day.

- The Chicago River is dyed green with vegetable dye that looks orange at first and then turns a bright, shamrock green in honor of “the Emerald Isle.” This year was the 49th year that the river was bright green for St. Patty’s Day!

- St. Patrick was born Maewyn Succat to Roman parents in England around 387 AD.

- He had a difficult path to sainthood. At the age of 16, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery to the Druids in Ireland. He lived there for 6 years and then escaped back to England, where he pursued Catholic priesthood.

- Once he achieved priesthood, he returned to Ireland with the ambitious goal of converting the entire country. His former slavemaster killed himself when he heard the news of his return.

- St. Patrick was a very successful converter. He established churches throughout the country and gained many loyal followers, one of whom sacrificed himself to save St. Patrick during an assassination attempt.

- He was the first person in the history of the world to publicly denounce slavery. As a former slave himself, he knew and understood the injustice of slavery.

- St. Patrick died in the first church he established in Ireland around March 17th of either 463 or 491 (or another year). March 17th then became the feast day, which is a custom for saints even though he was never officially canonized by the Vatican.

- Irish men and women traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks in their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white, and green while women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.

For more interesting facts, check out Mental Floss.

Games for 50+

Many people come into Marbles asking for ways to stay sharp, generally either for themselves or for aging parents. Marbles is uniquely prepared to tackle this issue since we have products that have been scientifically proven to improve skills such as visual and/or auditory processing and memory. I mean, one of Marbles’ mottos is even “outsmart your age!” Studies have shown that one of the ways to hold off cognitive decline is to continue to challenge and exercise your brain. These suggestions below promote continual learning through brain training.

I am thrilled when people are willing to give the brain fitness software a try. It truly makes a difference and is fun!

Brain Fitness Program
Insight
MindFit
NeuroActive Complete
NeuroActive Memory & Multi-tasking
NeuroActive Learning
Art Dealer

I also understand if you would rather stick to something more hands-on, and so I have some suggestions for that area as well.

Brain Games
Genius Deck Number Puzzles
Izzi
Memo: Art
Keep Your Brain Alive
Jumbo Sudoku
Gift Book of KenKen
Set
Crosswords to Boost Brainpower

There are more possibilities as well! Come chat with us and we will find the perfect fit for you.

Brain Games for Teen to Adult

Most of my favorite games are geared towards the 12+ crowd. For instance, I am a big fan of Insight, Art Dealer, Quarto, and Snatch It. The following brain games/books and software are great fits for teens to adults, although we have many more that would be a lot of fun as well. We like to suggest games that are fun, challenging, and great for boosting your brain power! Stop by our stores or give us a call so we can help you pick out the game that is the perfect fit for you or your parent, kid, friend, or coworker. My best moments at Marbles are when I have helped a customer find the perfect fit!

Brain Games/Books:
Brain Games books v 2-6
Drueke Game Box
Quarto
Rush Hour
Snatch it
Tangoes
Umbra Wobble Chess Set

Brain Software:
Art Dealer
Brain Fitness Program
Insight
Mindfit
NeuroActive

Of course, there are many more possibilities that you can discover in our stores or online. Feel free to ask a Brain coach for their favorites or recommendations for any age – that is what we are here for.

Games for the Kiddos

Many parents, relatives, or friends come into Marbles looking for a gift for younger children. While we do focus primarily on adult brain games, software, and books, there are also some fun and stimulating options for the 10 and under crowd.

Here are some of the games we would recommend for this age group:

Brain Noodles
Qwirkle
Dado Cubes
Astrojax
Ball of Whacks
X-Ball
Electronic Snap Circuit
Find it
Jishaku
Q-Ba-Maze

Most of these products would be for 6 or 8 and up, however, Brain Noodles and Dado Cubes could work for kids as young as 3 or 4. Jishaku is one of our best selling products that works your coordination skills through magnetic challenges. It is a hit with adults as well!

Come visit us in a store or give us a call for even more ideas for the kids in your life. These games are fun, engaging, and brain boosting!

Lover’s Sweat as Sweet as Roses

Have you ever noticed your lover’s sweat (unadulterated, non-deodorized sweat) turning you on? Do you snatch a chance to sniff his shirt when he isn’t there? Well don’t worry, there is a scientific explanation for your actions (craziness… just kidding).

Since Valentine’s Day is upon us, I thought I would contribute something from Jena Pincott’s book, Do Gentleman Really Prefer Blondes? Not only is this book highly entertaining, but it also presents the science behind sex, love and attraction by explaining about how bodies, behavior, and brains interact.

For instance, in a smelly t-shirt study, women were asked to smell a variety of shirts that had been worn by men for several days. Over this time period, the men were not allowed to use deodorant or cologne, eat anything too potent, or engage in sex, smoking or drinking. As the women smelled these shirts, researchers found that the women tended to prefer men with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene variants that were largely different from their own.

As it turns out, a difference in MHC actually means a difference in what bacteria and viruses your body is able to identify. This attraction to different MHC gene variants is a method of survival because your children will likely have a stronger immune system if you combine two drastically different MHC. Who knew your attraction to his natural smell comes from survival of the fittest?

Brain Fitness and the NFL

As Doug Beaudoin says, “Use it or lose it.” For an ex-starting safety for the New England Patriots, I bet he originally only applied that to his athletic abilities. I was thrilled to hear that the NFL Alumni Association is now encouraging its members to also apply that mentality to their cognitive abilities.

CogniFit published a press release last week about its new partnership with the NFLA to promote brain fitness software. Recent studies have shown that the combination of physical and mental fitness can help sharpen your brain, and the NFLA has taken that to heart. With all of the brain injuries related to football, it is especially important to focus on brain development and maintenance, so this was a much needed turn of events. Better late than never, right?

I think this move is great, but shouldn’t there also be an effort to sharpen — or at least actively maintain — the cognitive abilities of the current NFL players? My hope is that this initiative will soon become normal procedure, especially amongst professional athletes.

Exploring Chicago’s Brainy Activities

Although I have only been living in this city for about 2 years, I am a huge fan of Chitown. Not only are the people nice and the food delicious, but there are also fun, interesting things to do all the time. I have come to find that many of these quintessential Chicago activities are good for your brain as well!

I love story time. I think that is why I love history museums so much. The Chicago History Museum is a terrific place to go to improve your memory and enjoy doing it! Wandering around the exhibits and American History skills on famous figures like Abe Lincoln is a fun way to maximize your memory. As one brain specialist says: “When you retrieve old information, you recreate connections between brain cells, strengthening your recall abilities.” So check it out: http://www.chicagohs.org/

Art museums can also be a brain-energizing place to go. The Art Institute is always a big hit in Chicago, especially since the addition of the Modern Wing. Art can be associated with memory as well, for instance, you might have taken art history courses in the past and so seeing pieces of art challenges your brain to recall old connections. Learning about art also creates new connections between brain cells. It is a win-win! http://www.artic.edu/aic/

You also can’t go wrong with some laughs. Second City is a Chicago legend and going to one of their shows is a great way to boost your energy and de-stress. I’ve been told that I laugh a lot, and I am happy to hear that! You should go enjoy the hilarious antics of the Second City actors and enjoy the fact that you are getting more than just laughs out of it! http://www.secondcity.com/

I am always up for suggestions on places to check out in Chicago, especially if they help keep my brain fit! You can always send me your ideas via comments below, Facebook, or Twitter (@thebrainstore).

Brain Fitness on the Go: iPhone Apps

I am a busy person, as I am sure you all are, so I find it handy to have things I can accomplish while on the subway, waiting for coffee, or walking home. After a Twitter followerer (@adeyemiking) suggested I look into iPhone apps for the brain, my fellow Brain Coach, Devon Blandin, helped me compile the list of our top suggestions. I have broken them down into the parts of the brain that you can easily work on to improve and enhance.

Memory
GeoMaster – this game quizzes you on world geography and challenges you to remember the capitol of obscure countries
gFlashPro – create your own flash cards with this app as well as use the ones already created in their database

Coordination
Flight Control - one of Devon’s top picks, this app has you coordinating numerous flight patterns at once as different planes land on different landing strips
Edge – move your cube across an obstacle course suspended in space without letting it fall off the board – received Best Mobile Game 2008 (Milthon Award)
Aquablobs
RSoccer09
Labrynth

Critical Thinking
KenKen – similar to Sudoku, KenKen challenges your critical thinking skills through increasingly difficult number problems within square formations
Sudoku Unlimited – can’t go wrong with Sudoku!
Smart Go and Smart Go Pro – the ancient Chinese game of building territory
Mathemagics
Brain Toot - similar to Brain Age that we carry

Visual Perception
Set – a fun pattern-based game
Tangrams – create certain shapes using a given amount of other smaller shapes
Where’s Waldo?
Bejeweled

Word Skills
Bookworm and Bookworm 2 - form words with the letters provided and new letters will appear
Wurdle – similar to Bookworm, you try to form as many words as you can out of the letters supplied
2 Across – pulls crosswords from top tier newspapers

So there is our list of cool iPhone apps to work your brain on the go! Please let me know if you have suggestions. You can also follow me on Twitter (@thebrainstore) to hear more updates.

Brain Tip: Social Interaction Promotes Brain Fitness

The holidays are an opportunity to spend time with family and friends, attend social gatherings, and/or participate in your community.

A study published in 2008 shows why we should take this opportunity when we have it. In the study they divided the participants into three groups- one group had a discussion, one group did mental exercises (like crosswords), and one group watched TV. Afterwards, all participants were given a standard cognitive test. The groups that had a discussion or did mental exercise performed better than the group that watched TV.

Social interaction through discussion and game play requires us to use our memory, our attention, and our control – all which can help our brain function better. So your brain tip for this month- turn off the TV and get to talking or playing a game together. And attend all those Holiday Parties you were thinking about staying away from.

Happy Holidays!

~Lindsay

Happy Thanksgiving from Marbles!

We are very thankful to all our you for being our valued customers and friends of Marbles. Here is an online offer of 15% off for your online order from now until December 15th- just type FRIENDS into the promotional code box once you have completed your order. As always you will get FREE SHIPPING if you spend over $100.

We look forward to a busy weekend in the stores and hope to see a bunch of you out there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Lindsay