We recently spent an evening with my son’s family matching wits with puzzles from a fun book titled <i>Match Wits with Mensa. </i>

Our family does enjoy mental challenges and besting one another in sports, games, and jokes, but we’re not Mensa members.

<a href="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/175px-mensa_logo_svg.png"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3745" alt="175px-Mensa_logo_svg" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/175px-mensa_logo_svg.png" width="175" height="175" /></a>The word mensa means "table" in Latin, and is symbolized in the organization's logo, which depicts the round-table nature of the organization and the coming together of equals

Mensa began in Oxford, England, in 1946 by <a title="Roland Berrill" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Berrill">Roland Berrill</a>, an Australian barrister, and Dr. <a title="Lancelot Ware" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancelot_Ware">Lancelot Ware</a>, a British scientist and lawyer. Their idea was to form a group for people with high IQs that would be non-political and free from all social distinctions.

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_International">Mensa has grown to an international organization</a> with more than 110,000 members in fifty national groups.

The largest U.S. Mensa group is in the Chicago area. Every year around Halloween, the group hosts a costume party for which many members create pun-based costumes. Check out the American Mensa website here: <a href="http://www.us.mensa.org/">http://www.us.mensa.org/</a>

Mensa’s purposes:
<ol start="1">
	<li>to identify and to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity</li>
	<li>to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence</li>
	<li>to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members</li>
</ol>
The organization also provides programs for gifted children, literacy, and scholarships.

Sometimes, I think we forget to challenge and train our brains, which we should do--especially as we age. Brain cells do die off, you know.

You don’t have to be a Mensa member to be intellectually stimulated. You can build brainpower with:
<ul>
	<li>Puzzles from <i>Matching Wits with Mensa</i> like we did. Click to purchase:</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Match-Wits-With-Mensa-Complete/dp/0738202509" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3746" alt="mensa bookcover" src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/mensa-bookcover.jpg?w=194" width="194" height="300" /></a>
<ul>
	<li>Jigsaw or crossword puzzles</li>
	<li>Sudoku</li>
	<li>Word games like Scrabble</li>
	<li>Trivia mind games</li>
</ul>
There are oodles of books available as well as on-line sites like<a href="http://www.brainbashers.com/" target="_blank"> Brainbashers</a> or <a href="http://www.us.mensa.org/AML/?LinkServID=877B38DB-4DD3-49AE-B375B279B645ABA8" target="_blank">Mensa’s game page</a>.

When I taught school, I began each class with a thinking warm-up—puzzles, logic problems, and review questions from lessons. The puzzles and thinking problems were by far the students’ favorite.

<b>YOUR TURN: </b>Try these brain warm-ups and put your answers in a comment.

The first commenter – who gets all three brain warm-ups correct – will receive a free copy of <i>Love in the Morning Calm</i>.

<i>EXAMPLE:</i>  7 <b>D </b>in a <b>W = 7 </b>days in a week<b> </b>
<ol start="1">
	<li>7 <b>W </b>of the <b>AW</b></li>
	<li>8 <b>S </b>on a <b>S S</b></li>
	<li>64 <strong>S </strong>on a <strong>C</strong></li>
</ol>