Cannyminds Blog

Boggle

Jenny — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:31:44 +0000

Spring must mean it is time for Boggle, the 3 minute word search game. Drop the lettered dice in the tray, start the timer and try to find as many words as you can in 3 minutes. Test your vocabulary skills, think quickly and simply have fun. Drop the lettered dice in the tray, start the timer and try to find as many words as you can in 3 minutes. Test your vocabulary skills, think quickly and simply have fun

Ascension

Jenny — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:17:03 +0000

The book we have chosen for our March reading group is ‘Ascension’, the new novel by Steven Galloway, author of ‘The Cellist of Sarajevo’. It is a breathtaking novel about risk, fate and history; a dazzling feat of storytelling that takes us on an epic journey across the twentieth century.

Learning to play a new Instrument

Jenny — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:58:25 +0000

Learning to play a musical instrument can help children to learn languages.

This new claim emanates from research at Northwestern University, Chicago, which shows that musical instruments increase the brain’s sensitivity to sounds including speech.

American researchers claim to have found a link between musical ability and the capacity of the nervous system to take in sound patterns. Music lessons can therefore have a direct impact on a child’s ability to learn languages. Exposure to music could be beneficial to the brain in its developmental stages and would have advantages for all children, including those who are dyslexic or autistic. Music can help children to communicate and interact with those around them, to relax or to express emotions.

Daily Telegraph

March 2010

Photo Courtesy of Sara Bjork

Never a cross word

Jenny — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:29:13 +0000

Doing crosswords or sudoku puzzles can help couples to make up more quickly after arguments, according to new research.
Psychologists from Harvard University said that stimulating mental activity can stop people from harbouring a grudge following a domestic row.
They discovered that emotions were better controlled by people who had more activity in the part of the brain (the lateral prefrontal cortex ) which is associated with puzzle solving.

Daily Telegraph March 11 2010

Photo Courtesy of Jessie Whittle

The Hurt Locker

Jenny — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:03:53 +0000

Dominated this year’s Oscars, winning six awards and now out on DVD.

Tense, topical and gritty war film from director Kathryn Bigelow, following the lives of an army bomb disposal squad in war-torn Iraq.

Having to look death in the face daily, the soldiers of an elite ordnance disposal team struggle to accept their new sergeant, William James (Jeremy Renner), when he risks their lives with his reckless behavior.

With the men trying to come to terms with their new leader, their patrols become increasingly hazardous, as a sudden escalation in the violence leads them to confront the most dangerous assignment of their tour.

Let us know what you think below.

To buy The Hurt Locker click here.