It’s very common for students to start losing focus when the lesson has dragged on longer than their attention span. When you notice this happening, break the routine a brain break! These short, structured activities give children a brief rest from what they’re doing to help their brains shift focus.
So, what exactly is a brain beak? Brain breaks are short (3
– 5 minute) mental breaks kids can take between learning or other tasks and can be relaxing or active depending on children’s individual needs. Brain
breaks work by switching neural activity to different networks which allows the
brain to reset these areas – improving learning and reducing stress.
So how many breaks should kids take from their schoolwork?
If kids take a 3–5-minute break, their brains are optimized to learn for the
next 45 minutes! So, allowing kids to get up, stretch, and clear their
minds is not only good for their bodies, but helps them to focus better on
their schoolwork. Win, Win!
Here are some tried and tested brain breaks that your
students will love: Remember, when you use them think about their age, the size
of the classroom and the number of students in the classroom. In our case, we
are Asian teachers, therefore we have selected Brain Breaks those potentially
can be applied to the classrooms we have, usually outnumbered, with less
facilities. Don’t worry, these will be really helpful to take your teaching to
the next level.
Counting
3, 6, 9 – students count to 10 in sequence, but when they
get to the numbers 3, 6, and 9, they have to perform an action rather than say
the number. You can use the patterns of numbers according to the level of your
class.
Silent Ball
Students pass a ball around without making a sound. If the
ball is dropped or someone speaks, they are out. To make things more
interesting, you can introduce challenges like students can only use one hand
to catch and throw, hop on one leg while playing, etc.
Simon Says
A classic game where students have to listen carefully and
only perform commands that start with “Simon Says…”.
Draw over your head
Pretend that students put a whiteboard on their heads. The
teacher mentions an object to draw, and students have to draw it as best they
can… with the whiteboard planted on top of their heads.
Brain breaks Go Noodle videos
Go Noodle videos have number of Brain Breaks videos which
activates your students in fun ways. If you have a TV or video access, you can
play them and let students to follow. It is really fun. You can check this video
out:
We all love emojis, and since they have become part of how
we communicate electronically, kids have caught on to the trend. Besides
helping convey emotion through text, they can also help children express their
feelings.
The old ear-nose switcher
This is a quick and easy challenge to reset the brain.
Instruct kids to touch their left ear with their right hand and at the same
time touch their nose with their left hand. Then have them switch their hands
and touch their right ear with their left hand and their nose with their right
hand. Switch back and forth a few times. Then have them close their eyes, take
a deep breath, and blow it all out.
Just jump!
Sometimes kids just need to bounce their energy out. Have
them pretend they are bouncing on a mini trampoline (this will keep their
movement on a vertical plane instead of all over the room) and give them a
couple of minutes to let loose!
Make it rain
Conjure up a rainstorm! Sitting or standing at a desk or
table, have kids tap one finger on the desk, then two, then three, then four,
then their whole hand until you all feel like you’re in the middle of a deluge.
Work your way backward from five down to one as the storm ebbs away.
Clap on, clap off
When you say, “clap on,” kids clap their hands vigorously
together. When you say, “clap off,” they stop as quickly as they can and freeze.
You can make it more fun by making changes to the speed of the clap. See the
video:
Play popcorn
Students will all be sitting in their chairs, and at any
time, a student can jump up and say “Pop!” Once they do, that student remains
standing. If two students pop up at the same time, everyone takes their seats,
and the game starts over. How quickly can the entire class pop without having
to start over?
Take a comedy break
Comedy is a great release when the atmosphere is feeling a
little intense. Show a funny video clip or have kids volunteer to tell a joke
or pose a few silly riddles.
Get competitive with pen flipping
Pen flipping can be really challenging. As seen in the
video, teacher can with simple moves and can take it to next level asking
students to show different methods of pen flipping. This is good for older
students because kids can injure themselves by doing this. Better make it
simple!
Paper airplane contest
Give students 3 minutes to fold and design a paper airplane
that they will enter into a classroom flying competition. Afterwards take a few
minutes to have a flying contest and see whose plane can go the furthest. Do
not forget them to collect their plane and put it inside their bag at the end.
These brains break games are especially popular
with elementary, secondary and even in advanced level students. Even
adults are told that they should take breaks from using the computer to get up,
move around. This gets blood flowing, prevents eye strain, hunched shoulders,
wrist / elbow injuries, and gaining excess weight from developing a sedentary
lifestyle.
Sources:
https://www.123homeschool4me.com/brain-breaks-for-kids/
https://www.weareteachers.com/brain-breaks-for-kids/
https://apolloafterschool.com/brain-breaks-for-older-kids/
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