I need a break... a brain break!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
I have recently started incorporating Brain Breaks in my classroom whenever I can tell my students are losing focus, getting sleepy, or the opposite... getting antsy. My students LOVE these breaks, and they know that if we take a quick break, we have to immediately get back to work. After our break, I immediately get back into what we are doing, so there is no time for distraction. I really think it helps keeps my kiddos engaged and I wish I would have started it sooner. 

Today I wanted to share my kiddos current favorite brain break. 
It is a dance from Ice Age called the Continental Drift.
The dance is super cute and I catch myself and my kids humming the song 
and dancing the dance at completely random moments.



Because I am new to the idea of brain breaks my supply is limited.
What do you do for brain breaks?
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE some new ideas!

On a side note, 7 days until Spring Break AND our final 9 weeks started Monday.
Where in the world has this year gone? It has FLOWN!

6 comments

  1. Complete a brain break search on YouTube. My students like the gummi bear and (I think) down on the farm

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  2. I like a book that's called "88 Energizers..." or something like that. I also agree that Youtube is a great resource.
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

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  3. I love your blog, and I am your newest follower. I have been thinking doing the same thing for my kiddos. I don't know where the year has gone myself! It has just flown by!! It won't be long before testing then summer break!!

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  4. Just ran across your blog. I love brain breaks. I don't do them nearly enough though. The activities from Responsive Classroom have some good ideas that work. My kids like My Bonny. Sing the song (my Bonny lies over the ocean...) and for every word that starts with a B, the kids stand up (they start out sitting). Next B they sit down. Up down up down...you get a good squat workout doing this. :). I'm your newest follower.
    Andrea
    http://eltigger.blogspot.com

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  5. My kids love brain breaks! We not only need a break from learning, but they need a chance to move. I spent quite a bit of time one weekend searching for short brain break videos that are appropriate and that my students would love.

    I found that our favorites tend to come from the Just Dance videos from wii and I love them because not only are they moving the whole time, but they have to follow the instructions from the video. Double great! I put all of our favorite videos on a Pinterest board so that I can pull it up and I can feel confident choosing any video on there (and don't have to worry about anything inappropriate popping up on YouTube!). Are you able to open Pinterest at school? The Brain Breaks board is here: http://pinterest.com/missmartin123/brain-breaks/

    I have been thinking about embedding all of our favorite videos into a blog post. I wonder if that would help teachers that can't get on Pinterest at school? I hope this helps!

    ~Miss Martin
    http://pinterest.com/missmartin123/brain-breaks/

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