Tell Me About…
Brain Breaks
Brain breaks are exactly what it sounds like: a chance to give your brain
a break! Brain breaks allow children the opportunity to get the wiggles
out, refocus their attention, and stimulate their brain through movement.
They typically only last a few minutes, and then students are redirected
back to their lesson. Depending on the class and age level, you may
need to do brain breaks every 15-30 minutes. Most of the time, brain
breaks are done during transitions, but it ultimately comes down to
when you feel that your students require a break and are getting fidgety.
Even adults get antsy sitting in long meetings without a break, so how
can we expect our students to sit and focus for hours?
In my classroom, I use a variety of brain breaks. Sometimes I play a
song and students get to sing and dance as they move from one center
to another. Other times our brain breaks are when we move from one
subject to another, so students get a break, but also realize reading time
is over and we are starting math. Since I teach Kindergarten, we do
quite a few brain breaks, and sometimes I have to stop in the middle of
a lesson and give my students a brain break because I am losing their
focus. I keep a ring of brain break cards, so all I have F