{image credit: “Homework” by Patrick via flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0}
Our kids work hard on home days, and so do we. We could all use a brain break once in awhile! It’s refreshing to pause, get up, and do something kinesthetic every so often, at least every 30 minutes (more often for younger kids). Moving around gets your blood flowing, helping you to think clearly and feel more alert.
Stretching, jumping jacks, windmills, hopping on one foot, crossing the midline activities and the like are definitely good old standbys. But if you’re tired of the same actions, below are five (hopefully new) activities to try when you just need a quick mental intermission. And we’ve included a couple of bonus ideas at the end, too.
We hope you and your kids will find these energizing or relaxing, or ideally both!
1. Double Doodle Art from The Artful Parent – It’s fun and relaxing, yet it uses both sides of the brain at the same time. Scroll to the end of her post for a quick video example.
2. Standing Pretzel or Crossed Up Squats from Colorado Education Initiative – These short videos show you how to do each exercise.
3. Mirror Game from Sharin’ with Sharron – Two people are needed for this fun activity. You can do a quick version (with or without music) for a brain break.
4. Pencil Jumps from Healthy Kids Challenge – Have each student place a pencil on the floor. On command kids are to jump over their pencil a designated number of times.
5. Pen Flipping from Energizing Break Breaks – This is harder than it looks (or maybe it looks hard…) but it’s an interesting challenge! There are many great brain break ideas on this website.
For anyone who missed it earlier, there’s a useful resource we featured in this blog post called “Roll Some Brain Breaks” that you can download.
And one more, though it’s not an active break… try doing nothing for 2 minutes! Go to the website donothingfor2minutes.com and see if you and your kids can successfully relax and really do nothing. (It will feel like a long time!)
What are your favorite brain breaks? Share in the comments!
