Brain breaks for students are crucial for learning. They help little (and big) learners focus and re-energize so they can return to their desks refreshed and ready to learn.
Brain breaks can be used to give students breaks in the classroom or at home. The following brain breaks for students can be adapted to either situation.
Movement Brain Breaks for Students
Studies show that exercise can improve learning. This means that a quick break that involves large muscle movements or physical activity will help students return to their studies better able to take in information.
1. Dance Party
There’s no need for a special occasion to have a dance party. In fact, it’s a great idea to take a dance break after, or even in between, assignments to turn on some music and cut a rug.
Red Tricycle has some great ideas on how to set up a great dance party for your home or classroom.
Learn More: Red Tricycle
2. Stretches
Studies show that the simple act of stretching can have positive effects on emotion, memory, and mood. On top of all those great things, it’s been shown that stretching can help students think more clearly.
Learn More: Healthfully
3. Lifting Weights
Lifting weights has been proven to be a beneficial exercise for kids when the proper technique is used. While lifting heavier weights should obviously be reserved for professionals, there’s no reason why you can’t help your students destress by inviting them to lift small hand weights or items like books before returning to their desks.
Learn More: The Ark
4. Party Freeze Song
Getting your little ones moving is a delightful idea for a brain break! With this lively song, you’ll treat them to an engaging break where they’ll need to listen carefully to follow the instructions that will prompt them to dance or freeze. It’s not just a helpful brain break for preschoolers, though, as it’ll act as a revitalizing activity for your students of all ages.
Learn More: YouTube
5. Heavy Work
Many people are not familiar with the term heavy work. It’s a technique used in occupational therapy that’s used for sensory integration.
When children become overwhelmed or stressed, performing a strenuous gross-motor task, like carrying a basket of books, can help their ability to refocus.
Learn More: Reach for Montessori
6. Cardio-in-Place Exercises
Cardio exercises are great for brain breaks. There’s no need to go for a jog or hit the YMCA to use the swimming pool, though.
Cardio exercises can be done right where a child is studying. Here are just a few brain break exercises that can be done in place.
- Jumping jacks
- Jogging
- Jump roping
Learn More: Mental Up
7. Biking
Riding a bicycle is just one of many brain break activities that have multiple destressing benefits for your kiddos. As you encourage them to whizz around their neighborhood or the school grounds, they’ll strengthen their emotional wellness, enhance their social skills, and most importantly it’ll keep them active!
Learn More: Firstcry Parenting
8. Dance Like an Animal
Next time you notice your students losing focus during a learning activity, have them put their pencils down and call out the name of an animal.
It’s their job to dance around how they think that animal might dance if they could.
Learn More: YouTube
9. Hula Hooping
If your kids haven’t tried hula hooping before, this exciting brain break is guaranteed to be a hit in your classroom! Allow them to keep their hula hoops near their desks and when you feel like they’re losing focus, prompt them to stand up and whirl them around their bodies.
Learn More: North Shore Pediatric Therapy
10. Duck Walk
Students can give their minds a rest and get their bodies moving with this fun activity. Using the exercise instructions here, have your students do the duck walk.
Quacking is optional.
Learn More: YouTube
11. Marching Around
Marching around or doing leg lifts in place is a great way to help refocus your young minds’ attention. Have them follow your instructions as you encourage them to march around in a designated spot or if you’d like to incorporate more movement, challenge them to march between lines or cones.
Learn More: YouTube
12. Spontaneous Recess
Outdoor play is usually one of those activities in your children’s day that are planned out. What a great and exciting surprise it would be to treat them to an unplanned recess! The importance of recess can be overlooked, but it’s been proven to contribute to a positive school environment, and treating your learners to a bit more fun in their day can’t hurt.
Learn More: Patch
13. Spinning in Circles
Kids enjoy spinning, but did you know that the act of spinning can potentially have an incredible effect on some people?
For students who crave twirling around, controlled spinning could be the brain break they need.
Learn More: A Sensory Life
14. Be a Flamingo
This is a classic beginner’s yoga pose that is great for brain breaks. If you have very young children in your classroom, you can modify it to take their ability to balance into consideration.
Learn More: Cosmic Kids Yoga
15. Choreographed Dancing
You don’t need to be a choreographer, or even a dancer, to think up some fun dance moves for the next brain break. Just use your imagination and assign each student a fun dance move.
Learn More: 4Dancers
Art Activities to Give Students’ Brains a Break
Whether it’s process art or an art activity with a designated endpoint, art activities make for a great brain break for students of all ages.
16. Squiggle Drawing
This is a fun and collaborative classroom art activity that shifts can de-stress kids and get the focus off their studies for a while.
Learn More: Teacher Vision
17. Process Art for Young Students
Students of all ages need opportunities to give their minds a rest. Young students, like toddlers and preschoolers, are no exception.
Just set up the supplies and canvas and when it’s time for a brain break and let them get creative. The link below has 51 creative art-based brain break ideas.
Learn More: The Montessori-Minded Mom
18. Modeling Clay
Modeling clay provides unique sensory feedback and can be a calming break for students. Bonus points that kids can create something fun to paint after their studies are finished.
Playing with modeling clay can even help increase a student’s attention span and concentration skills.
Learn More: NVRC
19. Building Pipe Cleaner Structures
The sensory feedback provided by pipe cleaners is one of a kind. Give each child in your classroom several pipe cleaners and see what kind of neat structures they can create.
Learn More: 45 Colorful and Cute Pipe Cleaner Crafts for Kids
20. Origami
Origami is a great art activity for students to relieve stress during intense study sessions. Spruce Crafts has some great origami ideas for students of all ages.
Learn More: The Spruce Crafts
21. Draw in Response to Music
This is a lovely art brain break activity that incorporates music, for an extra de-stressing factor.
Learn More: Life Hack
22. Moving Magnetic Words Around
Art de-stressing activities for kids aren’t all paints, playdough, and crayons. Moving magnetic words around is a creative way to de-stress on a brain break.
Learn More: Life Hack
23. Gear Painting
This is a really neat stress-relieving process art idea from Fun-a-Day. The art activity alone can provide stress relief and focus for kids.
The motion of the gears provides an additional mesmerizing and relaxing element.
Learn More: Fun a Day
24. Dot Art
Dot art is a great brain break activity for students because it’s thoroughly engaging and dotting paint onto paper provides unique sensory feedback.
Fun-a-Day has a great explanation of dot art, as well as some fun dot art ideas.
25. Collaborating Circle Painting
This is a fun de-stressing activity that the whole class (teachers included!) can participate in. The activity starts with each child painting a single circle onto a canvas.
The results are amazing. Check out the full activity in the link below.
Learn More: Innovation Kids Lab
26. Making a Playdough Monster
The act of kneading Playdough provides a lot of stress relief for students. Playdough can be found in calming corners in classrooms all over the world.
Add some glitter and some googly eyes and you’ve got a neat little monster.
Learn More: The Imagination Tree
27. Painting with Nature
Outdoor brain breaks are one of my favorites and what’s even better is bringing an art activity outside. Send your little ones into your schoolyard to collect a bunch of natural materials like leaves, long grass, or even tree bark before inviting them to use their tools to create interesting brush strokes with paint.
Learn More: Glitter on a Dime
28. Tie-Dying Shirts
Put a creative spin on your classroom brain breaks with this Tie-Dying project! Your kids will get the chance to take their minds off schoolwork as you encourage them to express their creativity by designing these radiant shirts. Once their t-shirts have dried, they’ll get to continue their day with a cherished memento and a refreshed mindset.
Learn More: Felt Magnet
29. Scratch-Art
Scratch-art is a layer of crayon that is cover with paint. Students scratch through the paint to reveal the colors beneath.
Scratch-art is a fun art technique you might remember from when you were a child.
Learn More: Happy Hooligans
30. Spin Painting
Be honest, do you actually use that salad spinner you bought from that TV ad?
Bring it to the classroom and let your students make some neat spin art on their brain breaks.
Learn more: Happy Hooligans
Mindfulness Brain Breaks for Students
Mindfulness brain breaks for students are those that refocus a student’s attention from their studies to what’s happening in the present moment and with their bodies.
31. Cosmic Kids Yoga
Yoga isn’t just useful for helping children calm down when they are dysregulated. It’s also great for brain breaks during studying.
Cosmic Kids Yoga is popular among parents of young kids, but many teachers actually use it in their classrooms, too.
Learn More: Cosmic Kids Yoga
32. Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is a brain break activity that can be done anywhere and at any time. Deep breathing techniques can be used by students at their desks, on their own, or be presented as a classroom activity.
Read here about the amazing benefits of deep breathing.
33. The Silence Game
The Silence Game is a classic classroom activity that is used to help children calm and center themselves. It gives kids a chance to sit in peace and notice the sounds they miss on a day-to-day basis.
Learn More: The Montessori-Minded Mom
34. Mindfulness Printables
Sometimes students (and teachers) need visual reminders of calming activities. The link below will take you to some awesome, free mindfulness printables you can use in your classroom for brain breaks.
Learn More: Bits Of Positivity
36. Nature Walk
Getting your students outdoors and walking through the sights and sounds of nature is a great brain break activity that calms students and encourages mindfulness.
Learn More: Nifty Mom
Sensory Brain Breaks for Students
Sensory play has so many benefits for kids -people of all ages, really. It is also a great idea for brain breaks for students.
37. Chewing Toys or Gum
Gum not being allowed in school is understandable, but it’s also a shame. The sensory feedback provided by chewing gum can help your kids destress and concentrate. So to keep your classroom safe, consider allowing them a gum-chewing break after watching this informative video that’ll show them how to chew gum without it becoming a choking hazard.
Learn More: YouTube
38. Body Massage
Massages are great for relaxing and de-stressing. It’s been shown that massages for kids can reduce anxiety and improve attention span.
Learn More: Very Special Tales
39. Weighted Balls
Weight balls provide lots of opportunities for sensory brain breaks for kids. Students can use weighted balls on their own or in group activities.
Learn More: Apt Parenting
40. Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are a great idea for brain breaks for students. This activity incorporates stretching with large muscle strength exercises.
Learn More: The Active Family
41. Swinging
Swinging is a great sensory brain break activity. It gets kids outdoors, increases their awareness of their body movements, and exposes them to several senses at once.
It’s also great for their attention spans.
Learn More: Little Tikes
42. Jumping on a Trampoline
Jumping on a trampoline is fantastic for the refinement of your kiddos’ senses, as well as body awareness. As you encourage them to jump to their hearts’ content, they’ll also burn off a whole lot of energy, which makes it the perfect brain break for your busy little bodies.
Learn More: Hazli
43. Sing
Singing not only improves cognition, but it’s great for a student’s posture, as well. After slouching over a desk, a singing activity will help stretch those back muscles to help a student’s comfort level.
Singing is a great sensory brain break activity.
44. Sensory Bin Play
Sensory bins are a popular item for toddlers and preschoolers. Sensory play can be a great brain break for students of all ages, though.
Learn More: Sara J Creations
45. Play I Spy
Playing a game of I Spy with your pupils will give them a chance to look around their classroom and focus on other things for a little while. This classic game is simple enough to play with your kids of all ages and you could even invite them to play outdoors to get a bit of fresh air into their lungs and brains.
Learn More: Berrybee
Using Music to Reset
Listening to upbeat music and dancing along, if you feel like it, is a great way for students to give their brains a break from the monotony of certain learning activities.
Here are some lively, kid-friendly music and movement songs that make for great brain breaks for students.
46. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is a classic music and movement song. Going through the motions in the song gets students’ blood flowing and stretches their muscles out.
Learn More: YouTube
47. Walking, Walking
“Walking, walking, walking, walking, hop, hop, hop, running, running, running…”. You get the idea. This song is a great chance for students to stop what they are doing, de-stress, and have a little fun.
Learn More: YouTube
48. Dinosaur Stomp
This is a piece of fast-paced music and movement brain break activity that will re-energize your students.
You will want to play the video below for them so they can follow along with the moves.
Artist: YouTube
49. Boom Chicka Boom
This is a classic song that has been remade with new movements. The dances in the video below are simple enough for every skill level.
Learn More: YouTube
50. It’s Oh So Quiet
This is a super fun song for a brain break. The song starts out quiet and peaceful, then students have the chance to get the wiggles out when the chorus comes in.
Artist: YouTube
51. Cover Me
Bjork’s dynamic musical style is the perfect way to dazzle your class during one of their brain breaks. There are dozens of her songs that are great for music and movement activities, but her song “Cover Me” is especially fitting for a brain break. Invite your kiddos to close their eyes and soak up the sounds of this whimsical song.
Learn More: YouTube
52. Shake, Rattle and Roll
This is a fun song for music and movement brain breaks for students. Have your students get their shakers out and dance.
Learn More: YouTube
As you can see, brain breaks are an important part of learning and there are so many different brain breaks for students you can try.
How do you implement brain breaks in your home or classroom?
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should students take brain breaks?
Brain breaks for students should be based on the individual needs of each child, and the needs of the classroom, as a whole. If you see that a single child, or the whole classroom, is losing focus and getting fidgety or frustrated, it’s time for a brain break.
What is the best brain break?
The best brain break is the activity a particular child needs. For some children, calming sensory activity is best. For others, an upbeat music and movement activity is best.
Why brain breaks for kids are important?
Brain breaks for students are important because they divert a student’s attention away from their learning task for a short period of time. They can help kids re-energize and return to their studies with better focus and concentration.
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