Energizing Brain Break Crab

I got this idea from Tony Schlorff who got the idea from the good folks in El Paso Texas. Thanks for passing this one along.

I call it the Crab. This is an individual Brain Break

1. Stand Up
2. Put your arms out in front of you and match your fingers from each hand together and then match your thumbs together.
3. Now put lower your middle fingers so that the knuckles touch. Keep them flat against each other.
4. Now un-touch and retouch your thumbs.
5. Now un-touch and retouch your index fingers.
6. Now un-touch and retouch your ring fingers.
7. Lastly, un-touch and retouch your pinkies.
Good luck. This one was difficult.

Elbow to Knee Taps Brain Break

Elbow to Knee Tap Patterns

This is a stretching activity where you will be tapping your elbow to your knee in different patterns.
1. Stand up.
2. Hold your ears with your hands.
3.
Tap your right elbow to your left knee. Tap your left elbow to your right knee.
4. You will be tapping each knee alternately using this pattern: 1, 1, 2. For instance; 1 tap (right elbow to left knee), 1 tap (left elbow to right knee), 2 taps (right elbow to left knee), and then back to 1 tap (left elbow to right knee), 1 tap (right elbow to left knee), 2 taps (left elbow to right knee). Do this as fast as you can.
Idea from Sharon FischerBe creative with your patterns. Use a pattern like 3,1,2 taps



Elbow to Knee Stretch

This is a stretching activity where you will touch your elbow to your knee.
1.
Stand up.
2. Hold your ears with your hands.
3. Tap your right elbow to the top of your left knee. Now touch your left elbow to your right knee. That is one repetition. Do 5 repetitions.
4.
Idea from Sharon FisherBring your left knee up and have your right elbow tap the top of your knee and then tap the side of the same knee. Now do this same thing with the other knee and elbow. Do 5 repetitions.

Finger Tips Brain Break

This Brain Break is usually easier on one side or the other. Try it out and see.

1. Stand up.
2. Make an X with your arms out in front of you. Move your palms to face you with your fingers up in the air. Lock your thumbs together.
3. With your index finger on your right hand, try to touch each of the finger tips of your other hand, one by one.
4.
Now take your middle finger on your right hand and do the same thing and touch the finger tips of your other hand one by one.
5. Do this same process for your ring finger and pinkie on your right hand.
6. Now do the process for your left hand index, middle, ring and pinkie fingers.

Pretzel Stretch with your Fists

You will be stretching and outlining a pretzel with your fists.
Preparation: Draw a pretzel on the board like the one shown.

1. Stand up.
2. Put your hands clasped together in front of you to make a fist.
3. Imagine that your fist is at one of the end points of the pretzel. Now keeping your hands together, draw the outline of a pretzel. You will be stopping and reversing directions at each end point of the pretzel. Try to do this as fast as you can.
4. Now outline a huge pretzel that touches the ground and stretches to over your head in the same way as before.

Palm Tapping Energizing Brain Break

You will be tapping your opposite hand palm while keeping a pattern.
1. Stand up.
2. Put your hands in front of you so that your fingers are pointing straight forward and your palms are facing up.
3. You will be repeating a tapping pattern: two taps, three taps, one tap over and over while you alternate hands.
4. Take your ring finger on your left hand and tap twice on your right palm. Now take your pinkie finger on your right hand and tap three times on your left palm. Again take your left ring finger and tap once on your right palm. Now we start the pattern again and take the right pinkie and tap two times on the left palm. And so on…
5. Sometimes it is helpful to say the words out loud.
6. Try to do this as fast as possible keeping the same pattern.
7. If you master this then pick different fingers for each hand.
Be creative with your patterns. Use a pattern like 2,3,1,3,2 taps

I Bet You Can't Do This!

Here are three activities that most people can’t do. All of these are done from a standing position. Students enjoy trying to do them. About 1 in 10 can do these.


Put your arm out in front of you with your index finger extended. Try to spin your wrist slowly in one direction and your index finger in the opposite direction.



Roll your neck in one direction while at the same time moving your tongue around the inside of your lips in the other direction.



While spinning your right toe in a clockwise direction take your right hand index finger and draw the outline of a 6 in the air.



Thanks to Rory Lynch for this idea!

Arm Wrap Brain Break

If you can get your students up and active every 25 minutes it will help their focus and concentration. Brain Breaks are refreshing. This brain break is very spacial. Students will be amazed that they have trouble connecting their fingers together.

1. Stand Up.

2. Put your left arm straight down at your side.

3. Tuck that arm behind your back so that it is resting on your lower back. It should be bent at a 90 degree angle.

4. Follow these instructions while closing your eyes.

A. Take your ring finger and try to touch your pinkie.

B. Take your middle finger and touch your thumb.

C. Take your pinkie finger and touch your index finger.

5. Now put your right arm behind your back and follow A, B, C.

Inch Worm Brain Break

We should try to get a brain break in every 25 minutes in our classes. Brain Breaks give students a chance to take a break from the regular routine. This is a brain break that I learned while doing physical therapy on my knee.

1. Stand up.
2. Bend down and touch the ground with your hands. Bend your knees if you need to.
3. Start inching your hands out in front of you. Your feet remain in place. You will be moving your hands farther and farther out in front of you. More and more weight will be on your hands.
4. Once you have extended yourself as far as you can go, keep your hands still and start inching your legs forward until they meet your hands again. Try to keep your knees straight.
5. Repeat.

See the inchworm video.

"Twisted" Brain Break

This Brain Break will get you twisted up, but will re-engergize you.

1. Stand up.
2. Put your hand out in front of you and clap and miss.
3. Put your thumbs down and then put your hands together.
1. Pull your hands inward rolling them towards you until your hands are on top and your elbows are near your side.
4. Roll your shoulders to stretch your back and neck.
5. Put your right leg over your left.
6. Roll your neck clockwise. (be careful not to fall)
7. Now switch your legs and put your left leg over your right.
8. Roll your neck counter-clockwise.
9. Spell your first name backwards.
10. Say your last name backwards.

See video for the demonstration.

Thanks to Rob Porter for this idea.

T Stretch Brain Breaks

It is great if you can give your students a brain break every 25 minutes. This brain break is a strech. First of all, reach your arms straight out on the sides. It is like you make a "T". Now take your right hand and reach out to touch your left toe. Hold it for 10 seconds. Come back up and take your left arm and touch your right foot and hold it for another 10 seconds. Remember to keep your arms straight. Make sure that your students don't hit their partner when they stretch their arms out.

Enjoy!

Arm Stretch Energizing Brain Break

Try to take a brain break every 25 minutes in your class. This brain break is simple. You just stand up, and put your arms stretched out in front of you and your wrists touching. Move both arms together all the way to the left. Your left arm will be completely straight and parallel with the ground. Now move your arms back over to in front of you and then swing them all the way to the right. In this case, your right arm is stretched completely straight. Hold and stretch each swing for 15 seconds. See Video.

Happy Brain Breaks,


Dave

Figure Eight Brain Break

Brain Breaks are excellent for students to get re-focused. We should get our students up and moving every 25 minutes. Here is a brain break that your student can do with a simple spiral notebook. Take the spiral notebook and move it in a figure eight motion weaving through the legs. Of course, you want to do it as fast as possible. Also, when you get fast, you can try the opposite direction.
See the 50 second video.

Thumb and Pinkie Brain Break

Brain Breaks are great to take every 25 minutes in class.

This one is great for getting students to "think" about their movement.
Take your left hand and have your fingers in, and your thumb up.
Then take your right hand and put your thumb in and all your fingers in except your pinkie.
So in other words, your thumb up and pinkie out.
Now switch the roles of your hands.

See the 50 second video for how this actually looks.

Happy Brain Breaks,
Dave

Infinity Sign (Choir Director) Brain Break

We should all try to get our brain and bodies moving every 25 minutes. Make an infinity symbol with your right hand out in front of you. Stop your finger on the far right side of the infinity sign. Lift your left hand to be at the far left side of the infinity sign. Now move your hands at the same time and the same pace in the same direction to continue your infinity sign. Your hands should cross the middle at the same time. This one seems easy at first. Then you try to do it when your hands are doing the infinity signs in different directions. WOW that is hard. This crosses the mid-line and really makes you think.

Different Arm Directions Brain Break

Here is a Brain Break for your class. Have your students spin their right arm in a forward circle with their arm parallel to the ground. Now have them take their left hand and make a backward circle overlapping their right hand. Their hands should overlap each other but never touch. When they have done this, tell them to start their left hand spinning and their right hand overlap the left. It is really difficult to do. Most will be able to do one or the other.

Finger Aerobics Brain Break

This is a great Brain Break for your students.
It gets their brain working fast. It is a break they can do on their own. It is also very challenging.
It's called Finger Aerobics
Here it is:
Stand up
Lift both hands with four fingers up on each hand.
Move the pointer on one hand and the pinkie on the other.
Now move the tall finger on one hand and the ring finger on the other.
Next move the ring finger on one hand and the tall finger on the other.
Now move the pinkie on hand and the pointer on the other.
Keep doing this over and over to make a rippling effect.
This forces both sides of your brain to work together.
Try this for 30-40 seconds.

Paper Twirling Brain Break

You should be taking a brain break every 25 minutes.
This will help you focus and concentrate.
Take the paper with your palm up in one hand.
Twirl it around your back and catch (don't grab) it with the other.
Twirl (go around and around) as fast as you can.
Switch directions.