Brain Breaks for the Classroom: Enhancing Learning in 2024

Sitting and focusing on learning for long periods of time is exhausting – and for many, can be extremely difficult. Enter the brain break. It might seem counterintuitive, but taking a short break from learning can actually improve overall performance.

Brain breaks are exactly what they sound like: short rest periods for hardworking minds. The brain, just like any other part of your body, can’t work indefinitely. Therefore, letting it take a short break is important.

Think of it like any physical activity. Most people wouldn’t expect themselves – let alone their kids – to run a marathon without a single break. Instead, you take spaced-out breaks to give your body a chance to pause, recover a little, and ready itself for the next section. You might also take this opportunity to refuel.

Brain breaks apply this concept to mental activities. However, they should perhaps be known as movement breaks. That’s because the most effective brain breaks are those that involve physical movement. Studies have shown, for example, that short movement breaks can improve student performance. So it’s especially important to consider using brain breaks for the classroom – though they can almost certainly help in any situation involving hard mental work.

While brain breaks can help anyone, they are especially useful when applied to the classroom setting. That’s because children may find it harder to sit still and focus for long periods of time, especially if they aren’t especially interested in a particular subject — or school in general. While the type of brain break used may change depending on whether it is being used in kindergarten, middle school, or high school, the concept of a movement break can bring various benefits to all learners.

The first (and perhaps most obvious) benefit of brain breaks is improved concentration and focus. This benefit is often quite intuitive. If you’ve ever found your concentration waning, you may well have found yourself itching to stand up and walk around for a few minutes. In fact, world-famous focus techniques – like the Pomodoro method – have been built around this central idea of taking regular active breaks while focusing.

Brain breaks can also help refocus a rowdy classroom. Sometimes, students can become distracted by something, and just can’t seem to get back on track. A short movement break can help draw a line in the sand, after which the kids might be more willing to get back to work.

In 2021, the National Institutes of Health made a fascinating discovery: while at rest, our brains repeatedly replayed recent activities. That replaying apparently made people perform said activity better when asked to repeat it.

In short, there is evidence to suggest that short breaks can help us remember more. This might seem counterintuitive. After all, taking five minutes of rest might seem decadent if you have a tight deadline and lots to learn. However, that break might actually leave you remembering more than if you have tried to push through.

School can be stressful. Fortunately, brain breaks can help reduce many kinds of stress. For example, students might become frustrated or worried if they aren’t comprehending a particular lesson or subject. A movement break offers them a chance to pause, calm down, and refocus. Similarly, anxious minds can often get stuck; intrusive thoughts, thinking in circles, and other similar patterns can trap students, preventing them from learning and causing distress. A brain break could be the trick to break them out of this pattern.

There are many more situations where a short, structured, active break can help students – and, indeed, adults – deal with the stress and anxiety that unfortunately comes with high-pressure environments like school.

So, we’ve established that brain breaks are beneficial. That’s the easy part. The tricky part is how to implement them effectively. After all, breaks can easily stretch longer than they need to, and it can be difficult to get back on track after stopping work.

To avoid the pitfalls surrounding breaks, here are some techniques to ensure your brain breaks are doing what they need to be doing.

The first problem facing teachers who want to use brain breaks is introducing the concept. After all, many people are still brought up on the traditional idea of learning, where children – and, again, adults – focus for as long as they are required to. In this conception of study, breaks are a sort of admission of defeat, rather than a helpful and necessary pause.

Therefore, before attempting to use brain breaks, teachers should ensure their students properly understand what they will be doing. One great tip is to have a small group demonstrate the activity that the class will be doing. This is especially useful if the brain break is truly a movement break, and will involve some kind of physical activity. Being able to see the movement demonstrated should help kids understand exactly what they are expected to do.

That being said, it’s important to allow students some degree of agency during their brain breaks. This might not be possible the first few times, when they aren’t sure exactly what these breaks are meant to look like. But after a while, teachers should consider letting their students choose their break; you could let them pick from a few options, for example, by voting. 

While some classes might love certain types of breaks, it’s also important to try and keep things fresh. If possible, introduce new brain breaks throughout the year to ensure your kids don’t get bored with the same old activities.

Above all, remember to be prepared. Brain breaks can be fun, but must be planned to some degree, or they risk becoming more harmful than helpful. Block out time for the break in your lesson plan – accounting for a little more time than you expect, just to be safe – and make sure you’ve got everything you might need ready. Then, always use a timer. Having it visible is even better, so your students know exactly when their break is coming to an end.

On that note, how long should brain breaks be? The exact length will depend on the activity being done during the break, of course. However, as a general rule, try to keep breaks between two and five minutes.

If your brain breaks are too short, they won’t have the desired effect. After all, it often takes more than thirty seconds to fully relax and refocus. You’ve committed to taking a break, so you might as well make it worthwhile.

On the other hand, breaks become dangerous if they drag on too long. The most obvious problem is that you only have a certain amount of time to get through the material that’s been set. As a teacher, you can’t spend too long refocusing your kids, or you’ll run out of time to take advantage of their renewed energies.

Similarly, brain breaks need to be done at the right time to be most effective. However, it’s not always easy to determine when that time is.

For younger students, such as those in 3rd grade, you might need to implement a break after 15 minutes of intensive work. However, you might be able to push them longer, and sometimes they might need to have a break sooner. Watch the room and gauge the mood. When you sense their focus waning, you can implement the break.

As you might expect, the type of brain break is important. You want to ensure that your planned break activities are appropriate for your students. Younger kids may go for games or age-appropriate videos, while older students might prefer more mature activities like yoga. Remember to consider the abilities of your students when planning breaks. For example, you may have kids that can’t perform certain movements; they’ll need their own alternatives, or you’ll need to come up with a different idea.

Additionally, consider the vibes of your students. Are they often rowdy and energetic? Then a calming break might be best. Or are they generally quiet, shy, or tired? A more energetic break might get them back in the zone.

Fortunately, there are literally hundreds of examples of brain break activities online. Many of them are available for free. Leafing through this library of ideas is a great way to fill out your handbook of movement and brain breaks. We’ll discuss some popular examples below.

Don’t feel like you need to follow any of these activities exactly. Remember, they are just examples. Combine them, adjust them, and make them your own. After all, you know your students best.

There’s a reason brain breaks are often called movement breaks. A bit of movement can be a fun, quick way to inject some energy into a tired classroom. It can also help kids let off some steam and refocus on the task at hand.

Yoga is a great starting place for planning brain breaks. There are many simple, beginner-friendly yoga exercises that can be used in the classroom. Some can be explained with images you could print and display in the classroom. For older kids, it might be best to stick to the basics. Sun salutations, for example, can release a lot of tension. Tree pose is a little trickier, but could be a fun challenge. Both of these poses do not involve sitting, which is helpful in a classroom setting.

Younger kids might prefer different exercises. Animal-themed moves, for example, are a great option for lower grades. Cats, dogs, cows, and cobras are all animals with yoga moves named after them. For extra fun, have your kids imitate the animals in question. You might be surprised at how convincing your students are at imitating their favorite animals!

If yoga moves are too complicated, stick to something even more basic. Simple stretches or calisthenic exercises, like jumping jacks or hamstring stretches, can release tension and get blood flowing. Beyond the mental benefits, taking time to stretch and move is vital for physical health, too.

Physical exercises are great, but sometimes you want something a little less chaotic. Having your students focus on a different mental task can be a great way to switch things up. Age-appropriate puzzles, riddles, and brain teasers are all examples of mental exercises that make for interesting brain breaks.

Some mental exercises involve a little physical activity. For example, you might try something like the ear-nose-switcheroo. First, your right hand touches your left ear, and your left hand touches your nose. Then, your hands switch: your left hand touches your right ear, and your right hand touches your nose.

Letting your kids explore their creative side can be an excellent way to structure a brain break. For younger kids, this could be something involving their imagination, like playing a video of a jellyfish aquarium. An example for older kids might be learning a word in sign language. Doodling, drawing, crafting, origami, and storytelling are all further examples of creative brain breaks.

• Play a simple game. Whip out Wordle, connections, spelling bee, or some other quick game, and play it with your class. For something more active, go for Simon says, Four corners, “Heads down, thumbs up,” or similar.
• Discuss a topic. Something like “Would you rather?” is a great way to get your students talking – and perhaps even debating – over something unrelated to the lesson at hand.
• Write something down. Journaling has exploded in popularity over the last few years for good reason. It’s a great way to process thoughts and doesn’t take very long.
• Get active. The exercise itself is less important than the result. From just standing up and stretching to entire yoga routines, getting up and moving is the key. For younger kids, let your imagination run wild. Stir the pot, make it rain, jump up and down, line up outside… the sky – or, well, your classroom’s ceiling – is the limit.
• Become mindful. Use a mindfulness prompt or activity to structure your brain break.

Research has repeatedly demonstrated the benefits of active brain breaks. However, many schools still don’t implement them. In April, an article in the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance proposed the “TransformUs Active Break (TAB) model.” This model divides active breaks into five categories, each with a specific function: structure, transition, energize, learn, and manage. In total, the model aims to promote breaks that complement learning, rather than simply being time away from learning.

Read the full article

Another proven technique, written about by Sarah Fillion and Dana Januszcka in 2023, is the MODEL method. First, motivate: explain the type of activity you are going to model for your students. Then, observe: your students will watch you demonstrate. Next, discuss: ask your students to describe what you were doing and why you did it. Then, experience: make your students practice and talk about the activity. Finally, launch: give your students positive feedback. This has been used to help end brain breaks in the classroom.

Read the article by Sarah Fillion and Dana Januszcka

Brain breaks have been written about in newspapers, blogs, journals, and more. But perhaps most impactful are the anecdotes from individual teachers who have used them successfully. One teacher wrote on Reddit about having their 6th grade students walk around in a funny manner – like walking on coals – while the teacher played the guitar. When the music stops, the kids have to freeze. “They love it,” the teacher wrote, and “I love it.”

“My middle schoolers like the music line rider races,” another teacher wrote on Reddit. “They each pick a character/color to follow and cheer them on to win.” “My 4th graders love them too!” another teacher responded.

“Danny Go!” is the cool new thing,” one teacher wrote on Reddit. “Disclaimer: not an expert on what’s cool or new.” Nevertheless, another teacher replied, “Just looked him up and he is great! Perfect for K/1!”

“The only [brain break] that actually gets [first graders] then calm afterwards is a “Silly to Calm” video from “Silly” on YouTube,” one teacher commented on an r/Teachers thread. “Gets their energy out and then we focus for about 5 min longer than usual.”

On another thread, teachers suggested Play-Doh and quiet music – which has the added benefit of making students practice cleaning up – going outside, would you rather, coloring, and a game called “Guess in 10.”

Read more testimonials on an r/Teachers thread

Ultimately, the way you choose to incorporate brain breaks in your classroom is up to you. While breaks have been proven to improve performance and mental wellbeing, there is no single correct way to implement them. As each class is unique, you shouldn’t give up after trying once; see what works and watch the positive results speak for themselves.