Brain Breaks

Introduction

Brain Breaks are quick ways of changing the physical and mental state of the students. They can help energize the students when they seem to be loosing focus or feeling stressed. The students may not have the attention span necessary for two hours of uninterrupted learning. Through simple physical activities, the students become re-energized and prepared to refocus on learning.

Examples

Brain Breaks Blog

Activities for Zoom Meetings

Brain breaks are important for in-person classes, and they are also important on Zoom calls. The longer the Zoom call, the more important it is to incorporate a little break.

Word/Typing Game :
Choose "BombParty" and make a private game.

Jigsaw Puzzles :
Can solve a puzzle as a group.

Oregon Trail Choose your own Adventure :
This is a google form where you can all work together to survive on the Oregon Trail - with a few fun twists along the way.

Hogwarts Choose Your own Adventure :
Another google form choose your own adventure that is Harry Potter Themed.

Bracket Maker :
Build your own competitive bracket and have the students vote on who would win!

Blooket :
Blooket is similar to Kahoot but it is free for up to 60 players all you need to do is make a teacher account to begin hosting games. There are different games and question packs - you can browse to see what themes you think your students will like best.

Drawasaurus : Might Not work at DISD Campuses
Drawasaurus is a pre-made Pictionary game. Start a private room and invite the students. Then, each player will be given the chance to be the drawer while all other players try to guess what their picture is. **Might not work on school-issued laptops.**

DrawPhone :
DrawPhone is a mix of Pictionary and telephone. Start a "party" and send the link in the zoom chat. When you start a party and choose draw phone as the game you can set what word pack you want, how many players, and how long people have to draw their photos. You much have at least four players - if you have less than four you can add a bot. Each person will be given a word to draw within the time limit set and then their drawing will be sent to someone else and they will have to guess what they think it is. This will go on until each word has gone to at least three people. Then you will all get to review and see if the word you started with is the word you ended with.

Kahoot :
You can open a free education account and host trivia games with up to 10 people. This is best for smaller groups. The trivia games can be chosen from pre-made questions or you can make your own ahead of time. Students use their browsers or phone to log into the game and play.

Uno :
Play the classic card game online. You can start a private room and share the name and password with your students. You can also set the number of cards students to get to ensure that the game goes as fast, or as slow, as needed.

Battleship :
If you have a small group or need to have an extra break with a pair of students, Battleship is a good online two-player game to help students focus. This online platform allows them to send the link to a friend and play an autogenerated game.

Pictionary:
You can use a Zoom whiteboard to play Pictionary. To use Zoom’s whiteboard, you’ll want to click the share screen button located in your meeting toolbar, select the whiteboard, and click share. You should then see annotation tools that will let you use your mouse to draw as you would for Pictionary.

Two Truths and a Lie:
Each person thinks of two statements that are true about themselves and one lie. One person at a time says three statements and everyone else tries to guess which one is the lie.

T Shirt Day:
Ask students and mentors to wear their favorite t-shirt for the session. On the day when everyone wears their t-shirt, have each student and mentor share why that t-shirt is special to him/her. T-shirts could be anything from a sports team that they played on, a club/group they have participated in, a favorite movie, or even from when they were younger (baby, elementary school, college, etc.). [2]

• Good for all age groups
• Requires some prep work

Would You Rather:
Ask a “would you rather” question and have students show their choice by displaying an emoji. Have a few kids share why. Good for all age groups (change up questions/options for older students). Here are a few ideas to get started:

• Would you rather take a one-week trip to the foreign country of your choice OR take a four-week trip around your own country?
• Play on a baseball team that always wins but always has to play in the rain OR play on a baseball team that always plays in sunny weather, but also always loses?
• Be the best player on a team that always loses OR be the worst player on a team that always wins?
• Be barred from computer use for a year OR not be allowed to eat any desserts or sweets for a year?
• Be able to control the weather OR be able to talk to animals?
• Live in Narnia OR attend school at Hogwarts?
• Be given $1,000 right now OR be given $50 a month for the rest of your life?
• Be a famous actor OR discover the cure for cancer?
• Be incredibly wealthy but never fall in love OR have a happy marriage but be poor?
• Have many friends but no close friends OR have just one or two close friends?
• Have bright blue teeth OR have bright blue hair?
• Lose one arm OR lose one leg?
• Be able to fly OR be able to turn invisible?
• Get to take a shower every day but you have to take a cold shower OR only get to shower once a week, but you get to take a hot shower?
• Not be allowed to eat your five favorite foods for an entire year OR be allowed to eat only your five favorite foods for an entire year?
• Have a very strict teacher but learn a lot OR have a really nice teacher but not learn much?
• Have a friend that was really fun to be with but not very nice OR has a friend who is kind of boring but also very kind?
• Have a job that you hate but that pays you millions of dollars a year OR have a job that you love that pays you just enough to get by?
• Have an eye in the middle of your head like Cyclops OR have two noses?
• Be given $1,000 dollars OR have the charity of your choice be given $10,000 dollars?

20 Questions:
20 questions is a game that can be played on Zoom just like it is played in person. First, think of a real or fictional character that everyone would know, like Spiderman or Beyonce. Then, choose a student to ask a YES or NO question. Have the students continue asking these types of questions. Next, let the students guess the answer at any time in the questioning process. The student to guess the correct answer is the winner and gets to be the one to pick the next character. Students can submit their questions by clicking on the “raise my hand” button in the Zoom settings.

Charades:
Private message one student with the word card. This student then pantomimes this clue while the other students guess the answer. You can mute students and have them raise their hand when they have a guess.

Brain Break Hands:
Brain Breaks are simple 1-2 minute mind and body challenges. This Brain Break seems simple. However, you will find out soon that you will have a hard time mastering it. 1. Stand Up. 2. Start by waving your right hand in front of you from left to right. Your palm should be facing away from you while keeping your hand with your fingers pointing up. 3. Now stop that hand and have your left hand in front of you waving it up and down. 4. Now practice moving them at the SAME TIME. Do not move your hands going diagonally. 5. Now switch to have your right hand up and down and your left hand left and right. Do this faster and switch often to make it more difficult. 6. Lastly, to increase the difficulty, have your arms crossed while doing this.

Physical Breaks

Name Game:
Ask each student to think of an action that starts with the same letter as his or her name, such as "Jumping James." The student does the action and then calls out his or her action-name. Everyone then repeats the action and the action name. Continue until everyone has a chance to say his or her name.

Clap and Stomp Counting:
Each hand clap counts as 1 and each foot stomp (or knee slap) counts as 10. Can the students count to 4? Or 32? Ask questions like "What is 7 times 5?" and get the answer in claps and stomps.

My Bonnie:
Sing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" with the class. Every time they hear a "b" they change position: if they are sitting, they stand, and vice versa. It's fun when you get to the "bring back, bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me" part and their heads are bobbing like buoys in the ocean! Up for a challenge? Speed up each time you start the song over!

Keep Up The Plates:
Have kids all put a paper plate on their head. Have them move about the room. If their plate falls, they are frozen and someone else has to bend down without having their plate fall off their head and put it on a classmates head. The object is to keep everyone in the game.

Six Spots:
Number six spots around your room from 1-6. Have students each go to a spot of their choice. Choose a student to roll a die (if you can make a big one out of foam, it adds to the fun). All the students at the number rolled must go back to their seats. Students that are left go to a new spot, and the die is rolled again. Continue until only a few students are left.

Everybody Is A Star:

1. Divide the class into 2 groups: Journalists and Super Stars.
2. Ask the Journalist group to write 3 to 5 questions a journalist would ask a Super Star.
3. Ask the Super Star group to pick a super star they would like to be. They are not to vocalize who they are, but should be able to answer journalist questions based on the character they have chosen for themselves.
4. The Journalists have 5 minutes to interview as many Super Stars as they can, asking only the 3 or 5 questions they wrote down.
5. The Super Stars can never directly say their name or exactly what it is that they do. The Super Star group must constantly be walking because celebrities are very busy.
6. The journalists try to guess who the Super Stars are based on the answers to their questions.
7. After 5 minutes, the Super Stars reveal who they are and the Journalists check to see if their guesses were correct.
8. Ask the groups to switch roles.

Simon Says:
An oldie, but a goodie!

5-4-3-2-1
In this simple game, students stand up and the teacher (or leader) has them do five different movements in descending order. For example the teacher would say: “Do five jumping jacks, spin around four times, hop on one foot three times, walk all the way around the classroom two times, give your neighbor one high-five (pausing in between each task for students to do it).

• Good for all age groups (especially younger ones)
• A little prep work required to identify what directions to provide
• Materials: none

Sharks & Minnows
The classic tag game where one student (the shark) chases the rest of the class (the minnows). Every tagged student becomes a shark. Students like it because it’s a fun challenge to try and fake out their friends with rapid changes in direction as they run so they can be the last minnow left. Teachers like the fact that it has students running back and forth time and time again. With no equipment or setup needed, this game is perfect to fill a few extra minutes and fun enough for a full class period. It’s a game designed for elementary students, but high school students still enjoy this game too.

• Good for all age groups (especially younger ones)
• No prep work required
• Materials: none (only open space conducive to running around)

Freeze Tag
The person who is "It" chases the other kids to try to tag them. When she successfully tags a player, that player must freeze and remain frozen until another player, who has not been tagged, tags them to unfreeze them. The game continues until all runners have been frozen, and then a new person becomes "It." Variations include having multiple players designated as “It” and/or having a “safe zone” where players can not be tagged/frozen (for a limited amount of time).

• Good for all age groups (especially younger ones)
• No prep work required
• Materials: none (only open space conducive to running around)

Other Freeze Tag Variations :

Moon and the Morning Stars

Also called Shadow Tag, this version must be played on a sunny day. The moon ("It") has to stay in the shadow of a tree or building while the stars (other players) run in and out of the shadow, explains Ferrer. The moon can freeze a star who runs into the shadows or tag their shadow instead.

TV Tag

In this version, to unfreeze a player you must tag them and shout the name of a TV show. If you accidentally name a show that has already been called, you are now frozen next to that player. This game can be played with other categories such as books, animal names or breakfast cereals.

Underdog Tag

Frozen players spread their legs open to create a tunnel which another player must crawl through to unfreeze them. If a player is tagged while trying to unfreeze another, they must stand up right in front of the person they were saving, creating a double tunnel for someone else to crawl through.

Ultimate Freeze Tag

The person who is "It" hides a small ball before play starts. All players run around looking for the ball while trying not to be tagged. Once a player is tagged and frozen, she cannot move until another player finds the ball, throws it to her and she catches it.

Note: this version requires a ball/object for hiding

Line Up
Have students line up based on certain criteria such as the day of their birth, in chronological order from January 1st to December 31st (from left to right). Once they complete that task, ask them to line up in reverse order. Other ideas may include: lining up by first/last name alphabetical order, height, shoe size, grade level, school name, etc. For an added twist, have students line up and figure out chronological order in silence (allowing hand gestures, movement, etc.)

• Good for all age groups
• Requires some prep work if you’d like to switch up the discussion questions
• Materials: none (only requires enough space for students to move around)

Blobs and Lines
In this icebreaker, students are prompted to either line up in some particular order (by birthday, for example) or gather in “blobs” based on something they have in common (similar shoes, for example). What’s great about this game is that it helps students quickly discover things they have in common. It’s also ridiculously easy: Students don’t have to come up with anything clever, and they can respond to every question without thinking too hard about it. This game keeps students moving and talking, and it builds a sense of belonging and community in your classroom. Here are some sample prompts you can use for this game:

• Line up in alphabetical order by your first names.
• Line up in alphabetical order by your last names.
• Gather with people who have the same eye color as you.
• Gather with people who get to school in the same way as you (car, bus, walk).
• Line up in order of your birthdays, from January 1 through December 31.
• Line up in order of how many languages you speak.
• Gather into 3 blobs: Those who have LOTS of chores at home, those who have A FEW chores at home, and those who have NO chores at home.
• Gather with people who have the same favorite season as you.

Hangman
As a mental break, have students play a round or two of Hangman. Organize students into small groups or play as an entire team, choose one student or mentor to decide on a word/phrase, and have the point person draw out blanks for each letter on a whiteboard or other easily visible common area. Have students take turns guessing letters while the point person either fills in the blanks (for correct letters) or writes the letter outside the game board (for incorrect letters) and starts drawing out the Hangman figure for each incorrect guess. Students must guess the right word/phrase before the Hangman is complete! As time allows, rotate through different students/mentors to serve as the point person choosing the puzzle and recording answers.

• Good for all age groups
• No prep work required
• Materials: whiteboard/markers, paper/pencil, etc. (whatever works best for drawing out/recording Hangman answers)

Find It Fast
Call out a color or other trait (e.g. something round, something made of wood), and students must find an object in the room that fits the trait and get to it quickly.

• Good for younger age groups
• Requires a little prep work to identify which colors/objects to call out
• Materials: none

Simon Says
Have 1 student or mentor take the role of "Simon" and issue instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase "Simon says". Players are eliminated from the game by either following instructions that are not immediately preceded by the phrase, or by failing to follow an instruction which does include the phrase "Simon says". It is the ability to distinguish between genuine and fake commands, rather than physical ability, that usually matters in the game; in most cases, the action just needs to be attempted. The object for the player acting as Simon is to get all the other players out as quickly as possible; the winner of the game is usually the last player who has successfully followed all of the given commands. Occasionally however, 2 or more of the last players may all be eliminated by following a command without "Simon Says", thus resulting in Simon winning the game.

• Good for younger age groups
• Requires a little prep work to outline “Simon Says” actions
• Materials: none

Brain Teasers

http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/BrainTeasers/CleverBrainTeasers.php [More will be added]

Creative Breaks

Bag of Junk:
Bring a bag of random objects to every session. During the break, choose an object from the bag. Tell the students to think of a new use for the item or to think of a way that the item could be redesigned. This a a good way to have the student channel their creativity while working on their projects.

[More will be added]