KAHPERD Convention LMAS Committee Brain Breaks
Catherine Arellano (carellano@usd259.net), Joan Bolt (jbolt@usd211.org),
Jill Cundiff (jcundiff@bluevalleyk12.org), Rhonda Holt (kansaslmis@gmail.com ),
Todd Junker (tjunker@usd259.net), Shellie Stahly (kimberlie_michelle@yahoo.com),
Claudia Welch (cwelch@usd345.com)
Thumbs Up
Students are standing in open space or by their desk. They watch the teacher’s thumbs to see
what action to perform.
Thumbs Up: Jump up and down as high as possible
Thumbs Down: Do squats
Thumbs Out to the Side: Jog in place
This could also be done with partners, one giving the signal, the other doing the action. Switch
after a short amount of time.
Switches
On one hand point your index finger straight out and on the other hand put your thumb in the
air, then switch what you are doing with each hand.
Place two fingers on your nose, with the other hand reach under your arm and touch your ear,
then switch what you are doing with each hand.
Snap your fingers with one hand and wink the opposite eye then switch sides.
Write It
Have students write the answer to questions using different body parts as their pencil. For
example:
What is the capitol of Kansas? Write the answer using your right elbow as the pencil.
What is one of your favorite ways to be active? Write the answer using your left foot as the
pencil.
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; 1tap (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. Be creative with
your patterns. Use a pattern like 3,1,2 taps
Finger Tips
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 fingertips 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
fingertips 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.
Moving Hands
1. Stand Up.
2. Start by waving your right hand in front of you 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.
Resource: Sladkey, D. (17 July 2014). Energizing Brain Breaks; Brain Break Therapy. Retrieved
from http://brainbreaks.blogspot.com/
Thumb Wrestle Wars
Randomly choose opponents to thumb wrestle. For fun keep track of your wins and losses.
When your minute is over make a shape with your body declaring the number left taking the
wins minus the losses. More losses than wins you would make a zero.
Rock Paper Scissors War
Have students spread out in room. They begin to challenge each other with Rock, Paper,
Scissors. The winner will continue to play by finding another ‘winner’. The student that lost will
be the ‘cheerleader / supporter’ for the student that beat him/her and follow him/her around
and cheer for that person. As the Activity continues every time a person loses they and their
followers now cheer for the person that defeated him/her. Continue until there are just two
students left and one winner. The final game could go best of three times.
Trading Places
Have students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. Call out a trait and everyone who has that
trait must change places with someone else (students who do not have the trait stay where
they are). Examples: "Everyone with curly hair." "Everyone who ate cereal for breakfast."
Everyone who is wearing stripes."
Mingle, Mingle, Group!
In this game students mill about the classroom saying, "mingle, mingle, mingle" in soft voices
until the teacher says "Groups of 5," at which point the students must quickly group themselves
into groups with the correct number of people. Students who are left over must do three
jumping jacks before the next round starts. The teacher can call out any number for the group
size. You can also add rules such as: as soon as a group is complete, all members must sit down
in a line.
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).
Frogger
Grade Level: 6th - 8th
Subject Area: Any subject
Equipment: None
Organization: Students stand by their desks, with plenty of room to move.
Description:
1. Have students start by standing up, away from their desk. Feet are shoulder-width apart and
knees are slightly bent.
2. Guide students to quickly squat down, allowing both their hands/fingertips to touch the
ground. (Make sure students are keeping their backs straight, and keeping their knees over
their feet).
3. Then, guide students to quickly jump up out of the squat, raising their arms over their heads.
4. Guide students to transition from the up position back into the squatting position in one fluid
motion.
5. Guide students in a series of repetitions for 2 minutes.
Note: This can be a very challenging exercise for some students. Give students the option of
Frogger for 1 minute and jumping jacks for 1 minute to complete the 2 minute cycle.
Variation:
1. To demonstrate how breathing rate influences heart rate and the connection between body
systems, have students check their pulse before and after the breathing exercise.
Source: Modified from CATCH Grades 6-8 Activity Box: Card # 245.
True or False
Grade Level: 6th - 8th
Subject Area: Any subject
Equipment: None
Organization: Students stand at their desks.
Description:
1. Call out a series of statements such as:
a. Your heart is a muscle. (True)
b. White bread is more nutritious than whole-wheat bread. (False)
c. Exercise makes your heart stronger. (True)
d. The main function of the heart is to supply oxygen to your body. (True)
e. Milk does not give you strong bones. (False)
f. You should be eating 5 cups of fruits and vegetables every day. (True)
g. Blood does not transport the oxygen from the heart to other parts of the body. (False)
h. The main sources of protein are meat, fish, and beans. (True)
i. You have muscles that move even when you don’t think to tell them to. (True)
2. Students respond to each of these statements by marching in place if the answer is false and
doing jumping jacks if the answer is true (set time limit of 10 seconds for the physical activity).
3. Instruct students to make larger movements—such as jogging in place or doing lunges—to
increase the intensity for true or false statements.
Variation:
1. Choose different movements for true and false answers.
2. Have a brief discussion as to why each statement was true or false.
3. Base the statements on the concepts you discussed during class.
4. Use to review for a test.
Source: East Carolina University, Activity Promotion Laboratory in partnership with the NC
Department of Public Instruction (Healthful Living and Healthy Schools Sections), the Health
and Wellness Trust Fund, Be Active North Carolina, the NC Alliance for Athletics, Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and the Physical Activity & Nutrition Branch.
Quick Math
Face your partner. Pretend to put your water gun in your holsters. For one-hand addition, on
the signal “Draw” each partner shows any number of fingers and thumbs on one hand. The first
partner who adds the fingers and thumbs of both partners wins the draw.
For two-hand addition, add partner #1 and partner #2 fingers and thumbs together for the sum.
For one-hand multiplication, multiply partner #1 times partner #2 for the product. For twohand multiplication, multiply the sum of Partner#1’s hands times the sum of partner #2’s hands
for the product.
Activity Break # 40
Tick Top Hop (Jump)





Teacher explains to students that they are standing inside an imaginary clock.
One hop forward is 12 noon, one hop back is 6 pm, one hop to the right is 3 pm, and one
hop to the left is 9 pm.
Teacher calls out the numbers/times one at a time.
Start slow calling numbers and then go faster and continue to mix it up.
Students hop (jump) with both feet together at the appropriate time always coming
back to the middle.
Variations:
Students could perform a fitness activity if they jump to the wrong number or
just continue playing and trying their best.
Level-Elementary (2nd-5th)
Secret Agent/Guardian Angel



Each person selects a Secret Agent and Guardian Angel from the group (they don’t
reveal who their agent and angel is).
On the signal to begin, each person must attempt to keep the Guardian Angel physically
between himself/herself and his/her Secret Agent.
No running.
Jedi Numbers



Ask the group to stand in a circle.
Set a numeric goal for the group to reach (start with 15 or so).
Explain to the group that once the activity begins, participants can only say a number-no
side conversations or strategies!
 On the signal to begin, someone (whoever decides to start) in the group starts by saying
“one”, followed by someone different (whoever decides to speak next) calling out “two”
and so on until the group reaches its goal.
 The challenge is that if more than one person calls out a number at the same time, the
group needs to start over at the beginning. Since there is not a set order or participants
saying numbers, this happens quite a lot!
Variation: Give the group a time limit (say 10 minutes) to reach the highest possible number.
Stand up, Sit Down




Students can all start standing or sitting.
Ask them questions, such as “do you have a sister?” or “are you wearing red?”.
If their answer is yes, they change to the other position (stand or sit).
If their answer is no, they stay the same.
Zoom Screech











Have players stand in a circle.
Explain that the group is going to work together to create the sound of a car zooming
past.
Start by saying “Zoom!” as you turn your head from the right to the left.
Once you are facing the person to your left, they should repeat “Zoom!” as they turn
their head from facing you to the person to their left.
The zoom should travel around the circle.
Have it go around a few times to get the speed up and constant.
Once you think the group has it down, stop and introduce the idea of “Screech!”.
A “Screech!” is the sound a car makes when it jams on the brakes.
If Instead of passing the “zoom” on you say “Screech!” to the person who said “Zoom!”
to you, you reverse the direction of the zoom.
Each player may screech only once during a game.
Play for a certain amount of time or until all players have used up their screeches.
Animal Roundup




Tell students to silently think of their favorite animal or any animal.
Next, tell students that, without talking, they need to arrange themselves from largest
to smallest animals.
Students can only make gestures and the noise of their animal!
After they have finished, have group members go around and say the animal they were
supposed to be to see if it was accurate.