Brain Breaks for Kids - 20 Printable Activity Cards

What’s inside this article: What brain breaks are and how they benefit kids, how and when to add them to kids’ daily routines, and instructions for 20 brain break activities. Free download of brain break activity cards at the bottom of this article.

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Brain breaks are an effective way to increase focus, support self-regulation, and boost a child’s learning in the classroom (or home).

This article will answer some important questions about brain breaks for kids.

What are brain breaks?
How do brain breaks benefit children?
How can you add brain breaks into your child/student’s day at optimal times?

Plus, I’ll list some fun brain break ideas for kids and at the end of the article, you’ll find a link to some free printable brain break cards.

What are Brain Breaks?

Let’s start with the basics.

Brain breaks are short (3 to 5 minute) mental breaks designed to help kids stay focused and attentive in the classroom or to help them through transition times.

They’re used during class time, homework time, or in between tasks.

Some optimal times for brain breaks would include just after lunch or recess, in between subjects in class, or at planned intervals during tasks where kids are expected to sustain focus on something for an extended period.

Benefits of Brain Breaks

Research shows brain breaks benefit kids in many different ways:

supports emotional well-being and self-regulation
improved focus and attention
increases motivation in the classroom
supports kinesthetic learning
contributes to strong academic performance

Why Use Brain Breaks in the Class Room?

Brain breaks aren’t just a moment of play or rest during learning time, they help students reach their full potential.

There is science to back this up.

We know that the brain uses neurotransmitters to send messages across pathways. When doing the same task for a period of time, those transmitters begin to deplete. The brain needs time to produce more.

Shifting to a completely different activity engages a different region of the brain and different transmitters, and allows the now resting region of the brain to replenish its supply.

Research shows that these short breaks allow regions of the brain that are blocked by stress or high-intensity work to revitalize.

How Breaks Improve Learning

For new information to become stored in memory, it must reach the prefrontal cortex (responsible for executive functioning) by passing through the amygdala.

The amygdala controls the fight or flight instinct. In situations where we feel overwhelmed, anxious, upset, or confused, the amygdala blocks access to the prefrontal cortex, so no information gets in.

This is the reason why you can’t use reason when talking to a child mid-meltdown. And, it also impedes learning. Taking a brain break helps calm the brain, allowing the amygdala to relax, and restores the flow of important to the prefrontal cortex.

Incorporating Brain Breaks Into Children’s Routines

Research shows that when homes and classrooms have consistent routines and easy-to-understand structures, children behave better.

While brain breaks could be done spontaneously if you felt the class needed one – you should ideally schedule them into your day as part of your routine.

This way, you’re using them as a proactive strategy.

Best time of day to schedule Brain Breaks

For teachers:

First thing in the morning
Between subjects
After recess
After lunch
After gym class
Intermittently during times when kids need to sustain focus
When a student is feeling frustrated and needs a short break

For Parents:

During homework time
Transition times when you need to bring energy levels down
During unpreferred tasks – for example, while cleaning their bedroom
Before bed – use a calming brain break
In the morning – use an energizing brain break

Note: Parents, if your child struggles with focus and attention, or self-regulation, it might be beneficial to speak with their school about incorporating extra scheduled brain breaks into their school day.

Getting Started- How to Plan Brain Breaks

You’ll need just a little bit of pre-planning to get started with these brain breaks. All you need to do with these cards is download the free PDF and print it, then cut out the cards.

You could laminate these, and use a hole punch, then attach them to a key ring. This prevents the activity cards from getting lost or damaged. I’ve had a couple of teachers mention keeping the key ring of cards in their classroom calming corner, and that students tend to gravitate toward it when they go for breaks.

Make sure your kids know the purpose of the activity and how long it will take.

For younger children, using a timer helps them see how much time is passing so after you give the instructions, start the time. The timer provides a built-in warning that the break is winding down. You can also use verbal reminders.

Brain Break Activities

List of Brain Break Activities

Calming Brain Breaks

The brain needs time for processing and rest after learning.

Plus, to learn something new, the information needs to pass through the emotional filter in the brain (the amygdala) to reach the prefrontal cortex.

If kids are overwhelmed or anxious, that filter closes down and new information can’t be processed efficiently.

1. Square Breathing

This is a deep breathing activity that involves breathing while following the shape of a square. Breath in for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat this process for 8-10 repetitions.

You can also download the square breathing poster, along with 3 other deep breathing activities, here.

2. Spell Your Name with Your Breath

Take a deep breath in. Then, blow out slowly, while moving your head, to draw the letters of your name in the air with your breath.

This encourages kids to practice deep belly breathing in a fun way.

3. Blow Bubbles

Bubbles make a great calming brain break activity for kids.

Try to blow the biggest bubble you can, or blow smaller bubbles and try catching them on your fingers without popping them.

4. Body Scan

Students all close their eyes and the teacher/parent leads this activity.

Starting from the toes, direct kids to squeeze as tight as they can, and then release. Move up to the legs, buttocks, abdomen, hands, arms, neck, and face.

Finish by getting them to squeeze everything at the same time.

5. Listen Carefully

Set a timer for 1 minute. During the minute, everyone must sit with their eyes closed and stay completely quiet and listen for different sounds.

When the timer beeps, go around the room and take turns sharing what you heard.

6. Ring the Gong

You’ll need a desktop gong like this one to complete this brain break.

Everyone closes their eyes and sits quietly to listen. Ring the gong and wait. Everyone must listen carefully with their eyes closed. When you can no longer hear the gong – open your eyes.

7. Criss Cross Apple Sauce

This activity requires partners. Take turns reciting the rhyme while doing the actions on your partner’s back.

Criss-cross (draw an X with your fingers)
Apple Sauce (Gently tap your fingers down their back)
Spiders crawling up your arms (walk your fingers up their arms)
Light breeze (blow on the nape of your partner’s neck)
Tight Squeeze (hug or put pressure on their shoulders)
Now you’ve got the shiverys (light tickle back and forth along their back)

(This activity is my children’s favorite one and we do this together often.)

Active Brain Breaks

Active brain breaks are great for when the class is getting fidgety, or they’re expected to stay seated or focused for an extended period of time.

Active brain breaks stimulate the vestibular system. The vestibular system is located in our inner ear and it’s stimulated by movement. It helps our bodies stay alert.

After a period of inactivity, the vestibular nerve stops firing, making it harder to focus. A quick movement break gets it going again.

Children who are sensory seekers may need more intense or frequent movement breaks to get them through the day.

8. Reach for the Sky, Reach for your Toes

Stand up straight and reach your arms above your head, stretching as high as they can go. Then bend over and touch your lows, reaching as low as you can.

Repeat this movement/stretch 5 or 6 times.

Inverting the head, like when you bed over to touch your toes, is one of the best ways to stimulate the vestibular system.

9. Focus Ball

This is one of the many brain break activities found in Scholastic: Brain Breaks for the Classroom

PART ONE:
1. Stand with your feet and legs together.
2. Bring your fingertips together in front of your chest
3. Bend your finger joints to form a ball shape with your hands
4. Press your fingertips together firmly until you feel the muscles in your arms working.
4. See if you can hold that shape while you squeeze your legs together as tight as you can, too.

PART TWO:
1. Press your hands and your forearms together (starting with your fingertips and ending with your elbows) keeping your arms in front of your chest, with your fingers pointing forward.
2. Slowly “peel” apart your arms starting with your fingertips to your elbows.
3. Keep going, spreading your arms as wide as you can out to your sides.
4. As you open your arms, open your legs wide, too so you’re standing like a star.

10.Yoga Challenge

Choose a yoga pose and have a yoga challenge, who can hold the pose for the longest?

Tree pose is a great choice for this brain break activity.

If you want, you can download this poster of yoga poses for kids, and let the kids choose from the poster which poses they want to use for the yoga challenge.

11.Wall Push-Ups

Set your timer. Do push-ups against the wall until the time is up.

12. X marks the spot

Use tape to make an X on the floor for each child (or just use a sticker). Call out different body parts and have everyone touch that body part to their X.

Energizing Brain Breaks

These energy-boosting brain breaks can help regain your class’s attention if they’re bored and unfocused.

If your kids are overactive, using an activity like these to help exert their energy and then finishing off with some deep breathing or another calming option can help reset their brains and get them ready to learn.

13. Read it Do it

Read a book to the group, but every time you read a verb, have them act it out while standing in place.

14. Freeze Dance

Play some upbeat music and have everyone dance like crazy! But when you hit pause, they all need to freeze and hold their pose until the music starts again.

15. Burpees

Tell everyone to get up and do 10 burpees.

16. Miming

Get in partners and mime or mirror the actions of each other. There is no talking at all during this activity. After a minute or two, switch roles so both people get a chance to be the leader.

17. Inch Worms

Start in plank position. Jump your feet in towards your hands, so your body makes a “V” shape, then walk your hands forward until you’re back to the plank position.

Continue moving like this (go back and forth if there isn’t a lot of room) until the time is up.