No Prep Brain Breaks for any classroom
One of the most helpful items to check off my list before school starts is creating a stash of no prep brain breaks that are ready to use whenever needed.
As the school year moves on, I get so busy pouring creativity into my lessons that I run out of energy to come up with fun break ideas!
So I created this simple “Brain Break Jar” filled with 25 easy breaks for my classroom and it is awesome.
These breaks require little to no preparation from you, and your students will love them!
I’m happier when I have a break planned into the class period, and so are my students.
Why You Should Make Time for Brain Breaks
First, let’s look at the reasons why it is SO worth your time to plan breaks into your instruction.
Our classroom time is so limited, that I often find myself looking at the clock and thinking “Crap, we don’t have time to take a break! I have to finish this content today!”
And while the pressures of pushing the curricula are exceedingly real, I still believe that it is worth incorporating brain breaks into your daily instruction for the following reasons:
- Gives a mental and physical recharge for kids and adults – there is tons of research out there on this topic!
- Cultivates a positive classroom environment
- Build relationships – #1 on my list of Top 4 Secrets of Successful Junior High Teachers. Brain breaks create opportunities for students to connect with each other and with you in a very fun and low key way.
- Creates opportunities to teach and practice social skills – SURPRISE! This one is also on my list of Top 4 Secrets of Successful Junior High Teachers. Follow the link to learn the other 2 secrets! So basically brain breaks fulfill 2 of the 4 secrets to success and you should do them.
3 Tips for a successful brain break
Did I convince you that it’s worth it?
Great!
Now, let’s look at what you need to do in order for these brain breaks to be effective.
- Silly brain breaks are only as successful as you are enthusiastic about it. If you want your kids to do the macarena, YOU have to do the macarena, preferably while flamboyantly standing on top of your desk.
- SET A TIMER for all breaks or use a song. All my breaks are flexible so you can cater the length to your needs. My students love this digital bomb timer, which I use frequently. Just make sure your sound isn’t on full blast or you will send shock waves!
- Pre-teach expectations for break time (i.e. no phones, everybody participates, respect time limits, etc).
My Favorite No Prep Brain Breaks
Since this is a long list, I will begin by highlighting my top 10 favorite brain breaks.
All the materials for these breaks are linked in my Brain Breaks Master List, which you can download free by submitting your email below. This list is a Google Doc that includes teacher instructions, student materials, links to videos, Google Slides, and much much more!
#1: High-Fives
Simply instruct students to give 10 different people a high five!
I like to demonstrate a good high five so I get the appropriate amount of enthusiasm from my students.
This is probably my most used brain break because it is so fast and easy. It gets them up and moving and socializing, but can be super quick if instruction time is short!
#2: Guess Who
Hands down, this is my most popular break.
Students submit facts about themselves via a Google Form (linked in my Master List). The teacher reads the facts about one student while the class tries to guess who it is by pointing at someone in the room.
At the end, the student reveals themselves and gets a little treat for letting us learn about them.
My students BEG for this break pretty much every day. They LOVE to learn about each other and this is such a fun way to get to know your students!
#3: Dance Party
Periodically, I like to make a fool of myself by standing on top of my lab bench and doing the Macarena with my students.
This is a great physical and mental break for students. They get to some blood moving and we always end up laughing!
I use Just Dance or other similar videos to teach us the dance moves.
In my Master List, I give you several video recommendations for dance breaks. I’ve previewed every video I linked, so you know they are appropriate for classroom use!
#4: Illustrated Story Time
Students love to learn funny stories about their teacher, and letting them illustrate while I tell it makes it so much fun!
Choose a student (or 2) to illustrate as you tell a personal story. My class loved having 2 illustrators compete by drawing different interpretations of my story!
I made a “Story Time Prompts” box for my classroom where students can add suggestions for story time. I think they really enjoyed having a say in my stories!
In my Master List, I’ve included a page of sample prompts to help you get started! Most of these were questions were generated by my students.
#5: Pencil Poses Challenge
This is a great team building activity that requires students to work together as a group! Students create a circle and balance pencils between their index fingers like this:
The group then tries to complete challenges without dropping any pencils. The challenges include things like turning the circle, sitting on the ground, doing the wave, etc.
In my Brain Breaks Master List, I’ve provided Slides with 10 different challenges for students to complete.
So easy and so fun!
#6: Compliment Gauntlet
Basically, you have students line up and yell nice things at each other, red-carpet style.
You definitely have to have the right group of kids for this break to work well, but it can be such a great boost for students!
For this break, I’ve shared with you some Slides with rules and expectations for students, as well as sentence stems to help students properly formulate a good compliment for their peers.
#7: Hula Hoop Relay
A quick and fun relay race.
You do need to purchase a couple of hula hoops for this activity. You can get these pretty cheap at your local dollar store, or the cheapest I’ve found on Amazon is this 6-pack for about $20.
Watch the quick video below to see how it works!
#8: Happy Messages
My students are always begging for screen time, so I like to throw in this little break from time to time as a special reward.
Adding this simple twist makes “phone time” so much more purposeful!
Ask students to think about someone in their life that they appreciate and send them a happy message! The message can be a text, email, sticky note, or whatever format fits your needs.
#9: Group Name Juggle
A great little game for helping students (and teachers) learn names throughout the year!
- Divide students into groups.
- Make a circle and toss a ball to anyone in the circle.
- Whoever receives the ball must say “Hi” and the name of the person who threw it to them.
- Then, share their own name as they pass it to the next person.
- Repeat and add more than one ball
This starts a chain that continues until someone either drops the ball or forgets a name. Add more balls as you go and it gets more and more difficult!
Example:
- Let’s say Sarah starts and tosses the ball to Hannah.
- Hannah says “Hi Sarah” and then “I’m Hannah” as she tosses the ball to Carly.
- Carly says “Hi Hannah, I’m Carly” and tosses the ball to James.
- James says “Hi Carly, I’m James” and tosses the ball to the next person.
- Once more balls are added, multiple students are saying names at the same time, making the game more difficult.
#10: This Or That
This is a pretty commonly used classroom activity, but one that students always enjoy.
To play, simply read or display a prompt and have students move to one side of the room or the other based on their responses.
For example, the prompt might be “Do you like cats or dogs better?” Students who like dogs move to the left side of the room and students who like cats move to the right side.
I’ve included about 60 slides with prompts to last you several rounds of this game throughout your school year. You may also use the same prompts to play “Sit or Stand” instead.
Hubby helped me out with the prompts, so you can thank him for the excessively creative ones!
Using The No Prep Brain Break Master List
So there you have it! My top 10 brain breaks for any classroom! All you need to do now is download my Brain Breaks Master List!
I designed this list as a “click and go” chart that gives you everything you need to do any of these breaks. I have even made it editable so that you can add your own breaks and create your own personalized sheet!
Each break is outlined in detail, including a list of any needed materials, links to videos or slides required. I have tried to include a wide variety of breaks to fit different needs.
I hope you find at least a few that are perfect for your classroom!
Each break is also categorized by the activity type (individual, small group, whole class) and amount of teacher prep required. Which is virtually none for all, but I let you know if you need to grab some sticky notes or something.
Here is a preview of the Master List and a few of the resources linked in it!
Preview of Brain Breaks Master List
Preview of Some Materials Linked in the Master List
The Brain Break Jar
To truly automate your brain breaks, I highly recommend creating a “Brain Break Jar” like the one pictured here and at the beginning of this article.
Every day at break time, you pull a random break title out of the jar and complete the break as outlined on my Brain Break Master List. My students love the spontaneity of pulling a random break, and it means I never have to really think much about it.
To make this as easy as possible for you, I’ve included a printable jar label plus a list of all the break titles on my master list. Cut them out and throw them in a jar, or write them on popsicles sticks like I did!
Lastly, all you need to do is collect the few needed materials at the beginning of the year so they are on hand whenever you need them.
Any mental energy saved is a win for me!
Get Your Free Brain Breaks!
To access all 25 of my breaks, please enter your email below! You will receive a copy of the Google Doc with all 25 brain breaks, plus all the resources you will need to do them.
I am requiring you to subscribe in order to access the list because by subscribing, you are helping grow this blog into an even more useful resource for yourself and teachers like you. So THANK YOU for taking the time to join my community!
All my resources are COMPLETELY FREE, and rest assured, I will not be spamming your email with a bunch of clutter. I send no more than one email a month which will highlight new posts and resources that are currently relevant to what you need at the time.
Let Us Know How it Goes!
If you enjoyed this article and the resources provided, please share it and leave a comment below!
What brain breaks do you and your students love??
I can’t wait to hear what brain breaks worked (or didn’t work) in your classroom, so that I can better support you!
And as always, thank you for the amazing work that you do!
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