Brain Breaks Part 27! Don’t Flinch!
I am sitting on my couch during winter break and I am feeling eager, inspired, rested and motivated to write a blog or two. Something I haven’t done since SEPTEMBER! Whew…. This year y’all… Brutal…
Before I hop into sharing this EPIC new Brain Break with you, I would love to share a quote that I read on my affirmations app this morning.
“I am like dough, I get stretched, squished and pounded – but after rest, I rise”
I hope that you rested during your break! I am intentionally schedule posting this so you don’t even THINK about work until we return! Take every moment of rest. It is so deserved! – bleh…. just checked my email and it sent out the stinking blog anyways… despite me setting it to publish on the morning of the 3rd :(. Please stop reading and go rest! lol it will be here when you go back to school!
Are you ready for this epicness!?
Sometimes my best ideas come from my family and friends! They know how much I love Brain Breaks. This one came from my handsome husband Paul. He was scrolling his Instagram one night in October, and he said WOAH, this would make a GREAT BRAIN BREAK!
You can watch the video he found here. It is by @7deadlycheeses on Instagram. I’ve pasted a video of me explaining it as well as class videos of my students doing it at the end of this description if you are more visual and want to skip ahead.
BEFORE PLAYING CONSIDER:
Showing students the original video and or the one of my students below. This can serve several purposes. 1. BUY IN. If your students see others playing the Brain Break who might be slightly cooler than you or I, they are far more likely to buy in… 2. It helps explain the Brain Break visually FOR you… less work for you!
FIRST:
Get your students to stand in two circles. If you have really big classes you may choose to make three circles.
SECOND:
Give one person in each circle a ball or object to toss. I use Unicorns of course.
THIRD:
Instruct the students to start tossing the object. HOWEVER, they don’t have to toss it every time. They can FAKE like they’re going to toss it and if the person that they “faked” it to flinches, they’re out!
FOURTH:
This is where those “TWO” Circles come in… I don’t like having “outs” for Brain Breaks. So the kiddo who is “out” simply moves into the other circle. There is CONSTANT movement as students move back and forth between circles
Important to note:
If students don’t catch the object when it IS thrown to them they’re also out. ALSO, if the toss was a terrible one, and there was no way for the student who is supposed to be receiving to reasonably catch it then they’re out.
Here is a video of my students playing as well as a verbal explanation from me, if you want to skip straight to their part, skip to 2 minutes in!
That’s it! There you have it! I hope you love this Brain Break and your students do too!
If you’re looking for more Brain Break ideas or you’re looking to bring back some oldies but goodies, I’m sharing one every time I publish a new episode on my podcast! “Teaching la Vida Loca”. The episodes are available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple podcasts!
Hooray!
Sending love and JOY for the semester ahead! We’ve got this!
Until next time,
Happy Teaching!
Love,
La Loca
