Here are three brain breaks I’ve used when I sensed the need for a little stress reduction. They help kids relax and usually induce some laughter, always a good thing in the classroom.
QUESTION CONVO
In this game, student pairs compete to keep a conversation going the longest. The catch is that the conversation must be entirely made up of questions. There is just one rule: the same question cannot be used twice in a row by either person.
I found it was best to model this for students, so I would invite a student volunteer to play the game with me. A sample conversation went something like this:
Students get better and better at this game the more they play it, so you might want to have students get into pairs and practice with a partner. The word “Why?” will often come up as a default question when students get stuck, but very quickly they begin coming up with creative ways to respond and change the subject with a question.
This game almost always induces laughter, especially when students begin trying to throw opponents off by starting the conversations with off-the-wall questions such as: “Why were you dancing in the street last night in your pajamas?” This has always been popular with my older (4th-8th) students.
MIME IN THE MIRROR
In this classic scene from the “I Love Lucy” show, Lucy has been posing as Harpo Marx, the mime. When he suddenly appears, she tries to convince him he’s looking in a mirror. After sharing the video, students usually want to try it. This activity seems to work best with 2nd and 3rd graders. Attempt to pair students of similar height, then give them time to practice mirroring one another. Allow volunteers to “perform” for the class.
These free “mime time dramas” are similar, but make miming a guessing game with students performing in groups and the class guessing. Teaching videos such as the one below are great to use with younger students for brain breaks.
MAKE ME LAUGH
This was actually a TV game show at one time. Contestants tried to keep from laughing as comedians performed timed monologues.
There are several ways you can play this game with your class, but the safest way is to share kid-friendly funny videos and simply challenge students not to laugh. Older students are very good at withholding laughter, but the younger the students, the easier it is to get them giggling.
You can also have students sit at the front as contestants while others try to make them laugh. There is often at least one comedian in the class ready with jokes or an impromptu monologue. You do have to consider your students and whether you need to have rules and guidelines for this!
Here are two few kid-friendly videos to get you started! The first one can be used in many other ways in the classroom, but students do find it cute and funny.
At certain times of the year, these kinds of breaks can really relax everyone! Do you have some favorite brain breaks that get kids giggling or reduce stress? Please share them in the comments below!