My son needs to move. He desperately needs to go outside, but on these extremely cold winter days, that is simply impossible. As a mom and teacher, I want to give my child the opportunity to move his body and utilize his gross motor muscles when I begin to see signs that he may use his energy in a negative way. He needs ways to positively move his body — in a way that is encouraged and exciting! But I am not a gym teacher and I don’t have a bunch of movement ideas up my sleeve — every mom needs a little jar of brain breaks to encourage wild and crazy gross motor activities.
{This post contains affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.}
Enter The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks by Heather Haupt! Heather has done all the work for moms of active children, and for the teachers of active students, who need to re-energize their brains with some movement!
John is always bouncing off of our couches and walls and floors. He cannot sit still. He is always running through the house. I shared on my post about helping a hyperactive child that I do not discourage his physical movement. I try to channel it towards something positive — so that he, and others around him, will remain safe.
But boy, is it hard to find ideas that will excite and interest this boy — unless it’s flailing a stick from outside around the house while running full speed — just kidding, {actually I’m not kidding}.
“Do you know that moment when your child’s eyes glaze over?”
This is how Heather begins her book, The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks. We, as mothers and teachers, could lecture our children into “paying attention” or we can say, “DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY” {that’s the Sergeant First Class in me}. And, you know what, children want to move, it excites their bodies and edifies their brains and proprioceptive and vestibular systems!
Heather is a homeschooling mom of four and is devoted to helping children regain focus through movement. She dives into why movement matters. She explains the scientific proof that movement enhances our balance, promotes bilateral integration, activates our cerebellum, and gives our bodies an energy boost!! I love that she includes the WHY in her book — it just makes sense as to why children love to run and run and run — they have boundless energy and we must encourage them!
“What’s he doing?!” “I want to do that one!!” — John loves reading through the book and watching the sweet boy doing all the fun movements in all the descriptive pictures!
The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks comes with 60 ready-to-cut cards. They come in the following four Brain Breaks categories: Blood Pumping, Mental Focus, Imagination Inspiring, and Supplies Needed.
I cut all of my cards out and put them in a little jar. We try to make time for picking cards at least twice a day for ten minutes or so. John loves them and asks to do them more. These activities are also perfect for teachers who want to motivate his/her students with movement!
I put an I {Imagination}, M {Mental}, and P {Physical — Blood Pumping} on the back of my cards to remind me where to find a card’s explanation in the detailed and well-organized book. Each activity is concisely described, and many of the ideas include pictures of a child doing the activity. My son wanted to do all of them at once.
{I didn’t cut out the activities that include supplies just to make it easier on myself. But we will get out those cards after I collect all the necessary props and put them in a basket i.e. a ball, masking tape, etc.}
One of the kids’ favorite was the handstand. We tried to count to ten — or twenty! — as the kids each took a turn with their heads on the floor and their feet on the wall. John kept his balance pretty well. His vestibular system was stimulated and working! And my sweet daughter had to be held up — but she will not be left behind!
My son’s favorite activities are the ones that are imagination inspiring. Heather has created some incredibly fun and creative little opportunities for children to become an animal or object! Below he is a seed {with his eyes closed} and he’s slowly, slowly, slowly becoming a huge TREE!!!!! He loved this. He also loves all of the animal cards.
Ultimate Guide for Brain Breaks Giveaway
And now the giveaway!! Heather at The Ultimate Guide for Brain Breaks is giving away one paper copy of her book!! The PDF version is only $7.99 and the book is $14.95!! This giveaway is open from January 11 at 12:01am through January 21 at midnight EST. Open to US and Canada only.
Yesterday we shared another activity from Brain Breaks — the Inchworm! This post was a part of promoting gross motor activity for children in the winter months — check out the Gross Motor Series from A to Z over at Still Playing School!!
Great ideas! Thank you