Our Favorite Brain Breaks for Homework Time

Does your child drive you bonkers with how much they move and fidget during homework time? It can be truly maddening to wrangle a wiggly child when you just want to be done for the day. The truth is, it’s not really your child’s fault. Kids aren’t able to focus for long, and their bodies need to move after being expected to sit still all day. The good news is, there’s a simple trick you can use to calm the wiggles and get homework done in an efficient manner (with more learning and less screaming involved!).

Brain breaks are a great way to get your child up and moving for a few minutes so that they can refresh and refocus quickly. The best part is that movement has been proven to help kids’ brains develop. Our little secret? We love doing them too! So, if you’re ready for a shift in your homework routine, check out our favorite FREE brain breaks below.

Brain breaks are helpful for before and during homework time when you can see your child’s attention fading and their wiggling bodies won’t stop. Instead of battling it out, use a brain break activity for a few minutes and then get back to work

1. Pretend you’re a tree

2. Youtube yoga for kids

• ​Check out Cosmic Kids Yoga

1. Kitchen dancing

2. Classic exercise (push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, etc.)

3. Youtube dance instruction videos

• Check out Kidz Bop dance along videos

1. Cross body movement and stretching

2. Shooting a few hoops

3. Pretending to be a frog, horse, kangaroo, etc.

4. Running a few laps around the house (outside)

5. Follow the leader

6. A quick game of simon says

7. Familiar dances

• Think “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”, The chicken dance, “Tony Chestnut”, etc.

1. Quick living room or bedroom clean up

• Put on fast paced music and see how much you can get picked up before the song ends.

1. See how long you can balance or hop on one foot

2. Blastoff

• Pretend you’re a rocket by putting your arms above your head and your hands together. Count down from 10 as you slowly squat down to the ground with each number. When you get to the ground and the number one say BLAST OFF and jump as high as you can.

1. Stretch every part of your body starting with your neck

2. Throwing a ball back and forth

3. Bounce a balloon or beach ball back and forth and try to keep it from touching the floor

4. Hop To

• Place flash cards of math facts or spelling words in a winding path. Say the problem and your child must hop to that card to give the answer.

1. Take a family walk or run around the block

Do you have a favorite brain break or movement activity that didn’t make the list? Let us know in the comments below!