Brain+Breaks!

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Brain break videos: http://teachtrainlove.com/20-brain-break-clips-fight-the-fidgeting/

[|Hands Brain Break]
 Brain Breaks are simple 1-2 minute mind and body challenges. They are excellent for regaining focus in a meeting or a class. Your students or audience will love you for them.

This Brain Break seems simple. However, you will find out soon that you will have a hard time mastering it.

1. Stand Up. 2. Start by waving your right hand in front of you left to right. Your palm should be facing away from you while keeping your hand with your fingers pointing up. 3. Now stop that hand and have your left hand in front of you waving it up and down. 4. Now practice moving them at the SAME TIME. Do not move your hands going diagonally. 5. Now switch to have your right hand up and down and your left hand left and right. Do this faster and switch often to make it more difficult. 6. Lastly, to increase the difficulty, have your arms crossed while doing this.

3. Opposite Sides
Movement is critical to learning. Have students stand and blink with the right eye while snapping the fingers of their left hand. Repeat this with the left eye and right hand. Students could also face one another and tap the right foot once, left foot twice, and right foot three times, building speed they alternate toe tapping with their partner.

4. Symbolic Alphabet
Sing the alphabet with names of objects rather than the letters.

7. Invisible Pictures
Have a student draw a picture in the air while their partner guesses what it is. You could give them categories such as foods, places, or other ways to narrow the guessing.

1. Breathing
<span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;">Use the breath as a focus point. Have students place one hand close to their nose (not touching) and one hand on their belly. As they breathe in, have them feel their bellies expand. As they exhale, they can feel the warm air hit their hand. Students will focus on this breath for only one minute. Let them know that it's OK when thoughts sometimes come into the mind uninvited. Tell them to exhale that thought away.