3. Fun brain breaks offer kids a mental and sensory break.

Focusing on classwork can be quite difficult for children experiencing sensory overwhelm. When their system has been
in overwhelmed or focus mode for too long, teachers will notice higher rates of outbursts, acting out, and fidgeting.

A short brain break can help children re-centre, release tension, and break patterns of anxiety.

4. They improve focus and concentration.

Any type of exercise will get the blood circulating. That boost of oxygen to the brain improves focus and attention span.
Additionally, though, certain proprioceptive activities can trigger alertness within the brain.

These types of activities are great for using as movement breaks in the classroom for teachers to regain the focus and
attention of tiring students.

Vestibular stimulation activities, alternatively, target the vestibular system in the inner ear, which can be
compromised in a wide range of developmental and sensory integration challenges.

The vestibular system is triggered with head movements. Coordination, balance, self-regulation of emotions and focus
on tasks can all be strengthened with the practice of vestibular stimulation activities.

A common example is bending over at the waist and straightening back up again – anything that moves the head in
drastically different directions.

Brainbreak that incorporate both proprioceptive and vestibular movements can make a significant improvement in
students’ attention and sensory processing disorder symptoms.

5. Strategic brain breaks in the classroom can strengthen core muscles to

counteract the bad postural habits of screen-time.
Because of the link between sensory-motor skills, physical coordination, and awareness of the body in space, I often
see children with sensory processing disorder with weak cores.

Without proper core muscle strength, these children aren’t able to physically sit still at their desks in order to complete
tasks or pay attention.

They also grow tired of handwriting assignments much faster. Many times, we can spot children struggling with this by
the way they sit in class or at home during homework assignments:

Sitting with a leg propped up in the chair or against the back of the desk in front of them.
Fidgeting and having a hard time sitting still
Laying their head on the desk or leaning their weight forward on their elbows most of the time
Sitting on their knees
Preferring to stand up or sit half on the seat, half off with the other foot on the ground for support
6. Challenging, targeted movement breaks in the classroom can build
children’s confidence!
Piaget & Inhelder showed as early as 1969 that there is a correlation between physical proficiency in a variety of
activities and perceptual learning.

So, by regularly challenging proprioceptive (perception) receptors in strategic movement breaks, children can
become more confident in learning new activities. Alternatively, children whose proprioceptive system have not
been challenged regularly are likely to be overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated, leading them to give up on
challenging situations.

What Are Some Clever Ways to Incorporate Brain Breaks in the Classroom
to Help Children with Sensory Processing Disorder?

1. Songs incorporate movement and learning, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” which requires
students to bend over many times. Older classes can practice the song in a different language each month – even sign
language!

2. “Whole Body Learning” activities, such as those in which students bend over to pick up popsicle sticks or blocks
with numbers and letters to spell words ohttp://whole bodyr solve math problems.

3. Hang a different number in each corner of the room, calling out a simple number problems, and asking the
students to jump and turn to face the corner with the correct answer.

4. Store supplies under the students’ chairs. The child has to bend down to pick up pencils, crayons, erasers, etc.

5. Fetch the Box. The cutest example from teachers that I have heard of was a school in which teachers utilized a
heavy box as a heavy work tool.
Whenever a teacher saw a child in need of movement and heavy muscle work, they would ask the child to take the box
to another classroom. And so, the mystery box travelled from class to class, being fetched for a teacher from the
principal or hauled to the principal’s office.

So long as the teachers could keep the mystery a secret, the box errand worked. But as soon as someone let the cat out
of the bag – or box, in this case – the schtick was up!

6. Erasing chalkboards/dry erase boards. That is, if your classroom still uses these types of board! The
movements are great for proprioceptive feedback to the shoulders and waist. Kids love to do it, and teachers love to
have the help!

7. Chair stacking / Moving Stools. If your classroom uses various stations or re-stages one room for various
purposes throughout the day, assign a pair of students to be in charge of stacking and moving chairs each day.

9. Holding open the door. Each day, assign the leader of the line with the responsibility of holding doors open for all
students anytime you change classrooms.

10. Make the hallway an exercise course. Any time you change rooms, have students alternate between hopping
on two feet to lunging from one foot to the next, or squatting low and hobbling in a squat. Any of these types of brain
break activities add a little bit of proprioceptive feedback to their joints.