I Need a Break!! Brain Breaks for your Classroom

Winter break mean brain break, right? Well, that's at least what we all tell ourselves. We plan to rest. We plan to enjoy our time off. We plan to stay in our pajamas all day, drink coffee, and cuddle with the pups. Don't get me wrong, I've accomplished some of that. But if you are anything like me, your brain never stops. There is always more to do and more to learn. Always changes needed to make your room and programs better and more effective. Always a way to #dobetter. I am one who always changed my room around. If it wasn't working, I changed it. So as much as I thought I needed a 'brain break' for myself... here I am thinking and planning. But all this thinking and planning has lead me to none other than brain breaks.

How do you turn your brain off? How do you take a step back, take a break, and get refocused?

Personally, I love the outdoors. I love riding my bike, hiking, kayaking, basking in the sun... if it's outside I probably love it. In the spring, I love gardening (and at times hiding indoors away from Virginia's crazy allergens). In the winter, when I turn into a wimp and hibernate from the cold, I love cuddling on the couch with my pup and baking. And in general, I just love cooking. I find it therapeutic. My IAs would always know if I was stressed because I would randomly show up for work with a cake, cookies, whoopie pies, you name it I baked it. For Christmas this year I got three new cookbooks so bring on the baking and cooking! (My husband also spoiled me by building me a kitchen island... you may not be able to tear me out of the kitchen in 2019). So back to brain breaks....

Professionally, in my classroom I would make copies, run an errand to the office, check in with a teacher friend (on those occasions where I could step away for 60 seconds😂... they weren't very often). Sometimes, for my own benefit and because I could see the class teetering on the brink of a class meltdown I would play a song, bust out the sensory bins, take a walk around the school, or play a gonoodle video... purple soup anyone?

So my questions today are... I'm a question asker... is a that a thing? I always need questions to answer so here are mine for today:

1. What are brain breaks?

2. How do you implement breaks?

3. What kind of breaks are best?

4. When do you implement breaks?

Brain Breaks:

Brain breaks are simply breaks... for your brain 😉Write that definition down in Webster, I'm so clever this morning... and a tad snarky. But seriously, they are simply a short "recess" way from thinking. We all need them. And our kids need them. So as busy as we think we are and as much as we need our kids to do we can't forget that at the end of the day they are kids. If we are stressed due to all the "must dos" in education these days how do you think our kiddos feel? We have to let them be kids. And we have to remember that there are other important skills to teach our kiddos other than academics (gasp...I know, I said it out loud.... but you know it's true). We need to teach them how to cope with stress and the pressures of everyday. We need to teach them how to process their feelings and emotions. We need to teach them alternative behaviors to melting down or throwing chairs or hiding under the desk. And one way to do that is to teach them that breaks are GOOD. And that breaks are a necessity to success.

How do you implement Brain Breaks?

There are many different types of breaks. In my classroom and in the classrooms I serve I have a few favorites.

1. Non-contingent breaks:

I love non-contingent breaks. That simply means they are just scheduled into the day and not contingent on anything happening in the room. They don't happen because someone needs them (or overtly needs them). They don't occur because they were earned. They are just a part of the every day. These are the quick breaks away from academics and work tasks to help our kiddos breathe and refocus.

2. Earned breaks:

This is reinforcement. This is token time. This is choice time. Your student has EARNED the right to take a break from work and do something preferable. You earn a pay check, right? Your kids need to EARN something for all their hard work as well... and it don't just focus on academics. Don't forget to reinforce desired behaviors. They could earn a break simply for sitting on the carpet if this is a difficult skill for them. They could earn a break for working nicely with a peer (make sure this is defined so it can be observed and measured). They could earn a break for having nice hands and nice words (again, define this). They could also earn a break for working independently. And they could earn a break for all the above. Whether your kiddo is on a first/then system or on a complex token system, the behaviors you want to increase have to be reinforced (that's how you strengthen behaviors 😄). And you reinforce by giving them time with activities/ items they enjoy (and time away from the boring hard stuff😉).

3. Requested Breaks:

This is the replacement behavior you teach and reinforce. Do you have kiddos with escape-maintained behaviors? Do you have kiddos that do every thing they possibly can to avoid what they find aversive? Do they throw the paper as soon as you put it on the table? Do they run away when you say it's time to switch from iPad to work? Do they pick a fight with a friend just to get out of work? They are trying to escape or avoid something. So this is when you jump in and teach them an alternative to the behavior they are currently doing. They want a break? That's great. Let's teach them how to APPROPRIATELY request a break. Remember breaks are GOOD. It is good to ask for a break. It is good to take a break instead of x, y,and z. There are a lot of ways to do this. But the simplest are to teach them to simply say "I need a break". You can do this with a break card, a red/green card, a 5 point scale, and AAC device, flipping a sign on their desk, walking to the break area, verbally saying, "I am upset, I need a break". It all depends on your kiddo and your classroom. What is most functionally and socially appropriate for your student. If you are in a self-contained classroom with non-verbal students walking to the break area may be a great place to start but may not be the best option for an inclusion classroom (teachers need to know what the students are doing). I had a student a few years ago who would walk out of the classroom and go to the counselors room so what did we do... we made a "where am I card" for the student and placed it on the door frame. So as he was walking out he would flip the card so we knew he was going to the guidance counselors room. That way we knew where he was going and we could call the guidance counselor to let her know he was coming. It also took away the "he's running out of class" argument. Because yes, technically he was still running out of class but now we have an appropriate way for him to tell you he needs a break from the class and needs to talk to his safe person.

One of my favorite ways is to implement a volcano pass system. With the use of social narratives, interactive sorts, routines, and break cards you teach the student what makes them erupt and what helps them calm down. It is a great system to teach requesting breaks. It teaches them not only that they can ask for breaks but when and how. You ask for a break because you feel as though you are "about to erupt" like a volcano. You are frustrated, upset, angry, mad, etc. and so you need to ask for a break before you make a bad choice. Asking for a break and using your volcano pass is reinforced with praise, points, tokens, you name it. Because remember requesting a break is a much better alternative than throwing a chair!

Brain Break Ideas?

There are too many ideas to list; breaks comes down to student preference and what is appropriate in their classroom. Breaks also should look different dependent on what type of break it is. You don't want to give a student an iPad as a calm down tool if it is a highly preferred item. Yes, it will calm them down but it also teaches them that they can request it when they get mad... and it could teach them to throw chairs, request a break, get iPad.... not a chain you want to reinforce. So here are my favorites for each type of breaks...

My Favorite Class-wide Brain Breaks

1. GoNoodle

2. Yoga

3. Sensory Boxes

4. Calming Music

My Favorite Earned Brain Breaks (student preference--- always complete a preference assessment!)

1. Legos/building blocks

2. Games

3. Puzzles

4. Favorite characters (superheroes, star wars, mario and luigi, etc, etc, etc)

5. Car mat (who doesn't love hotwheels and the works?)

6. Animal sets (farm animals, dinosaurs, jungle animals, etc.)

7. Art kit

8. Movement - dance party, trampoline, scooter board, take a walk, throw a ball, etc.)

8. Whatever interests your student and will motivate them to do the not so fun stuff you ask them to do!

My Favorite Requested Brain Breaks

1. Quiet time (bean bag, tent, under table, whatever works for the kiddo to get a break)

2. Color/draw (if it's not something that is highly desired--- don't give a kiddo who always gets in trouble for drawing and coloring the option to draw and color when upset... make them earn it)

3. Sensory bins (beans, rice, molding clay, kinetic sand)

4. Calm down app

5. Read

6. Movement- yoga, trampoline, crab walk, bounce, jumping jacks, etc.)

So no matter how you decide to implement them in your classroom implement them! You need breaks and your kiddos need breaks!

~Kaylan~

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