What comes to mind when you hear the words “school” and “learning”? Sitting at a desk and listening to a teacher, right? Some may even associate “school” and “learning” with the task of sitting at a desk and reading or writing for extensive periods of time so as to drill newly learned concepts into our minds for the rest of our lives. It is important to be aware that there are a variety of ways to help students learn and retain new information; approaches that don’t necessarily involve sitting at a desk for long periods of time and potentially risking the chances of losing interest in the lesson on the blackboard.
Research suggests that active play and regular physical activity can have positive effects on student achievement, cognitive skills, and classroom behaviour. Exercise is known to excite or activate the areas of the brain responsible for performing executive functions that are known to support higher order thinking, as well as learning and memory. In other words, the incorporation of physical activity or what I like to call “body breaks” in the classroom, may help to improve attention to the lesson or task at hand and thus improve the child’s ability to retain newly learned concepts.
Implementation of physical activity or body breaks in the classroom can assist with improving skills such as:
- Attention and memory
- Motivation for participating in and completing tasks
- Motor coordination and motor planning skills
- Organizational skills
- Easing transitions between activities
Ten simple body breaks to try in the classroom or at home:
- Sing Songs to signal activity transitions that may involve students standing up, clapping, singing, or moving in their seats to actions of a song
- Jumping jacks
- Animal walks (bear crawls, inch worms, crab walks etc.); or wheelbarrow walks
- Yoga poses
- Walking breaks in the halls to perform “errands” for teachers: bringing the attendance to the office, passing along a message to another classroom or teacher etc.
- Mobile worksheets: have worksheets stationed around the room where students are required to hop, skip, jump, or groove over to in order to complete each work station
- “Simon Says” breaks in between table tasks
- “Hokey Pokey” dance
- Wall Push-ups
- Implementation of yoga balls as seating options at workstations to provide proprioceptive input, allowing an outlet for movement while performing table tasks
At the end of every movement break, implement a structured cool-down activity to assist with transitioning back to desk tasks. Simply having students participate in taking ten deep breaths could assist with settling students back down and easing the transition to the next academic task.
Body breaks are not restricted to only promoting success in the classroom environment; we are always learning new things throughout the day, so try out some body breaks of your own at home!
If you wish to speak with an Occupational Therapist to see you can use movement to enhance learning, contact us.
Katie Napier
OT Reg. (Ont.) – Occupational Therapist
References:
Conyers, M & Wilson, D. (2015). Smart Moves: Powering the brain with physical activity. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(8), 38-42.
Active Living Research. Research Brief. (2015). Active education: Growing evidence on physical activity and academic performance. Retrieved from: http://activelivingresearch.org/ActiveEducationBrief
