9 Brain Breaks That Teens Will Love
Students are still learning, even during brief breaks, which serve to help them decompress, refocus, and process new information.
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Go to My Saved Content.In middle and high school, incorporating mood-boosting, brain-stimulating attention breaks into lessons can head off student inattention, boredom, and fatigue at the pass. To find many more brain breaks designed especially for older students, read Paige Tutt’s article for Edutopia titled “17 Brain Breaks Tailored for High Schoolers.” To learn more about the neuroscience behind brain breaks, see Dr. Judy Willis’s article “Using Brain Breaks to Restore Students’ Focus” or Ethan R. Buch, Leonardo Claudino, Romain Quentin, Marlene Bönstrup, and Leonardo G. Cohen’s 2021 research on how rest intervals strengthen the consolidation of skills.
To learn more about each of the breaks shown in the video, visit these sources:
- Think Outside the Box activity from Tina Centineo, via X (formerly Twitter)
- Jigsaw Jumble activity from “8 Easy, Awesome Brain Break Games for High School Students,” by Jenn Breisacher, Student-Centered World
- Sequence of Exercises and Calming Break from “54 Educational Brain Breaks Your Students Will Love,” by Stephanie Sanders, We Are Teachers
- Balloon Toss from AwesomelyTeacher, via X
- Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament from Barre Unified Union School District
- Mysterious Image Game from Peter Embleton, via X
- Tower of Terror Cup-Stacking Game from Jonathan Alsheimer, via X
- Collaborative Class Story from Dora Hartsell, via X