DICE BREAKERS! A FUN WAY TO USE BRAIN BREAKS IN THE CLASSROOM.

STRETCHINGChoose a student to come to the front of the room and lead one minute of stretching.

CRAB WALKAROUND THE ROOMPut on a song and have students walk in the crab position around the room. At some point, have students crab walk in reverse.

KEEP IT UPStudents must keep a beach ball from hitting the ground. Add two or three balls to make it even more fun.

CELEBRITY-GUEST Teacher �nishes the rest of the lesson as a celebrity.

20 JUMPING JACKSGet students’ heart rates up with this quick physical exercise.

HEADS UP, 7-UPAnother classic!You know the rules!

TIC-TAC-TOEGive students some blank paper to play tic-tac-toe with a friend.

FOREIGN-EXCHANGETEACHERTeacher �nishes the rest of the lesson in a foreign accent.

DESK SWITCHStudents have 10 seconds to grab their materials and �nd another desk to sit in for the remainder of the lesson.

DOODLE TIMEGive students some blank paper and markers; allow them to doodle and talk for �ve minutes.

DANCE PARTYTurn on the radio and let students dance until the song ends.

PANTOMIMETeacher chooses one student to act out an activity without talking. The class must mimic the leader and then guess what the activity is.

MIRROR-MIRRORStudents pair up and mirror the actions of their partners.

THUMB WRESTLINGStudents pair up and participate in some old-fashioned thumb wrestling.

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORSStudents partner up for �ve rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winners get a high �ve from their partners.

SKY WRITINGStudents partner up and“sky write,” spelling words or a secret message to their partner.

AIR BANDChoose an "air" instrument and "rock out” to whatever song the teacher chooses.

SILENT YOGAStrike a yoga pose and see how long you can hold it!

OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGHTeacher decides whether students go over, under, around, or through imaginary or real objects. EXAMPLE: Over a sea of sticky peanut butter, under a cherry tree, around an ice cream cone, or through a sea of Jell-O. ®

SPORTS GALORETeacher calls out the following sports skills to mimic for at least 10-15 seconds:• Shooting a jump shot• Running through tires• Batting a baseball• Serving a tennis ball• Downhill skiing• Spiking a volleyball• Swinging a golf club• Throwing a football• Juggling a soccer ball.

STORY JAM1. Teacher reads a story or passage to the class; students identify each verb or “action” word.2. Teacher pauses during reading while class acts out each verb in place for 15 - 20 seconds.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’Teacher leads the classon a virtual tour of California. Students move at least 30 seconds for each of the actions below.• March across the Golden Gate Bridge• Surf in the Paci�c Ocean• Climb up a Redwood Tree• Pretend you are an actor and wave to all your fans• Stomp grapes• Pick oranges• In-line skate on the boardwalk• Ski on the Sierra Nevadas.

CODE-SPEAKThe teacher arranges a code word—something fun like “Boom!” or “Shazam!”Whenever students hear this word, they must use both hands to hit the tops of their desks two times and then clap two times. This should wake them up!

CHOOSE ANYBRAIN BREAKYOU WANT!

ORDER IN THE COURT!Students line up in order by random criteria: alphabetically by �rst name, alphabetically by last name, by age(day and month).

QUIET BALLStudents toss a beach ball quietly around the room. Talk or drop the ball and you’re out!

RHYTHMThe �rst student creates aclapping rhythm and the rest of the class repeats it. The next student repeats the original rhythm and adds a few more beats;the class repeats theoriginal rhythm plus the addition.This continues until the entire class has had a turn.

STUDENT-TEACHER TIMETeacher chooses one student to teach or review a short lesson.

FOLLOW THE LEADERYou know how this one works! Go!

HISTORICALGUEST TEACHERTeacher �nishes the rest of the lesson as a historical �gure.

ENTOURAGE (ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS TOURNAMENT) Students partner up and play RPS. If you lose, you have to "cheer" on the winner as s/he faces his or her next opponent. Whoever loses joins the entourage and play continues. Play until there are two people left, each with an entourage. At that point, play best out of three in order to win.

60-SECOND HIGH FIVEStudents have 60 seconds to see how many high �ves they can get before time runs out.

“TAKE ME OUT TO THEBALLGAME”You know the song.Belt it out!

TRADING PLACES Students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. The teacher calls out a trait; everyone who has that trait must change places with someone else who has that trait.

FIND IT FASTCall out a color or other trait (something round, something made of wood), and students must �nd an object in the room that �ts the trait and get to it quickly.

HUMAN KNOTStudents divide into groups of eight. Have students each grab right hands with someone whois not directly next to them. Then do the same with left hands. The challenge is to untangle and become a circle without releasing hands.

HOW TO PLAY: Brain Breaks are simple 2-3 minute mind-body challenges

teachers can use to break up the day or help students cut loose after an intense

learning activity. To play, all you need to do is roll a set of dice . For example ,

if you roll a 2 and a 6 , students will play the Pantomime game . If you roll a 3 and

a 4, students play the Sky Writing game . The first die roll corresponds to the left

column ; the second to the top column . Happy Brain Breaking!

Dice Breakers! has been adapted from Roll Some Brain Breaks, created by http://yourtherapysource.com

Master in the Art of Teaching Program MARYGROVE COLLEGE8425 West McNichols RoadDetroit, Michigan 48221mat.marygrove.edu