Why Do Kids Need Brain Breaks
Did you know?
On average kids are capable of focusing on a given task for 2-5 minutes per year of age
ATTENTION SPAN
1 year 2-5 minutes
2 years 4-10 minutes
3 years 6-15 minutes
4 years 8-20 minutes
5 years 10 – 25 minutes
Which is why incorporating brain breaks into learning is so important for kids but especially those who are on the autism spectrum as recommended by Teaching Autism.
“ To help kids focus on a specific task, especially fine motor or cognitive, it’s good to complete a gross motor activity first. Cubefun is a great resource for that! It’s very important that kids have a balanced sensory diet each day to support and improve all areas of their development”
Louise, Paediatric Occupational Therapist
As a stay at home mum I would regularly do brain break activities with my kids without realising that I was doing so. The importance of these brain breaks came into stark focus when we were forced into a home learning situation with the pandemic. To get my kids to complete their assigned school learning activities I would break up their time with some simple brain breaks at home. Some easy ones we regularly did were;
1- Disco Breaks – we would turn on their favourite songs and dance about the living room or kitchen.
2- Balloon Volleyball – a quick and easy game with only a balloon needed. I would get the kids to pass the balloon over a cushion (the net) and first to 5 points was the winner.
3 – Nature Picture – We would go out into the garden and we would have to make pictures with items of nature and try and guess what each other made. This was a great activity during the spring/summer months as we got fresh air, exercise and a brain break usually filled with lots of laughter at the bad guesses of our pictures.
4 – The Animal Game – My kids favourite and the easiest of them all. I would call out an animal and the kids would have to pretend to be that animal. Doing the actions and making the sounds.
My kids were only two and three years old when the pandemic started and it was during our daily 30 minute walk outside that the Animal Game became our go to game to play and of course was the inspiration behind Cube Fun.
There are so many simple yet fun brain break activities to try out, every child is different and what works for one of your kids might not work for another. The main focus should always be on having FUN. It’s giving the kids a break from their main task so that when the brain break is over they are ready to refocus and feel like they have new energy to complete the given task.
What Brain Break Activities will you try with your kids?