FIVE BRAIN BREAK GAMES YOUR STUDENTS WILL LOVE
BRAIN BREAK # 1: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Spot the difference is always a class favorite in my classroom. Spot the difference is a game that challenges students attention to detail and focus as they try to guess small changes in a student or teachers appearance. Spot the difference is a fun game that my students loved playing at the end of the day during our closing meeting, but you can incorporate this game into any part of your day as a fun brain break. Here’s is how you play the game.
What you need:
Hidden space in the classroom for students or teacher to change their appearance.
How to play:
Select a student or teacher to start as player 1.
Allow students a few seconds to observe player 1’s appearance.
Have player 1 go into the hidden space in the classroom and change something about their appearance.
Have the player 1 come back out in front of the students. Have the students try to spot the difference in player 1’s appearance.
Select another student or teacher to become player 2 and repeat.
I first introduced this game to my students during remote learning. It was a fun way to get students interacting with one another. Spot the difference is a great activity to play with any remote students or guests joining your classroom remotely. Here is how you can implement this game via zoom.
Select a student or teacher to start as player 1. Be sure to pin player 1’s camera so that everyone can have a clear view of player 1’s appearance and background.
Have player 1 turn off their camera and change something about their appearance or background.
Have player 1 turn their camera back on and have students try to spot the difference.
Select another student or teacher to become player 2 and repeat.
You can add music in the background on Zoom to act as a timer for players who are changing their appearance or background. This also helps students who are waiting to spot the difference to stay engaged in the game. If you are unable to have each student take a turn becoming player 1, you can select a specific amount of students to play each day and extend the game as a brain break throughout the week.
BRAIN BREAK # 2: THE MASKED PICASSO
The Masked Picasso is by far a class favorite in my PreK classroom. Students are challenged to guess an object that was drawn by a blindfolded artist. My students love trying to guess the drawings that myself or my co-teacher draw, especially when they can tell we are struggling to draw blindfolded. For fun, my co-teacher and I would pretend to peak before we draw. Students loved to catch us peaking. Here’s how you play The Masked Picasso.
What you need:
White board & dry erase marker or smart board and writing pen.
Mask or blindfold.
How to play:
Select a student or teacher to start as player 1.
Blindfold player 1 to start the game.
Whisper a picture to player 1 for them to draw blindfolded.
Challenge player 1 to draw the picture blindfolded as best they can. Be sure to set up player 1 in front of the white board or smart board to ensure they are drawing the correct space.
Once their drawing is completed, remove the blindfold from player 1 and share the picture with students.
Have the students try to guess the picture.
Select another student to become player 2 and repeat.
I love playing the game as another alternative activity during closing meeting but you can play this game as a brain break at any point during the day. When we played this game in my class, only the teachers were blindfolded and drew photos and students were only guessers, but if you are playing this games with older students, you can allow them to have a chance to draw blindfolded. In our class, we played for points. If students guessed the photo correctly, they would earn a point as a class. If they guessed incorrectly, the teacher would earn a point. Students would try to earn more points than the teacher.
It is best to challenge students to draw basic figures or familiar objects like a house, tree, book, etc. but if your students are older and more advanced, you can challenge them to draw more challenging objects. If you want to play with younger students, you can print out small flashcards of common objects and allow player 1 to view the object before blindfolding them and drawing. This can help students visually see the object they are trying to draw before they are ask to draw the picture.
If you’re looking to play this game via Zoom, you can use some of the tips below.
Designate one person as the drawer (preferably the teacher or special guest or one student).
Be sure to pin the camera of the drawer to make their camera full screen.
Be sure the drawer is prepared with a blindfold and drawing tools (pencil and paper, white board and marker, etc).
Share the object they are going to draw in the chat (be sure to send a message to the drawer only and not the entire group in the chat).
Once the drawing is completed, have the drawer hold up the photo and have students try to guess the drawing.
BRAIN BREAK # 3: HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?
“How would you feel?” is a great activity to play as a brain break or incorporate into your social emotional learning lesson plans. “How would you feel?” presents students with a variety of scenarios and asks them to describe how they would feel by performing an action. This activity allows students to think critically about their emotions while also incorporating movement which is great for young students in the classroom. Here’s how to play “how would you feel?”
What you need:
No items are needed for this activity
How to play:
Identify two emotions for the first round.
Assign each emotion an action (example: happy = 5 jumping jacks).
Give students a scenario and ask them to describe how they would feel by complete the assigned action.
Select a few students to share why they would feel that emotion based on the scenario.
Switch up the emotions and actions for the next round and repeat.
This games is simple and can be altered to meet your time needs and your student’s ability levels. If you are working with younger students, you can keep the emotions and actions the same for each round. You can also opt not to ask students to share why they would feel that emotion based on the scenario if you are short on time.
If you don’t want to assign each emotion an action, or if you are tight on space in your classroom, you can assign each emotion a corner of the classroom. Students can walk to the corner of the classroom that matches the emotion they are feeling.
BRAIN BREAK # 4: WHAT’S IN THE MYSTERY BOX?
What’s in the mystery box is a great brain break game that challenges students to use descriptive words to describe an item in the mystery box. I loved incorporating this game into our daily morning meetings, but you can incorporate this brain break into any part of your classroom routine. Here is how you play what’s in the mystery box?
What you need:
Empty box or bag and various classroom items.
How to play:
Place various classroom items inside the empty box or bag.
Select a student or teacher to start as player 1.
Have player 1 place their hand into the mystery box or bag and select one item. Be sure that they don’t reveal the item to the rest of the class.
Have player 1 give students three clues about one of the items inside the mystery box or bag.
Have students guess the item inside the mystery box or bag and reveal.
To keep the game moving, select a specific amount of students to guess for each mystery box item.
What’s in the mystery box is a great activity to incorporate into your five sense curriculum. As students learn about words to describe the five senses, they can incorporate them into the game. If you’re looking to an extra challenge, you can blindfold player 1 and challenge them to describe the item in the mystery box. If you’re looking to make the game a little easier, you can provide students with the category that the mystery items are in before they begin guessing the items. This helps to narrow down the potential guesses for the item in the mystery box.
BRAIN BREAK # 5: THIS OR THAT
This or that is a great brain break opportunity that can be incorporated into any part of your daily classroom schedule throughout the year. This or That is a fun movement game that allows students to select their preference between two items. Students share their preference through movement. Here is how you play This or That.
What you need:
How to play:
Start by presenting the This or That slides onto your smart board.
Students will choose between the two items on the slide (this or that).
Students will select their favorite or preference by performing the action assigned to each item on the slide.
I love incorporating this or that slides into our weekly brain break time because its the perfect activity to allows students to get moving and reset in the middle of the day. I can switch between using the slides with yoga poses or slides with hand signals based on what my students need for the day. If you’re interested in trying out my This or That themed slides, you can purchase them in my TPT store at the link below.
THIS OR THAT SLIDES: WHAT YOU GET
