Ideas to Get Your Kids Moving

How do you get your kids moving in your classroom besides GoNoodle and all the other normal brain breaks? Do you try to incorporate moving while they are working? Well, one thing that I've implemented with my kids is a timed Stretch break multiple times during our day. It lasts ONE minute and literally helps to get them up and then back to work. It doesn't matter what we're doing, but they stop and stretch. How does it work? Here's how:

During our Daily 5/Small Group time, I have it on a PowerPoint. It is timed to keep me on schedule. If not, I'll take too much time and usually end up missing a group. I try to see all of my kids every single day and the timed PowerPoint keeps me on track. Well, our rotations are usually about 20 minutes each. For some of my kids, that is WAY too long. Their brain needs a break. Without leaving where they are, the PowerPoint changes slides after 10 minutes. It shows the "STRETCH" slide. I have a sound set when it changes so everyone knows to look at the Smartboard. The sound is a little ding when it's time for a stretch. I have it set to YEE-HAW when it's time to switch places.

GAME CHANGER. This is an up-close of their rotation. This is one of the days I needed to pull kids individually so no one came to me as a group.

My kids use that one little minute to quietly stand up and stretch. During our calendar time, they've learned a ton of body stretches. This has come in handy because they have a lot of stretches that they can do within this quick minute. Our favorite is the neck roll which they named "Bobble Head" this year. We roll our neck around and then switch and do the other side. They do this on their own. I honestly have zero research about this, but my kids are SO focused with just this super tiny break inserted.

Here's what our stretch slide looks like up close. Nothing special. It could even just say the word stretch to signal that it's time for a break.

We only add in a stretch every other rotation. The results are amazing! Try it with a chime or some time of signal and watch how it works. That's how we get in a little bit of moving without actually leaving our Daily 5/center area. It's quick, quiet, and gives them back the needed focus on their task.


It's SUPER easy to do on your own. Just have your powerpoint rotations up and click on transitions. You can set how long you want each of the slides to be. I duplicated the rotation slide since they were going back to the same thing after their stretch time.

Unclick the 'On Mouse Click' and make sure there is a check in the 'After' box. Then, set your time. That's it!