Has this winter cooped you and your students up too much? When the weather gets bad, it can become harder for children to get out excess energy since they can't play outside as much. Getting students to move throughout the day gives their brain a break and will allow them to focus better. Here are some fun ways to get students moving this February:

Yoga

A great way to break up the day is with a brain break. During the brain break, incorporate some sort of movement activity that will release the stress on the brain. A good go-to exercise activity is yoga. Yoga focuses on balancing, stretching, and controlled breathing. Following the interest and energy level of your students is important, because the yoga session can be adapted to be shorter or longer depending on them! After a yoga brain break, students can appear to be more relaxed and ready to learn again!

Homemade Balance Beam

Using painters tape, create a shape on the ground. Encourage your children to walk one foot in front of the other on the tape. Once they've completed the first shape, peel the tape off and make a new shape. This activity can keep children entertained while also working on their balance with no risk of injury! When the activity is over, have the children help peel the tape off the ground as a fine motor skill activity. The shape created on the ground could also be used for children to jump in and out of, but also place and move toys in and out of.

Sensory Walk

This activity can be done with items easily found around the house or classroom. Items that give off a unique texture are perfect to create a sensory experience for toddler age children. Such items could be a bristly welcome mat, bubble wrap, felt, glitter paper, velvet, foil, and so much more. Assemble the textures on the ground using painters tape. Children can crawl, walk, or even jump across each material and feel the differences of each one. For older children, this could even be turned into a hopscotch type of game, by jumping on one foot, two feet, or in and out of each material patch. The sky is the limit with the amount of fun that can be done with a sensory walk!

Scavenger Hunt

Have children work in pairs or on their own to find a unique set of items throughout the classroom. Depending on their age, the hunt could be finding a particular set of items from pictures, an item for each letter in the alphabet, an item for each color, items that match a set of words, etc. Having a scavenger hunt can keep both the body and mind active in addition to being fun!