Since everyone knows I'm interested in the brain, I thought I'd do a post on Brain Fitness.Here are some ways I teach the kids to keep their brains fit:
- Exercise! Get the oxygen to the brain! We often do exercises in the classroom.
- Eat Brain Food! Sometimes I bring in some healthy snacks for the kids. (probably not fish or spinach, but maybe some carrots and berries!)
- Ease stress! These kids certainly understand what stress it! I often do some Yoga moves and breathing exercises with them.
- Listen to Music! I've got a wide variety of music to play in the classroom, from "party" music, to mellow music for concentration.
- Laugh! I recently posted Laughter is Truly the Best Medicine, and listed some of the benefits of humor in the classroom. I have a whole box of joke books that I usually bring out on April Fool's day, but I think I'll bring them out early this year!
- Drink water! I encourage children to bring in water bottles and refill them throughout the day. Of course, we have a bathroom in the classroom, too!
- Keep challenging your brain! I have a variety of games, puzzles and riddles for the children to choose from. I'm a big fan of Sudoku, so I keep a few of those for the kids. I also found a couple of cool websites: ABCya Tangram Puzzles has tangrams that can be done at the computer. Puzzle Choice has tons of puzzles for kids and adults- go to Kid's Choice for lots of possibilities for printing as well as puzzles for the computer.
How do you help your students keep their brains fit?
