Get up and Move! 9 Movement Activities to Try With Your Students

Hello everyone,

Welcome to fall! School is in full swing by now, and excitement is in the air. My goal is always to send something helpful or encouraging your way. This month, I am excited to share some different movement activities for you to try with your students.

We all know children have an innate need to move. Moving helps them learn, grow, regulate, laugh, connect, and feel happy!

I would love to share some movement activities that you can implement in your classroom right away. Trust me, you will love all the amazing benefits.

Who doesn’t love a good dance party? Musical movement reduces anxiety, all while flooding our brains with those feel good chemicals for a good mood to start the day.

Turn on a fun, upbeat song and let the students dance their hearts out for one minute. This activity is great for transitioning between subjects or as a reward after a particularly focused work session. 

Not only does dancing get students moving, but it also boosts their mood and encourages creativity. Encourage students to come up with their own dance moves or follow along with popular kids’ dance routines.

For this activity, play music and let the students dance. When the music stops, they must freeze in place. The twist is that anyone who moves while the music is off has to sit down until the next round. Continue starting and stopping the music until you have only a few students left. Play as many rounds as you wish! 

This game is excellent for developing self-control and listening skills while allowing students to expend their energy in short bursts.

Brain Dance is super fun and my students loved doing it as part of our morning routine to get us ready for optimal learning. The Brain Dance consists of a few movements developed by Anne Green Gilbert to help us center our brains and bodies. These simple movements are so beneficial. Hopefully you can see where some or all could fit into your day. To do the Brain Dance, do these movements with your class: 

1. Breathe deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth
2. Pat and tap your head, arms, torso, and legs to wake up the nerves in your skin, muscles, and joints
3. Grow and shrink by stretching big and shrinking back small
4. Curve your spine forward and back and side to side
5. Move your upper body while holding your lower body still. Then, move your lower body while holding your upper body still
6. Move your thumb up and down and side to side while tracking it with your eyes, being careful to keep your head still
7. Reach across the midline of your body by touching your left hand to your right knee and your right hand to your left knee
8. Focus on your balance by spinning around a few times, then lightly jumping up and down
9. End the Brain Dance with more deep breaths

Yoga is a calming yet effective way to get students moving and stretching. There are plenty of kid-friendly yoga videos available online, or you can guide the class through a series of poses yourself. Yoga not only helps with physical flexibility but also promotes mental focus and relaxation, making it an ideal activity for winding down after recess or transitioning between subjects.

You could also incorporate some of these breathing exercises to help students feel calm and relaxed.

The Butterly Hug is a rhythmic movement that is so therapeutic. To do this movement, simply cross your arms with your fingers under your collarbone and begin doing gentle bilateral taps, alternating right hand and left hand. Continue the tapping until you feel grounded, calm, and relaxed. This can be done at any time when you need a tranquil and relaxing moment.

If your class earns extra recess or outside time, you can set up different movement stations outside, each with a different activity. For example, one station could involve jumping jacks, another could be for hula-hooping, another for balancing on one foot, and so on. Students can spend a minute or two at each station before rotating to the next one. 

This not only keeps them engaged but also ensures that they’re using different muscle groups and practicing a variety of movements. Movement stations are particularly useful for burning off excess energy while encouraging cooperation and teamwork. My students loved earning extra recess as a class reward and loved doing relays, obstacle courses, and other activities that I would set up for them.

Animal walks are a fun way to get students moving while sparking their imaginations. Call out an animal, and students must move around the room imitating that animal. They might waddle like a penguin, hop like a frog, or crawl like a bear. Animal walks are great for developing gross motor skills and can be a fun, creative outlet for students. To add a learning component, you can tie the activity to a science lesson about different animals and their habitats.

We would even sometimes move like different animals when rotating to our next center to keep it fresh and fun! I didn’t do it all the time, so they would intently listen to hear if I chose an animal that time. It made it extra fun when I would. 🙂

Silent Speed Ball is a quiet yet energizing game that helps improve hand-eye coordination and teamwork. The rules are simple: students stand in a circle and toss a ball to each other in complete silence. If a student drops the ball, they sit down. The last student standing wins. 

The silence adds an extra challenge, requiring students to focus and communicate non-verbally. This activity is perfect for re-energizing the class without causing too much disruption. You may want to do this activity outside, especially if you teach littles!

Combine academics with physical activity by holding a Jumping Spelling Bee. Students take turns spelling out words, but instead of saying the letters aloud, they jump for each letter. For example, if the word is “cat,” the student would jump three times while saying “C-A-T.” This activity keeps students moving while reinforcing spelling skills. It’s also a fun way to review vocabulary words or spelling lists in a more dynamic, engaging way.

Incorporating movement activities into the school day is essential for helping elementary students manage their energy and maintain focus. These quick and easy exercises not only provide a much-needed break but also promote physical fitness, teamwork, and social-emotional learning. By making movement a regular part of your classroom routine, you’ll help your students stay energized, engaged, and ready to learn!

I hope you find all these ideas helpful and I look forward to hearing what movements you love to use with your students.

Warmly,

Debbie

To learn more, see our blog on the benefits of incorporating movement in the classroom.