Brain breaks are such a useful tool for boosting attention and focus in the classroom. Check out all of the brain break activities and free printable brain break cards here on the site. Here’s the thing: Taking a sensory-based movement break in between learning tasks is a great way to help kids with sensory needs and without re-group and attend to classroom work.  This month in the Virtual Book Club for Kids series, we read the fun book, Little Blue Truck and created farm animal themed brain breaks that are perfect for movement and sensory needs like vestibular activities in the classroom.

Farm Brain Breaks

 

Little Blue Truck Farm Themed Brain Breaks

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Sometimes creative movement can be just the movement and gross motor exercise that kids can use as a sensory tool for effectively addressing needs in the classroom.  Brain Breaks use vestibular and proprioceptive input to address the sensory needs that can help kids with their attention and focus during classroom tasks.


Kids that need to boost their level of alertness with fast movements.  Those kids that seem to droop and lose attention during classroom work may benefit from a vestibular sensory movement activity that uses the whole body.


Children that need to calm their body’s movements and regulate their sensory system may benefit from slow, rocking movements using the vestibular sensory system or heavy work gross motor activities that utilize the body’s proprioception system.  

With the animals in Little Blue Truck, we focused on the farm animals and how they move and work to help our friend, the little blue truck.  There are many ways that kids can use the typical movements of farm animals to address sensory and attention needs in the classroom.

In the book, Little Blue Truck, we meet each of the farm animals that say a friendly “hello” to the little blue truck.  When he ends up stuck in the mud, the animals are the one that come to help their truck friend.  

This book is such a fun way to look at the way friends can work together in small ways to help make big things happen.  What a great way to look at the way the class works together to make changes.  A group of classroom students that each do their part to pay attention and focus can make the whole classroom a better place. 

We decided to use the movements of the animals in Little Blue Truck to create gross motor, movement-based brain breaks.  These are activities that can be done in conjunction with the book and used all year long for attention and focus in the classroom.

How to use these Farm themed Brain Breaks:

Print off your brain break printable sheet.  These animal brain break cards can be used to add movement within the classroom.  

Little Blue Truck Activities

Use these brain break activities based on the animals in the book Little Blue Truck: 

Cow Walk: Stand on you hands and knees.  Walk across the room while shaking your head from side to side and up and down like eating grass.


Sheep Crawl: Lie on the floor with your feet and arms tucked under you.  Inch yourself forward in a slow and steady crawl.


Frog Hop: Hop like a from across the room.  Hop back again.


Horse Gallop:  Stand on your feet.  Gallop across the room with one foot leading.  Gallop back with the other foot leading.


Pig Roll: Lay on the floor and roll like a pig in the mud.


Hen Flap: Tuck your hands under your arms to make wings like a hen.  Flap your wings as you strut across the room.


Goat Kick: Stand on your feet and place your hands on the floor.  Walk across the room as you kick out your heels.


Duck Waddle: Place your heels together with your toes apart.  Place your hands at your sides and waddle across the room.


Print out your printable animal brain break cards.


Add heavy work to these activities by pushing against the wall like the animals in the book push against the little blue truck to help their friend out of the mud. 


 These farm animal themed brain breaks would work for any of these farm book. 

Looking for more movement and learning brain breaks?  You’ll love this dinosaur version based on the book, Dinosaurumpus!

Looking for more farm themed activities? Check out the ideas the other bloggers shared this week in the Virtual Book Club for Kids series:

These Farm books would go along great with our Farm animal themed Brain Breaks!