Most young children can not sit still for long periods of time and quite frankly neither can I. Our brains are incredible organs, but they are limited in how much they can stay focused and motivated. We need movement to create more oxygen and blood flow to the brain for it to function optimally. Studies […]
Top to bottom exercises help brain development, emotional grounding and organization.
Draw It! is an engaging brain break that your students will BEG you to play! The game is NO PREP and simple for students of all ages. Simply display the included slides for your students to see, read the three clues, have your students draw a picture of the secret object on a piece of paper, or on their whiteboards, and finally reveal the secret! This resource is EDITABLE, so you can add your own objects and clues for your students to draw! Included: - 20 Premade Game Slides - EDITABLE Slides to add your own objects and clues **This resource is included in my Brain Breaks BUNDLE!**
Being major history buffs, we want to take you through the history of occupational therapy (as well the future of OT) in this overview.
Brain breaks are a great classroom management tool to use regularly in your classroom. Brain breaks are short, 1 to 2 minute, activities that can…
Crossing the midline activities for kids. What on earth are those? Sometimes in the educational world we start speaking a slightly different language than 'normal' people. Not that teachers aren't normal ... though ... you do need to be a little insane to work with small children all day long, don't you? Anyways. I had
Retained Spinal Galant Reflex causes Poor concentration and attention problems, bedwetting, chronic digestion problems, fidgety kid and hip rotation problems. Share on FacebookTweetFollow us
Looking for free cognitive assessments for your adult patient population? Check out these five free assessments with instructions.
Resistance bands activities to help your child with sensory integration, proprioception, motor planning and crossing the midline.
Coming up with OT fieldwork in-service ideas can be tough. For a list of 13 ideas for adult rehab fieldwork, we've got you covered here.
Let's create beautiful, organized spaces where you and your family can thrive!
Try your hand at these tricky visual puzzles and give your brain a boost!
Students need to get their wiggles out after sitting even for a short period of time! These 12 FREE Brain Breaks will give you some fun ideas to try in your 1st - 5th grade classroom.
Brain breaks for high school students are a powerful tool to equip teenage students in battling anxiety, stress, and overwhelm.
Do you use Whole Brain teaching as a classroom management approach with your students? Use these active, fun classroom rules! Head here for FREE printable posters!
Why uncertainty and doubt are essential for Creative thining
As a kid in school I loved when my teachers celebrated creativity in the classroom. In fact, when I reflect on my own education, the moment...
A firsthand account of preparing for brain surgery filled with insights on resilience, patience, and the surreal nature of life after facing the unexpected.
I do love a good brain teaser. I learnt a few of these while I was a guest on board the Disney Magic. Our server used to give them to us while we waited for our food to arrive. Some of them I got quickly, others left me stumped until we were told the answer. The others I learnt as a child at school.
Use the Shape Mats to build a 3D and 3D Shape with toothpicks, playdough, or gumdrops.
Do you love Cheer Cards? Who doesn't love Dr. Jean?! I mean, seriously... The first time I attended one of her conferences, she WALKED by
These bilateral coordination activities are bilateral movement strategies to help kids demonstrate bimanual coordination skills.
If you're an occupational therapy practitioner or student looking for cognitive intervention ideas, check out our article covering the all the basics here.
Pass the Clap - A Fun Game for all ages! This is a great game for team building. with many benefits in the classroom, and plenty of giggles, too!
Does your child struggle with auditory attention? Find tons of fun and easy activity ideas to help improve the attention, processing speed and memory.
Awesome illustration of the PARA organizing method I teach from @Silly_Strokes, who is part of cohort 14
DIGITAL ONLY! No physical book or pieces included. Printer Friendly! Save ink with plain white background PDFs. Pieces Required: 163 pieces (65 black, 44 brown, 28 orange, 26 white) Product Required: 2 Brain Flakes® 500 pcs jars or 1 Brain Flakes® 2500 pcs bin. You can also use any colors you want to make it your own! Building Time: 20 to 25 minutes Difficulty: 3.5/5 stars Spec: 10 pages full-color PDF file, printable on 8.5" x 11" paper
A blog focusing on early education, combining Montessori, right brain, and other techniques to make learning fun.
Games are a tried and true way to engage students. Whether teaching in-person or remotely via a live session like Zoom or Google Meets, teac...
Master cutting kids need to practice scissor skills a lot... so here are 20 fun ideas for cutting practice!
Learn more about cognitive activities, cognitive development milestones, play, and how to promote cognitive development in preschoolers.
Today my class was featured in an article in The Edmond Sun. The reporter discussed our growing class brain in her article. This has prompted questions from other interested teachers, so I’ve decided to give an update. The Edmond Sun article is here: Students Give Thumbs Up for Brain-Based Teaching. The Beginning of the Class Brain The Brain Earlier this school year I was inspired by one of my BrainSMART classes to create a lesson on metacognition. I did a post about the lesson here: metacognition lesson. In that lesson, students twisted pipe cleaners together to represent related concepts and subjects. Next the pipe cleaners were connected to show how information connects in the brain. It became our class brain! Our brain has continued to grow all year. Students love it! The Update Once the class brain was constructed and strategically located (see the previous article for the process), we were able to begin adding new connections. We periodically gather around the brain to reflect on new learning and how it connects to what the students already know. When a student proposes a new connection, I give the student three pipe cleaners to twist into an axon. I also quickly make a label for it on a small rectangle piece of paper. (Otherwise I forget…oh, the irony!) I fold piece of paper over the completed axon (pipe cleaners) and staple it. Then the new axon is attached to the appropriate connection in the brain. As each student proposes a new connection, the process repeats itself. Some things I have learned: · I connect the new axons to the brain myself. The more complex the brain gets, the more difficult it is for 2nd graders to get into it. Upper-grade students might not have this issue. · I write the labels myself to help me keep track of things. · I write the label on both sides of the small paper so it can be seen from more than one viewpoint. That becomes very important later as the brain gets more complex! · Hang the brain low enough where students can interact with it, in a location with no regular traffic. The Result The brain today. It is difficult to see the complexity. By using this method, we are continually reviewing things learned all year. For example, when studying China, students made a connection from the invention of paper to an earlier lesson on Sequoyah since Sequoyah invented a writing system for the Cherokee people. While making connections about the Erie Canal students made a connection from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi. The length of the Mississippi had them connecting it to the Nile, Amazon, and Yellow Rivers. They learned about the Amazon and Yellow Rivers earlier in the year, and the Nile in first grade. See the growing connections? To add to the fun, former students of mine come by frequently to see the brain grow. They are intrigued by the connections and beg to make their own. Finally This metacognition lesson continues to be wildly successful. This has provided a fun way to review and solidify learning all year.
