I Spy Movement Breaks

Here is a simple, novel activity for quick movement breaks in the classroom or at home.   Pour some colored rice or beans into a recycled water bottle.  Write down several exercises that can be done with no equipment ie jumping jacks, marching in place, squats, etc.  Write the activities on both sides of heavy duty cardstock (I used a recycled folder).  Slide them inside the bottle and give it to the child.

When it is time for a movement break the child has to find and perform all the different exercises in the bottle.  If you wanted you could connect a list to the bottle so the child could mark off what exercises they found in the bottle.  If a child is unable to read, try placing pictures of different animals in the bottle and the child would have to perform all the animal actions.

If you have a group of children, play musical I Spy bottle.  Pass the bottle around the group.  When the music stops, the child holding the bottle has to find an exercise and be the leader of the group to perform the exercise.

This activity encourages:

• visual perceptual skills
• physical activity
• memory
• bilateral coordination

For more movement ideas in the classroom check out all of these Brain Breaks at http://yourtherapysource.com/brainbreaks.html