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The internet era is a gift to humankind. Of course, it has its own sets of disadvantages but its benefits are surreal. The world has become faster because of internet technology. The whole concept of digitalisation is based on the internet. From businesses to education, every sector is getting digitalised.
Learning from a distance at our own pace with no geographical barrier has become possible now. Teachers can teach online using various online tools and software, incorporate concepts like gamification and make use of LMS for streamlining the teaching process. However, students have to stare at their computer screens, sitting in a position, continuously for hours which can lead to health problems. Also, the students can’t focus on the lessons that go on for hours without any breaks. The brain needs rest as much as the body. Hence, breaks in between classes are important.
Brain Break Activities For Virtual Learning
Running short lessons aligned with fun activities which make students laugh, play and move and most importantly, giving them a break from the screen is what brain break activities for virtual learning should comprise of.
To help you out with this, here is a list of activities that you can use in your online classes to energise your students!
- Yoga
Yoga emphasises mindfulness. It helps in taking care of the physical, mental and cognitive development of the students. It has immense benefits and incorporating yoga in online classes to help students relax their body and mind, yoga is the best break.
- Dance Breaks
Anybody can dance and everybody loves grooving to the beats, if not in public then, in private. Create a dance party playlist and play it when you find that your students are getting bored. You can ask them to get up and dance with or without turning their cameras on. To make it more fun, you can play games like the good old freeze or statue game. All that the students have to do is keep moving their bodies while the music is on and as soon as you stop the music, they must freeze. Those who fail to do it must sit down.
- Scavenger Hunt
This activity can be anything.
- You can ask the students to look around themselves and name three things starting from any letter, say S.
- You can ask them to move around their house and come back in 2 mins and name five things that they saw of any colour, say yellow.
- You can ask the students to take a picture of the view outside their window and share it.
- You can ask them to find things in their house that begins with their names.
It can literally be anything that makes the student divert their minds from the class and physically move.
- Movement Breaks
While taking such breaks, you can ask your students to walk around their house for two minutes. To make it fun, you can play exercise games. For example, you can make chits and write numbers on those for the students to choose from. Once they choose a number, turn it around or open the chit. The students have to do whatever activity is written on it such as sit-ups, push-ups, jumping at the place 10 times, showing some simple breathing exercises, etc.
- Other Games
You can make the students play dumb charades using the live teaching app that you use. You can personally message the students the words that they will have to act out and let others guess. You can make teams for it.
You can also play games such as making the students utter numbers from 1 to 100 one by one and ask them to say “beep” or “bingo” or any other word according to your preference in place of prime numbers. This is especially for the maths teachers.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating brain breaks in online classes helps students de-stress, focus better and have a fun learning experience. It also helps you to know them better.
