✨🧠 Give That Brain a Break!

Written By Shelby Morgan M.Ed, BCBA, IBA

Why Every Learner (and Teacher) Needs Mental Pit Stops

You’re halfway through a lesson on fractions, trying your best “enthusiastic teacher voice.” The class is nodding along politely, they are engaged, asking questions and genuinely attending to the subject….  until you notice one student attempting to balance a ruler on their upper lip. Another is staring lovingly at the ceiling fan. And someone, somewhere, is humming the Minecraft theme song.

Congratulations, your class has officially hit ✨cognitive overload ✨.

It’s really not all your fault. No, your lesson probably isn't boring or too tough (unlike when needing to pivot). Kids have underdeveloped brains so actually, it’s just biology. The human brain can only focus intensely for short bursts before it starts sending the signals of:  “I’m done now. Need. Reboot. Now.” 

And that, dear educators (and parents), is why brain breaks exist. (Check the FREEBIE for age appropriate and need based ideas!)

You may remember a previous post about distracted learners and pivoting and wonder why they are not paired together. A brain break is different from a pivot. A pivot is when students are struggling to grasp the content or the lesson is not engaging the students for whatever reason. A brain break is when the students have been engaged and on task for an extended time and now they just can’t continue at the same rate. Que the brain break! 

To Brain Break or Pivot, that is the question.

It takes some serious student connection to automatically know to choose a break or pivot. Let’s break it down into bite sized pieces for easier identification. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you notice your students are starting to dillydally or tiredness is setting in: 

  • Are they understanding the learning goals and main take away for the lesson?

  • Have more than 75%(ish) of  your students been engaged for a majority of the lesson so far? 

  • Has it been over 20 (1st-7th) or 30 ( 8th+) mins of straight lecture or independent work? 

  • Is there a range of accessibility or use of universal design for learning (UDL) available for the kiddos AND you see them utilizing them? 

  • Are the students who are not engaged or struggling to get it usually students who require more support than other students? 

  • This is a project, independent, or group based lesson that is not a worksheet?

  • This class is NOT before a larger break or eating time? (or Holiday)

If you answered yes to most of these questions, chances are the class is in need of a brain break! If you answered NO to most of the questions, it might be time to investigate if a pivot is needed!

Naturally, this is not an all inclusive list of identifiers, but you get the point: If students are understanding the lesson, they are on task, and have been presented with a range of acceptable activities that are not worksheets while being engaged for a longer period of time then a brain break is probably needed. 

If your students are struggling to engage from the get go, not grasping the lesson, needing more support more than usual in this lesson, have a break coming up (implying additional needs such as hunger, movement, excitability etc), or the main activity is a worksheet, then it could be time to pivot instead of a brain break. 

What Exactly Is a Brain Break?

According to Reading Rockets, brain breaks are short, structured interruptions in learning (using movement, mindfulness, or sensory activities) designed to help students reset and re-engage. They can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, and they work for everyone from wriggly five-year-olds to exam-stressed teenagers.

Brain breaks are neither cute classroom gimmicks, nor an easy way out of reclaiming your classroom. They’re evidence-based, neuroscience-approved productivity boosters.

The Science of Stepping Away

The  National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that when people take short breaks while learning new skills, their brains actually replay and compress the neural patterns of what they just practiced.

Think of it as your brain running a highlight reel of the last few minutes except it happens * during rest*, not during the lesson itself. Taking a brain break in the middle of a lesson or after a short lesson allows the brain to go over what it was just taught and hoard it away within working memory. This ensures that students are absorbing all areas of the lesson, not just the beginning or end. Taking a few minutes to allow students to file knowledge away to build on (and not have to reteach) is soo worth it! 

The more often this “neural replay” occurred, the better the person performed later. In other words, resting isn’t wasted time, it's the moment your brain does the heavy lifting.

So yes, that 90-second “shake-it-out” break might surprisingly be a memory consolidation party.

 ☕ Why Brain Breaks Are Non-Negotiable

  1. They Restore Focus and Recharge Neurotransmitters  
    Continuous concentration drains your brain’s chemical messengers. As neurologist and educator Dr. Judy Willis explains in  Edutopia, short breaks let those circuits refill their neurotransmitter tanks, so attention can reboot. Without these breaks, focus fizzles like a flat soda.

  2.    They Manage Cognitive Load  
    The  NSW Department of Education  officially lists brain breaks as part of its  Cognitive Wellbeing Framework, noting they help students process complex information and avoid mental fatigue. Translation: they stop brains from short-circuiting during long lessons.

  3.  They Improve Mood and Classroom Climate 
    Movement, laughter, and breathing activities boost oxygen flow, release endorphins, and calm the amygdala (the brain’s emotional guard dog). A calmer class = happier learners = less “please stop poking your pencil eraser into the glue stick.”

  4.  They’re Especially Powerful for Neurodiverse Learners 
    Research from Reading Rockets highlights that brain breaks help students who struggle with self-regulation, including our neurodiverse friends, to maintain engagement and reduce stress. The trick? Choose breaks that meet the sensory or attention needs of each student.

  5.  They Build Cognitive and Physical Wellbeing  
    Basically, brain breaks are like free body fertilizer; good for the brain AND body. Not only are we shaking and baking and very possibly sweating, we are working our brains too!
    The NSW framework adds that brain breaks:
    - increase engagement and cognitive function
    - improve classroom behavior
    - strengthen teacher-student relationships
    - (bonus!) get kids out of their seats, improving circulation and oxygen flow to the brain.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

The bottom line is that the research is clear: the brain doesn't retain as much during the "doing" phase; it reconnects during the "resting" stage. If we want our students to move information from their working memory into long-term storage, we have to give them the physical and mental space to do so. Adding in some laughter, class bonding and some glitter is the BEST way to do it! 

Brain breaks shouldn’t be viewed as a luxury for a fun classroom. It is a biological necessity for  functions of the brain. So, go ahead, give those brains a break. This is your science backed permission slip to get dancing and have a little fun in the midst of a lesson. Trust me, it’s the most productive thing you’ll do all lesson.

Needing a few non-screen based ideas?? Check out the freebie!

I’ve made a nifty sheet where screen-free brain breaks are separated into the need of break (energize, refocus, creativity and have some fun) as well as ages for you to find an age appropriate break that rocks your student’s class time. 

Shine on my friends!

📚 References

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Shelby Morgan M.Ed, BCBA, IBA

With over a decade in education, I've worn many hats: early interventionist, special educator (Autism), inclusion mentor, and behavior interventionist. My work centers on helping every student feel seen, supported, and successful. I hold a Master's in Guidance and Counseling from Angelo State University and am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), International Behaviour Analyst (IBA) with school behaviour analyst credential and last but not least, I am certified as both a school guidance counselor and clinical behaviour analyst in Iceland.

https://www.welltaught.academy/about
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✨The Silent Battle: Reclaiming Attention in a Screen-Saturated Classroom