Target movement breaks before an important thinking activity or a new topic that you want to teach them, taking advantage to engage with children when they are at their best!


Have some ‘body stations’ for children to go to during lessons (with appropriate boundaries, of course). If they learn to recognise how much they need a movement break, you are supporting a lifelong positive strategy.


Ideas for ‘body stations’: • A balance board – stand on the balance board for one minute. • A short obstacle course – crawl through and between cardboard boxes. • Hoop up and over – stand in a hoop, bring the hoop up over your head and step into it again. Repeat four times, and then go back to sit down.


Let's get active! Here are a few ideas to help you embrace the need for movement in a positive way:


Bean-bag pick-up – lie on the floor on your back. Place a few beanbags on the floor above your head. Curl up and pick up a beanbag with your feet and place it down in a pile by your feet, Repeat! Great fun!


Use opportunities when the class is changing venues to give a strong movement break – skip/ hop/jump to… assembly, out onto the playground, along the corridor. Excitability can be an issue for some, so be clear about how you expect the children to follow the instructions. For example: quietly, spaced between peers, or with some nearer to you than others.


Big stretch and flop – standing in a space (this could be at their desks if there is enough room), stretch up high on tiptoes, with both hands reaching for the ceiling, and then steadily and slowly relax and flop to a bent-over position. Hang there, relax, and go floppy. Slowly come back to standing. Stretch arms out wide to the sides, up to the ceiling, and then sit back down.


Shop Little Learners products and more at


Shop Little Learners ypo.co.uk/earlyyears


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For more insight and activity ideas relating to body awareness, get stuck into the 'Start Big Stay Big' book by Learn Well (306969). Inside the book, you'll also find theory and easy-to-do activities on a range of different topics including posture, visual skills, motor control, getting ready to write and movement in maths.


The activities are perfect for young children and they offer practical ways to increase movement, making sure to exercise all key sensory systems.


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