Brain Breaks in 1st grade

Help develop your younger students' counting skills while having fun with Chutes and Ladders!

Playing the game gives students a chance to practice counting as they move their pieces back and forth in a repetitive nature. Plus, you're supporting their general arithmetic skills as they count how many places forward or back the snake or ladder has taken them.

Chutes and Ladders is a brilliantly simple board game fit for any age group, helping students learn as they play.

Also known as: Snakes & Ladders.

This Bingo card is designed to help students learn about their classmates and make new friends. Students can play the game during recess or whenever they have free time in class. The 12 squares on the bingo card are each labeled with a different attribute. This is a great way for students to learn about each other and build social skills!

Try this simple boredom buster with your students – Checkers!

With trial and error, students will have fun learning that actions on the board have consequences and that each action needs some clear forethought. Students need to focus and pay attention, developing their concentration skills – if they want to win, they need to learn to concentrate and focus.

Assign this template to students in pairs (try match one student who knows how to play with another who's yet to learn to test your students' ability to lead and follow).

Expand your students' minds as they play with this interactive Ludo template!

Ludo is not only enjoyable for your class but helps stimulate the same area of the brain responsible for memory and complex thoughts. It also assists in developing cognitive skills like problem-solving and decision making; as well as teaching good sportsmanship, the value of taking turns, sharing, and instills the spirit of healthy competitiveness.

Assign this template in groups of four and let the good times roll.

Get your students flexing their brains with this interactive Backgammon template!

This classic game helps improve students' cognitive skills as it calls for lots of critical thinking to play and get better. There are even some studies showing that Backgammon helps players learn how to deal with stress while potentially also strengthening their immune system.

Assign this template to students in pairs (try match one student who knows how to play with another who's yet to learn to test your students' ability to lead and follow).

This Blank Bingo card is designed to help students learn about their classmates and make new friends. Students can play the game during recess or whenever they have free time in class. The 12 squares on the bingo card blank so you can add your own. This is a great way for students to learn about each other and build social skills!

Get your students to write a letter to themselves at the start of the new school year. This is a really easy way to share some powerful messages with them, and it's a great way to boost their confidence and motivation for the rest of their year.

Try this seasonal coloring in template for a Thanksgiving brain break!

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to keep your young students entertained, assign this template individually and watch them actively relax in no time.

Use this open space template to add good things. Whether it be the positive parts of the school day, or things your students are looking forward to, this template is a good starting point to put down all good things on a page!

Roll & Chat is a fun way to get talking with your students! Each time the die is rolled, you take turns rolling it and talking about the topic next to that number. It's an easy way to trigger great conversations with your students that you'll both enjoy.