I’m having one of those days when I can’t sit still. I lean back in my chair. I sit forward in my chair. I tuck one leg up under the other one. I get up and go to the printer for every single page I print—and I’m writing an issue of The Mailbox magazine today, so that’s a lot of up and down to go to the printer! I get up to put extra ice in my chai. I play with my Silly Putty. (I have regular and glow-in-the-dark options!)
We all know that some days are wigglier than others. What do you have in your teacher bag of tricks to help when your students have an exceptional case of the wiggles? (Maybe one of your ideas will help me as well!)
I have given one of my students a stress ball. Other students have to read for Reading Counts to earn lots of points for our classroom. Others can get their ipad to work on spelling or math flash cards
For my wiggly kindergarteners, I use brain breaks between lessons. My lessons are chunked in 10-15 minute increments and then we use quick songs, simple yoga moves, Brain Gym, etc. to get a 1-2 minute wiggle break. It really seems to work for the majority of my students.
There’s a great website, Harry Kindergarten Music, with great, catchy math tunes you can call up on YouTube, free. The kids dance and sing and they are learning … my first graders specially like “Add ‘Em Up,” “Doubles, Doubles” and “Count by 2s, 5s and 10s.” We stop what we’re doing, put on Harry, and dance to math concepts. Warning: the tunes stick in your head.
Denver Teacher
What I do for my preschoolers when they are wiggly is the Popcorn Song. We get up and jump up and down.
Dr. Jean to the rescue!
I have a fidget box filled with various items such as rocks, coiled key chains, squeezy stress balls, etc. During “mat time” each student is allowed to choose an item from the box. I have a few guidelines for the fidget items. For e.g. they must remain in children’s space. It works wonderful. I