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Brain Break Game: “10 Second Objects”

03.26.2023 by Judi Holst // 1 Comment

“Are you sure?” I asked my principal. “It’s about to get loud.” He had planned a meeting in the library, which is right outside my classroom door, for the principals in our district. He told me to not worry about it and to do what I always do. “Okayyyyyyy,” I replied as I walked away, happily knowing that my principal “gets it.” Now, let’s hope the other principals and the director of our feeder understood that kids need to move and talk during a brain break.

Kids Need to Move!

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time sitting still for longer than twenty minutes, let alone a whole class period. Maybe that’s why professional development days are a little torturous for me, and long block periods can be excruciating for some students. With this in mind, I always make sure that my students are changing up activities or are moving at least every 15 – 20 minutes. This is why “10 Second Objects” is one of my favorite brain breaks. Beware, though, it can get loud!

If you have been reading my blog for some time, you know that I like activities that don’t take a lot of preparation on my part. I like to spend time planning my lessons (yes, I think that’s fun), but I don’t like to make photocopies, cut things out, etc. It’s why I didn’t last long as an elementary school teacher. Besides, my mother told me that my kindergarten teacher said that I could never learn to hold the scissors correctly for cutting. I’ve been traumatized ever since!

How to Play “10 Second Objects” Brain Break

Ten seconds is all it took for me to explain the game to the students. This is why it makes a great brain break, and it is good for any grade level!

Have the students get into groups of 3 or four. They may have to move desks/tables to give them enough space to move around. Check to make sure that everyone is in a group. There are always a few wandering around aimlessly. Just tell them which group to join; it’s easier for them at times.
Explain that you are going to tell them an object, and their group needs to form that object by the time you count down from ten. Everyone must participate in their group and somehow look connected.
Then tell them that they are working on creativity, actions, and cooperation today.
They must “freeze” when you say freeze, after counting down. If they move or make a noise after you say “freeze,” their group is disqualified for that round.
When you say “Go,” if they object moves or makes noise, then that is that the time to do it.
Next, look around the room and find the most connected, creative group. Then declare a winner for that round. Don’t keep score, each round is new. You should explain why each group won, so they get an idea of what you are looking for.

I love to look around and see even my shy students get into this activity. It is their smiles and laughter that make this one of my favorite brain breaks.

Here Are a Couple of Examples:

Fireworks display:

Of course, they had to do a pirate ship in my pirate-themed classroom.

Back to the Principals

At one point, the director of our feeder area poked his head in the door, in the middle of his presentation. I thought, “Oh no, I’m busted.” I apologized later, and he said, “It sounded so fun in there. I just wanted to see what everyone was up to.” So, yes, he understood it too. Everyone needs to move and be creative.

Other Brain Break Games:

If you would like to find some other fun brain break games, you can find them on my website: Here are two of my favorite ones:

Snap, Clap, Face, Steal

Snake Oil Competition

The Clapper Talk Show

Survivor: A Review Game

What are some of your favorite brain break games?

Brain Break/Warm up: Snake Oil Competition

11.06.2022 by Judi Holst // 2 Comments

Do you ever wonder how to fill those last ten minutes of class? Do you need an activity to give your students a break in between lessons? Do you wish students would work on being more creative and being able to think more quickly? The Snake Oil Competition might just be your answer. I would recommend this game for 4th grade and up.

My favorite part of this game as always? You guessed it…there is no preparation on your part. Everything is set up for you on this website: https://www.snakeoilgame.com/sobsedu.

Object of game:

The object of the competition is to create crazy products by combining two of the cards listed into one product. The customer will choose which product they like the best and that seller wins the game.

How to play the game:

Before you begin, explain how “snake oil” played an important part of history. Here is a good video to show in order to give them some background. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaDsOJATX3A
Put a chair in the middle of your room and 4 chairs up front. I have a stage, so my chairs go to the right of the stage.
One student is the customer, and they sit on the chair in the middle of the room.
Choose four students to be the “hagglers” or salespeople and they sit on the four chairs up front.
Show the first list of cards. The customer must decide which “type” of customer they will be. For the first round, the customer can choose between being a “pirate” or “the tooth fairy.”
The first haggler is shown the first set of six cards. I project this to the front of the room. They need to think about who the customer is and what type of problems this person might have. Then they combine two of the six cards to create a new product to solve the problem.
I perform the first one to show them what I want them to do. This part is very important and will improve your students presentations, if you do.
I tell the students that they have to talk for at least 30 seconds, and then they can give the customer up to 30 seconds to ask questions about the product. This is a good life skill and encourages the students to think quickly and creatively.
Once everyone has performed in that first group, the customer announces the winner and why they chose that product.

Example of the cards. This is from the cards in Round 3 on the website:

Student Examples:

Here are two student examples where they were Santa Claus.

How to use in your class:

Kids in grades 4 and up are going to love this game. If you want to relate it to your content area, you could create your own cards with vocabulary words from your content. If you teach social studies, the customers could be certain people from history. What products would a past president want? A dictator? If you teach science, this is a no-brainer. You could play this as is. If you teach English, the customer could be a character from a novel. If you teach math, they could be different math terms.

Either way, this is a fun activity to get kids thinking creatively and quickly. It would definitely make a good brain break or warm up for your students.

Tip: Find Your Purpose, Your Reason and Your Fun

08.06.2022 by Judi Holst // Leave a Comment

Do you ever think about your purpose, your reason, and your fun when it comes to your job?

A while ago, I had a principal that told us not to answer the question of, “What do you do?” with “I’m a teacher or I teach 8th grade.” She told us to think about our purpose. What do we DO? This lesson always make me think about my role as a teacher in the beginning of the school year.

What is your PURPOSE?

I started answering this question with, “I help teenagers to gain more confidence in themselves and in public speaking.” When you set your purpose, it helps you to stay driven in your job. When I taught 8th grade language arts, my purpose wasn’t to help kids learn to read and write. Surprising? I know.

I felt my purpose was to help kids LIKE to read and write. This isn’t always easy in middle school, and I figured it was important before they reached high school. Of course they learned skills along the way, but nothing made me feel better than when a student, who normally hated to read, would tell me they actually liked the books that I picked out for them. Or when a student would work hard on their Nanowrimo book and end up publishing it on Amazon; I knew they realized that writing can be fun. Here’s a past blog post about Nanowrimo.

My best friend in CA decided to start her own cooking business in which she makes delicious homemade meals, freezes them, and then delivers them to her customers. I know if I asked her what her purpose is for her business, it wouldn’t be to make dinner for people. I think her answer would be to make people happy.

So, what is your PURPOSE in your job?

What is your REASON?

I believe for most teachers, the reason they are in that school building, day in and day out, is because of the kids. The kids are the reason we show up each day. It definitely isn’t for the money! As you start this new school year, pay more attention to your reason.

This summer, I started coaching four kids on their public speaking skills. The kids created their own product for Destination Imagination, and it was such a hit that they turned it into a real business that is going global! (Side note: If you have kids that ski, you will want to check out their product called the Ski Pack. It was made for kids, by kids! It is like a backpack that lets your kids carry their own skis and poles, but it folds up small enough to fit in your pocket. Cool, right? You can buy your own pack for your kids at this website: https://www.puremountainfun.com/). Make sure you check it out when you are done reading this blog post, of course!

Back to these amazing kids. Since their company is taking off, they are going to present at a conference in Boston this November, and they need to be ready with strong presentation skills. This is where I come in; I am helping them learn to be more confident and poised. It is because of these kids that I was reminded of my reason while starting this school year. I am lucky enough to have a job where I know it will make a difference in the lives of each student in my class. At the beginning of the year, I make a promise to them that they will be better speakers and more confident than they are on day 1 of my class. They are my reason!

What is your FUN?

These past two years, I admit, I forgot what it was like to have fun at work. I went to work, taught my classes, ate lunch in my classroom, and went home. I have decided that I need to find my fun again. This week, I ate lunch with my friends, and I had a blast by going axe throwing at Primal Axe House (I highly recommend this place), with my colleagues. I laughed so much, even though I was terrible at in the beginning, and it felt good to just have fun with the people at my work.

How are you going to create your own fun for yourself and for your students?

This week, the staff played an icebreaker game called “Dude, More Dude.” You can find the cards for it on Amazon here. Our admin wanted to remind us that we are one big family that supports each other.

Basically, you get these cards that have different characters on them. Mine was a pirate. (That was funny since my classroom is decorated in a pirate theme.) You walk up to another person and say “Dude” as if you were that character. I struggled because the pirate was tough without using actions or extra words. If the other person has your same character, you join up to start forming a family and find more members.

I could see using this in class to form table groups. You would have to make sure there are only four of each character (or multiples of four), if you have table groups of four. I think the students would like this unique way of forming groups.

Take a moment

My teaching tip for this week is to take a moment to think through these three questions for your own job. What is your purpose? What is your reason? What is your fun? As a teacher who highly believes in self-reflection, it may just help you to take that first step in being more prepared for the school year.