While GoNoodle has always been a staple in my classroom, I’ve found that the older the kids are, the less enthusiastic they tend to be about getting their groove on in front of the rest of the class. I’ve tried to encourage them with my own excitement and dance moves, but alas, there are always a few who stare awkwardly from the back row. I have a fair amount of brain break tricks up my sleeve (check out this post about how I use precious extra minutes in the classroom), but I wanted something else fun!

A few years ago, I was having my students work through a fairly long Power Point. They were working in pairs and they had an interactive study guide to accompany it, but I still felt like they needed something that would break up the monotony of it. I decided to insert a few “surprise” videos sporadically throughout the presentation as a mini brain break. They LOVED IT and begged me for more! I am finally getting around to sharing a few of those videos. They are all short, slightly educational, and 100% kid-approved.

I’ve watched every single video all the way through, but be sure to double check and make sure they are suitable for your class. I’d also recommend using Safe Youtube to stream them and avoid ads.

Video #1: Kid President. He will never cease to amaze me, and students really gravitate toward his videos.