Last week, I encouraged you to work energizers—quick breaks that get children moving, breathing, and having fun together—into your classroom day. Energizers are great ways to get children refreshed and refocused on learning anytime during the school year. They can be especially helpful during the winter months, when many children have fewer opportunities for active outdoor play.

During the long winter months, when children may experience less physical activity and movement, try sprinkling in some energizers—quick breaks that get children moving, breathing, and having fun together—throughout the day. These much-needed physical and mental breaks can increase children's motivation for learning, and can also make their learning more productive. Energizers are versatile, too: some calm children down, others perk them up.

So as you plan your lessons, think about how you might infuse more energizers into the daily schedule. Keep in mind that energizers:

You know it instinctively, you see it every day in your classroom, and brain research supports it: Children learn better when we give them mental and physical breaks from intensive instruction. Just two or three playful minutes of moving, breathing deeply, laughing together, and singing or chanting relaxes children's bodies and clears their minds for more learning.

Here are three energizers that work equally well with the children at their tables or desks, circled up, or waiting in line.

It's 1:30 in the afternoon, and our class is preparing for language arts block. Recess and lunch seem like hours ago, and we still have an entire content area left to teach. As my co-teacher and I begin to set up for the lesson, we notice Jenna rocking in her seat, Daniel tapping his pencil incessantly, and Christian gone—signed out to use the restroom yet again. Suddenly we realize what all these bothersome behaviors have in common: movement.

While giving the January spelling assessment, I paused to look around the classroom and here's what I saw: Sara was yawning. Ben held his head in his hands. Julie's head was down on her paper, and Justin was tapping his pencil while jiggling his feet under his chair. It was not a picture of first graders doing their best to "show what they know" about all they'd learned in spelling. I knew I had to stop and do something to get them all back in the groove. Movement breaks to the rescue!

Energizers are usually more about giving children quick movement and breathing breaks than they are about academics. Still, it’s possible to work in a little academic practice, as long as the focus remains on fun, refocusing, and relaxation. The "Spelling Stroll" energizer fits that bill very nicely, especially for children in grades 3-6.

As we approached testing season, the already anxiety-prone fourth graders I teach began asking questions about test dates, format, and content. These signs of stress, combined with antsiness brought on by the arrival of long-awaited spring weather and a week of spring break, all came at once this year. I was feeling stressed, too. I had a lot to "get through" before our standardized state testing in May, and I felt pressured to get the information out as quickly as possible.