7 Brain Gym Exercises For Kids
Brain gymnastics for kids is a training routine that prepares the body and mind for learning. These are exercises that help release stress, focus energy and activate the brain.
These activities can be done at home or at school and, in addition to being important, they are fun for your children.
The essence of this technique is to stimulate the brain through bodily commands that stimulate it. The great advantage of brain gymnastics for children is that it can be practiced by people of any age.
If you ever need to focus your attention on an activity, do one of these exercises before starting.
Brain gymnastics for children: a way to enhance learning
1.- Draw the number 8
Ask your child to draw the number 8 many times using their fingers, that is, drawing the figure in the air. You can offer a bond sheet and teach how to draw it.
The important thing in this exercise is the use of the non-dominant hand. Thus, the creative hemisphere of the brain is stimulated and the hand muscles activated.
2.- Crawl
It helps to eliminate excess energy, which is ideal before starting an activity that requires concentration. In this simple exercise the two cerebral hemispheres are activated and work together.
The child should stand up and touch the left knee with the right elbow. Then do the same movement touching your right knee with your left elbow. The movements must be repeated alternately.
3.- Mirrored design
It is a bilateral drawing activity, in which your child will have to draw a figure with both hands at the same time. This activity develops written language skills, mathematical calculation and symbolic thinking.
This exercise is recommended before doing complex tasks.
4.- Square and circle design
This exercise asks the child to draw a square with their right hand, in the air or on a sheet. On the same surface and at the same time, you should also draw a circle, with your left hand.
The movements must be repeated until both hands are able to make the figure independently. It’s a dissociation exercise that helps boost the brain.
5.- Beats and circles
Another activity that stimulates both halves of the brain starts with one hand on the abdomen making a circular motion. This movement is accompanied by the movement of the other hand that gently taps the head.
This will enable the brain to reach an ideal state for learning, and then assimilate new information.
6.- Little fingers and index fingers
With the right fist closed, the child should lift the little finger. At the same time, with your left fist closed, you will raise your index finger. Afterwards, you will indicate that he should change the movement: in the right hand, the index finger and in the left hand, the pinky.
This activity helps improve concentration and develop fine motor skills.
7.- Exercises with the neck
Taking a deep breath, guide the child to relax their shoulders and move their head back with their eyes closed. Then move your head from side to side and make small circles.
Throughout the exercise, breathing is extremely important. With these movements it is possible to improve breathing, which brings more oxygen to the brain.
You can create a 5-10 minute daily routine for performing these exercises and do it before school. This will prepare your child to properly process all the information he will receive during the day.
With children’s brain gymnastics, basic skills are developed from an early age. Among them are coordination, balance, fine and gross motor skills, concentration and visual perception. Before doing homework, practice these activities for children to achieve better results.
