How do you prepare your students or children before studying?

Having interactive activities prior to starting a class can benefit the efficiency of its progress, as it creates great atmosphere to learning.

Here are some practical activities you can implement:

Exercise can help the flow of blood throughout the body, so the children will be refreshed and focused (avoiding sleepiness) when studying.

As John Ratey said in his book, A User’s Guide to the Brain: “Researchers found that children who had an opportunity to run 15-45 minutes before class were less distracted and more attentive to schoolwork. These positive effects lasted two to four hours after their workouts.” (2001, p. 56)

TIP! Don’t forget to get the children to drink afterwards to avoid dehydration.

The lazy-eight movement is a simple exercise: it is done by tracing a “sleeping” eight, or the infinity sign (∞) over and over.

(Download the Lazy-Eight worksheet here.)

Do a lazy-eight movement using manila paper that is put on the wall or board. Make 2 symmetrical circle and ask the child to trace the shape using their index fingers 8 times. When they are using their right hand, their hand should also move to the right until their right ears touch their right shoulder. After 8 turns, ask them to use their left hands.

TIP! For children with dyslexia, we can also write letters, like “d”, ”g”, and “q” inside the left circle, and letters like “p”, ”h”, and “r” inside the right circle of the lazy-eight.

When the children are seated, we can also give them simple exercises like breathing, or massaging part below their blade bones while sitting straight (not leaning back). Do this with the right hand, then left hand.

Do the children seem anxious or distracted? Then, try massaging the back part of their ears while directing them to regulate breathing.

TIP! When dealing with older children, you can ask them to massage their ears themselves.

To help refresh their memories; we can ask them verbal questions about previous materials.

TIP! Give them some time to think about the question. Giving them 5-10 seconds of pause will increase the number of students who volunteer to answer and will lead to longer, more complex answers.

Some might find it difficult to set the optimal mood for studying. Singing has been found to help ease the transition from one activity to another. When the children looked unmotivated, ask the class to sing a song together!