We love GO NOODLE!

If you have not found Go Noodle- FIND IT NOW. It is free.  FREE! And fun as can be. It's a brain break site that the children cannot wait for and is so easy to use. I leave it up on the Smart Board all day. This post is just because I found it and wanted you to find it to. Go Noodle doesn't  even know I exist! It's just a great site that I passed on at school, and wanted to pass on to you, too, if you haven't discovered it already.
                                                       
After you sign in (so easy) and name your class, the children's first fun activity is choosing your Class Champ!

Your Class Champ will grow every time you complete 15 minutes of brain break activities. Every time we finish one activity, my class says, "See how many points we got!" You can see the level climb closer to that 15 minutes! (over on the right hand side in the picture below)

When you complete a level, the Class Champ goes into a machine to transform! It is perfect. The kids just love it.  When your Champ completes five levels, he is full grown.

There are calming, energizing, and focusing brain breaks, so you can choose the type that works best for your class whenever you need it.

Here is what the page looks like where you choose your activity.  Underneath each name of the activity is the length of time, so you can plan accordingly. I love that part, because if we have 3 minutes before lunch, I can choose one to fit that. 

 Maximo has lots of yoga and calming brain breaks to choose from.  Air Time has lots of focus opportunities.  We love Run With US, which teaches the children some of the the Olympic Track and Field events!  A real Olympic athlete "trains" the kids before you compete.

My class was so serious and tried to do everything just right. It really makes the kids feel special thinking that a real athlete is teaching them.

Here they are twisting to warm up for the long jump!

I MAY tell the kids that we get more points if we all participate and try our best.  I think that is what Go Noodle would want me to do.  Boy, do they all LOVE it and try hard.  Nobody wants to be the reason we don't get as many points as we can!

Go Noodle also includes Zumba songs and popular Youtube video sing-a-long songs like Let It Go, Everything is Awesome, and Happy.  We played Happy during clean up time and I have NEVER had a better clean up.  The kids tried to get everything done before the song ended and were singing! It doesn't get much better than that.

Oh and this song that is GREAT because you can say, see how fast you can move those feet!  And then, if you happen to compliment one child on their fast feet, all of a sudden you see lots more feet go fast for compliments!  Finally- you have some tuckered out kids ready to sit and work again.  You can find some of these songs on Youtube, but these are all in one place- and you earn those fabulous points to make your little Champ grow!

The songs and activities are set up very clearly and easy to use. If you have some you love the best, you can create your own list of favorites.

Try it and have a ball!  You will love it.  We have had the rainiest spring EVER and have had lots of inside recess, so this has been such a blessing.  Our first Class Champ (Tangy Bodangy)  reached Level 5!  When it grows up completely, Go Noodle emails you a picture to print out. We are hanging them up in the front of our classroom and seeing how many we can get.

Those 2 or 3 minute brain breaks add up- before lunch, after snack, during clean up, a few minutes before specials, or after they have done a great job with a lesson.  Yesterday, during math testing for the older grades, the library was being used, so my kids were in our classroom for four straight hours until lunch.  Then, after lunch we didn't have recess because of the rain, so it was all inside until we went home.  Those are perfect days for some breaks. It was one of my favorite days, actually, because the kids just loved singing and dancing.  My girls singing Let it Go from Frozen  just about made me cry it was so precious.  Even my boys love singing that one.  They all know the words. It is so sweet.

I told all of my teacher friends about this site because it is really great.  We are always hearing that children don't get enough physical activity, so this gives them a little more here and there, as well as some ways to calm down and settle.

Have fun and GO NOODLE!