V is for volleyball1 minute. Play one rally by yourself. Bump the pretend ball up with your forearms together, set it higher with your fingertips above your forehead, then jump and tap it over the net. Say V on the tap. Play 5 rallies and count them.
A is for arrow arms30 seconds. Press your palms together above your head to make the point of an arrow. Say A and point the arrow at the left wall by leaning over, then at the right wall, then down at your toes. Come back up tall each time. Point 3 arrows each way.
B is for bounce and balance1 minute. Bounce on your toes 10 times with your feet together and say B on every bounce. Then balance on one foot while the class counts to 5. Bounce 10 more and balance on the other foot.
C is for clap a circle30 seconds. Clap once high above your head, once out to your right, once down by your knees and once out to your left. That is one circle. Say C at the top of each one. Clap 3 circles that way, then 3 going around the other way.
D is for dribble1 minute. Bounce a pretend basketball beside you with your right hand 10 times and say D for each bounce. Do 10 with your left hand. Then cross the ball from one hand to the other in front of your knees 10 times without losing it.
E is for elevator1 minute. You are an elevator in a building with 5 floors. Floor 1 is a low crouch and floor 5 is up on your tiptoes with your arms high. Ride up slowly while the class counts the floors, then ride down. Then the teacher calls any floor, and everyone goes straight to it.
F is for fishing1 minute. Hold a pretend fishing rod in two hands. Swing it back over your shoulder and cast the line forward with a long reach. Wait for a count of 3. A fish bites, so lean back and wind the reel 10 times. Say F as you lift the fish out, and cast again on the other side.
G is for gears30 seconds. Hold your forearms in front of your chest and roll them around each other like two gears turning. Roll forward for a count of 10 and backward for 10. When the teacher says G, change speed: one G is slow, and two is as fast as you can.
Letters H to N 7
H is for hopscotch1 minute. Play hopscotch without a board. Hop on one foot, land with your feet apart, hop on the other foot, land with your feet apart. That is one row, and you say H when you finish it. Do 5 rows, then turn around and hop 5 rows back.
I is for itch1 minute. You have an itch, and you may not use your hands. The teacher calls where it is: your nose, so wiggle it; your shoulder, so roll it; your knee, so shake it; the middle of your back, so wriggle. After 6 itches the teacher says I, and everyone scratches with both hands.
J is for juggle1 minute. Toss one pretend ball from hand to hand and follow it with your eyes, 10 tosses. Add a second ball and say J on each catch. Add a third and juggle as fast as you can for a count of 10. Drop them all, pick them up and take a bow.
K is for kayak1 minute. Sit forward on your chair with a paddle held across your lap. Dip it into the water on your left, then on your right, 20 strokes in all, and say K on every left stroke. Lean into a bend in the river, then paddle 20 more.
L is for lasso1 minute. Swing a pretend rope in a big circle above your head 5 times. Throw the loop out in front of you with a step and say L. Pull the rope back in, hand over hand, for 10 pulls. Swing it with your other arm and throw again.
M is for moon steps1 minute. On the moon every step is slow and floaty. Walk on the spot and let each knee rise high and drift down, with your arms floating out for balance. Take 10 moon steps and say M as each foot lands. Then take 10 in slow motion backward.
N is for needle and thread1 minute. Hold a pretend needle up close and push the thread through its eye on the first try. Now sew with your whole arm: push the needle down by your knees and pull it up high above your head, 10 big stitches. Say N as you pull each one tight.
Letters O to T 6
O is for orchestra1 minute. You are the conductor. Draw the beat in the air with one hand: down, in, out, up. Conduct 4 slow bars and say O on every down. Then conduct 4 fast bars, 4 tiny ones with one finger and 4 huge ones with both arms.
P is for pogo stick1 minute. Hold the handles of a pretend pogo stick and keep your feet together. Bounce 10 times and say P on every landing. On the tenth, bounce a quarter turn so that you face the next wall. Keep going until you have faced all four walls.
Q is for quick, quick, slow1 minute. Step on the spot to this pattern: two quick little steps, then one slow big one. Say it as you go: quick, quick, slow. Keep it up for a count of 20. Then turn it around to slow, slow, quick, and try not to trip over the change.
R is for ring the bell1 minute. A bell rope hangs high above you. Reach up with both hands, pull it down to your knees and say R. The bell swings back and lifts you up onto your tiptoes. Ring it 10 times, and let each ring be a little quieter than the last.
S is for seesaw30 seconds. Stand with your feet wide and your arms straight out to the sides as a plank. Tip one hand down toward your knee while the other rises to the ceiling, and say S. Tip back the other way. Seesaw 10 times, slowly, keeping the plank straight.
T is for train1 minute. Bend your elbows and turn your arms like the wheels of a train. Start slowly as it leaves the station and say T, T, T in time with the wheels. Build up to full speed over a count of 10. Then slow down, pull the whistle once and stop at the next station.
Letters U to Z 6
U is for unicycle1 minute. A unicycle has one wheel and no handlebars. Hold your arms out for balance and pedal with high knees on the spot. When the teacher says U, wobble: tip to one side and catch yourself. Pedal 20, wobble, and pedal 20 more.
V is for volleyball1 minute. Play one rally by yourself. Bump the pretend ball up with your forearms together, set it higher with your fingertips above your forehead, then jump and tap it over the net. Say V on the tap. Play 5 rallies and count them.
W is for waiter1 minute. Carry a pretend tray on the fingertips of one hand, up by your shoulder. Walk once around your chair without spilling a drop. Swap hands and say W, then walk around the other way. Finish by lowering the tray onto your desk without a sound.
X is for xylophone1 minute. The low notes of this xylophone are by the floor and the high notes are above your head. The teacher sweeps a hand up or down, and the class plays along with two pretend mallets, crouching low or reaching high. End with one note in the middle, and say X.
Y is for yo-yo1 minute. You are the yo-yo. Drop down into a crouch, then spring straight back up to standing and say Y. Do 5 of those. On the sixth, stay down and spin slowly on the spot for a count of 5 before you climb the string again.
Z is for zip30 seconds. This one ends in silence. Bend down and take hold of a zipper at your toes. Zip it up slowly, past your knees, your waist and your chin, with a quiet Z sound all the way. Zip your lips shut at the top and stand still for a count of 10.
Letter games 7
ABC order line5 minutes. Without talking, line up along one wall in ABC order by first name. Children may show a letter on their fingers or draw it in the air, and nothing else. When the line stops moving, say the names aloud from one end to the other and fix any that are out of place.
Finger letters2 minutes. Make a capital letter with nothing but your fingers. One finger and a thumb make L, two fingers make V, three make W, and two crossed fingers make X. Show a neighbor, who reads it. Find 5 more letters that your hands can make, then spell a short word.
Letter in your palm2 minutes. Sit with a partner. The reader looks away and rests one open hand on the desk, palm up. The writer traces a capital letter there with a fingertip, taking a slow count of 3. The reader gets 2 guesses. Swap after 3 letters, and finish with a word of 3 letters, one letter at a time.
Letters hiding in the room3 minutes. Letters hide in the shapes of things. A window frame may hold an H, the legs of a chair an A, a clock an O. From your seat, find a letter hiding somewhere in the room. Point to it, and let a neighbor say which letter you have found. Find 3 each.
March the alphabet2 minutes. March on the spot and say the alphabet together, one letter for each step. When the teacher claps, stop on the letter you have reached. The teacher points to 3 children, and each says a word that starts with it. March on from there, all the way to Z.
The skipped letter2 minutes. The teacher says a run of the alphabet aloud, such as F to M, and leaves one letter out. The moment you notice, stand up. On the teacher's signal, everyone standing says the missing letter together. Play 6 runs, and say the last one backward.
Tall, short or tail3 minutes. Lowercase letters come in three shapes. For a tall one, such as b, h or t, stretch up. For a short one, such as a, m or s, put your hands on your hips. For one with a tail, such as g, p or y, touch your toes. The teacher writes a word on the board, and the class moves through it letter by letter.
How this list was compiled
Own work, written on October 3, 2026: one move for each of the 26 letters, each named with a word that starts with its letter, and seven letter games, all described in our own words. No program, video, song or character is named, and no activity is taken from another brain break list of this site. One game sorts the lowercase letters of plain print by shape: b, d, f, h, k, l and t stand tall, g, j, p, q and y hang below the line, and the other fourteen are short. A handwriting style that draws a letter another way can change a letter's place in that sort. The length at the start of each line matches a timer setting on the page. It is a suggestion, not a research finding, and the list makes no health or learning claim. Licence: own work
How it works
This ABC brain break list is read aloud, not watched: there is no video, only one move for each letter, from A is for arrow arms to Z is for zip, and seven letter games.
Read the full guide
A letter brain break for the letter of the week
The menu that reads All brain breaks holds four runs of the alphabet: Letters A to G, H to N, O to T and U to Z. Choose the run that holds this week's letter and press Pick another brain break until it comes up. In most moves the class says the letter.
Run it as an alphabet brain break, A to Z
The list under the tool prints all 26 moves in order. Do a few letters a day, in order, and the class moves through the whole alphabet. The timer over each result is already set to its length.
Tall, short or tail follows plain print. If your handwriting style gives f or z a tail, say so first.
Questions and answers
Which ABC move ends quietly?
Z is for zip. The class zips a pretend zipper from toes to chin, zips its lips and stands still for a count of 10. S is for seesaw and A is for arrow arms are slow ones too.
Do the moves teach letter sounds?
Not by themselves. Each move is named with a word that begins with its letter, and in most the class says the letter's name. X is for xylophone shows why: the word starts with the letter X but not with its usual sound.
What are the letter games?
Seven games with no supplies: Finger letters, Letter in your palm, Tall, short or tail, March the alphabet, ABC order line, Letters hiding in the room and The skipped letter. ABC order line takes 5 minutes; the others take 2 or 3.