• 40 brain breaks

Math Brain Breaks That Get a Class Moving and Counting

A short number activity that gets a class moving and counting, with a worked example you can read out cold.

Math Brain Breaks That Get a Class Moving and Counting

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  1. Nines on your fingers2 minutes. Hold up all 10 fingers. For 9 times 4, fold down the fourth finger from the left. The 3 fingers to its left are tens and the 6 to its right are ones: 36. Check 9 times 7 the same way and you get 63.

Next step Practice the table on flash cardsPick a pupil to call the numbers

All 40 brain breaks

Counting and skip counting 7

  • Blast-off count back 1 minute. Crouch down low. Count back from 20 to 0 together, rising a little with each number, and jump on blast off. For the second launch, count back by 2s from 20, which takes 11 numbers.
  • Clap the evens, stomp the fives 2 minutes. Count to 30 together. Clap on every even number and stomp on every multiple of 5. On 10, 20 and 30 you do both at once. Try again at a faster count.
  • Count by halves 1 minute. Count by halves from one half up to 10: one half, 1, one and a half, 2. Stand for every half and sit for every whole number. It takes 20 numbers to arrive.
  • Count my claps 1 minute. Everyone closes their eyes. The teacher claps between 5 and 20 times, slowly at first, then faster. Show the count on your fingers, flashing the tens first. Then clap two sets and ask for the total.
  • Skip count jumping jacks 1 minute. Count by 5s to 100 with one jumping jack for every number: 5, 10, 15. That is 20 jacks. Then count by 10s to 100 with a squat for each number, which is 10 squats.
  • Tens from anywhere 1 minute. Pick a start number under 10, such as 7. Count on by 10s with a clap for each number: 7, 17, 27, all the way to 97. That is 10 numbers. Then count back down by 10s from 97.
  • Whisper, whisper, shout 1 minute. Count to 30 together. Whisper two numbers and shout the third, so 3, 6 and 9 come out loud. The 10 shouted numbers are the 3 times table. Go again to 40, shouting every fourth number.

Facts and mental math 10

  • Doubles march 1 minute. March on the spot and chant the doubles in time: 1 and 1 is 2, 2 and 2 is 4, up to 12 and 12 is 24. Then start at 1 and keep doubling: 2, 4, 8, 16. The tenth doubling passes one thousand, at 1,024.
  • Finger flash sums 2 minutes. In pairs, hide one hand behind your back. On the count of 3, both show some fingers. The first to say the sum scores a point, and play goes to 5 points. For a harder game, multiply the two numbers.
  • Follow the chain 2 minutes. Read a chain of steps slowly, and nobody writes anything: start with 4, double it, add 2, multiply by 5, halve it, subtract 5. Everyone shows the answer at the end, which is 20. Pupils write the next chain.
  • Hop the number line 2 minutes. Everyone stands on an imaginary number line, facing the board, and starts on the number called, such as 8. Plus means hops to the right and minus means hops to the left. Call plus 5, then minus 3, and ask where everyone is standing: 10. Pupils call the next journey.
  • Invisible ball facts 2 minutes. Throw an invisible ball to a pupil and call a fact as you throw, such as 8 plus 7. They catch it, answer 15 and throw it to someone else with a new fact. Anyone can say pass and throw it on.
  • Make 10 partners 2 minutes. Hold up some fingers, and the class answers with the number of fingers that makes 10: show 3, get 7. After a minute, move up to 100: say 35 and the class calls 65.
  • Sevens down from 100 2 minutes. Count back from 100 by 7s around the room, one number each: 100, 93, 86, 79. Everyone else checks in their head. The count ends at 2, after 15 numbers. Next time go down by 6s, which ends at 4.
  • Show me with fingers 2 minutes. Call a fact and count down 3, 2, 1, show me. Everyone holds up the answer on their fingers at the same moment: 4 and 3 make 7, 9 minus 4 is 5, double 4 is 8. Older grades get 3 times 2, half of 16 or 56 divided by 8. Keep every answer to 10 or less. One look around the room shows who needs help.
  • Target number 5 minutes. Write 24 on the board. On scrap paper, write as many ways to make it as you can in 3 minutes: 6 times 4, 30 minus 6, 12 plus 12, 48 divided by 2. Share the most unusual ones. Change the target every day.
  • True or false equations 2 minutes. Read an equation aloud. Stand if it is true and sit if it is false: 7 plus 8 equals 15 is true, 6 times 7 equals 48 is false because it is 42, 100 minus 37 equals 63 is true. A pupil who sat gives the right answer.

Times tables and factors 8

  • Buzz 3 minutes. Go along the rows counting up from 1, one number each. Every multiple of 3 is replaced by the word buzz: 1, 2, buzz, 4, 5, buzz. A wrong call sends the count back to 1. The class record is the highest number reached.
  • Factor pair hunt 3 minutes. Write 36 on the board. On scrap paper, find every pair of whole numbers that multiply to make it. There are 5: 1 and 36, 2 and 18, 3 and 12, 4 and 9, 6 and 6. Then try 24, which has 4 pairs.
  • Multiples ping-pong 2 minutes. In pairs, bat the multiples of a number back and forth: one says 6, the other 12, then 18, up to 72. A miss means the pair starts again. Then race another pair through the 8s, up to 96.
  • Nines on your fingers 2 minutes. Hold up all 10 fingers. For 9 times 4, fold down the fourth finger from the left. The 3 fingers to its left are tens and the 6 to its right are ones: 36. Check 9 times 7 the same way and you get 63.
  • Prime freeze 2 minutes. Count from 1 to 30 together while walking on the spot. Freeze on every prime number: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23 and 29. That is 10 freezes. Remember that 1 is not prime and 2 is the only even one.
  • Row relay 3 minutes. Each row stands. The first pupil says the first multiple of 7 and sits, the next says the next one, and so on up to 84. A mistake sends the row back to 7. Rows race each other, then change to a new table.
  • Square number stomp 1 minute. Count to 50 together at a steady pace. Stomp on every square number: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 and 49. That makes 7 stomps, and the gap between them grows by 2 each time.
  • Times table squats 1 minute. Pick a table, such as the 4s. Squat and stand once for every multiple, saying it as you rise: 4, 8, 12, up to 48. That is 12 squats. Say the same table backward for another 12.

Number sense 7

  • Even stands, odd sits 1 minute. Call a number. Stand if it is even and sit if it is odd. Start small, then go big: 1,358 is even and 4,081 is odd, because only the last digit matters. Let pupils call numbers to try to catch the class out.
  • Greater-than arms 2 minutes. Write two numbers on the board, one on the left and one on the right. Everyone makes an open mouth with their arms and points it at the bigger number. Move from whole numbers to the hard ones: 0.5 is greater than 0.25, and three quarters is greater than two thirds.
  • Guess my number 3 minutes. Think of a number from 1 to 100. The class guesses, and you answer higher, lower or yes. Tally the guesses on the board. If every guess is the middle of what is left, 7 guesses are always enough.
  • Odd one out 2 minutes. Write four numbers on the board: 9, 16, 25 and 35. Pairs get 1 minute to decide which one does not belong, and why. There is more than one good answer: 35 is not a square number, 16 is the only even one, and 9 is the only one with a single digit.
  • Place value moves 2 minutes. Write a three-digit number on the board. Hundreds are jumps, tens are claps and ones are snaps. For 243 the class does 2 jumps, 4 claps and 3 snaps, which is 9 moves. Ask which number under 1,000 takes the most moves: 999, with 27.
  • Round it 1 minute. Call a number. Everyone points up if it rounds up to the next ten and down if it rounds down: 47 goes up to 50, 42 goes down to 40, and 45 goes up to 50. Then round to the nearest hundred: 349 goes down to 300 and 350 goes up to 400.
  • Sky writing answers 1 minute. Call a fact. Everyone writes the answer in the air with one finger, as big as they can reach. Write the next answer with an elbow, and the one after that with a foot. A two-digit answer needs a step to the side between the digits.

Shapes, time and measuring 8

  • Angle arms 30 seconds. Hold one arm straight out to the side. Use the other arm to make the angle called: a right angle of 90 degrees, a straight angle of 180, an acute angle smaller than 90, an obtuse angle between 90 and 180. Speed up the calls.
  • Be the clock 2 minutes. Stand facing the board, which is the clock face. Your straight arms are the hands, and the class agrees which arm is the hour hand. Show 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock, then half past 12. At 3 o'clock your arms make a right angle.
  • Body shapes 2 minutes. Call a shape and give groups 10 seconds to make it with their arms: a triangle, a square, a hexagon. Count the sides aloud to check. A hexagon made of straight arms takes 3 pupils, since it has 6 sides.
  • Estimate, then count 2 minutes. Everyone writes down how many jumping jacks they think they can do in 30 seconds. Time 30 seconds while pupils count their own, then each works out how far off the estimate was. Go again with 20 seconds and see whether the estimates get closer.
  • How many steps? 2 minutes. Estimate how many heel-to-toe steps it takes to cross the room. One pupil walks it while the class counts aloud. Everyone works out the gap between their estimate and the count. The closest estimate picks the next distance.
  • Measure it in hand spans 3 minutes. Estimate how many of your hand spans wide your desk is, then measure it. Compare with a neighbor: a smaller hand gives a bigger number. So agree on one unit for the whole class, such as an unsharpened pencil, and measure again.
  • Symmetry freeze 1 minute. Move on the spot until the teacher says freeze. Freeze in a pose where your left side matches your right side, as if a mirror ran down your middle. On the next freeze, make a pose with no symmetry at all. A neighbor checks.
  • Turn by degrees 1 minute. Everyone faces the front. Follow the calls: a quarter turn right is 90 degrees, a half turn is 180, a full turn is 360. Two quarter turns right and then a half turn left bring you back to the front. Let a pupil call a route that ends facing the door.

How it works

These math brain breaks put numbers into movement: counting, times tables, facts, angles and estimating, in activities of 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Press Pick another brain break and 1 of 40 comes up. Every answer was worked twice.

Read the full guide

Match the break to the lesson

The menu that reads All brain breaks follows the curriculum, from Counting and skip counting to Shapes, time and measuring. Choose today's topic and the break doubles as a warm-up. Works in K to grade 2 marks 19 for the youngest grades.

Time it, and change the numbers

The timer button over the result is already set to that activity's length; press it. Most lines carry a worked example with its answer. That is for you: on a projector the class can read it too, so swap in a new target, another table or a different start number.

  • Row relay and Multiples ping-pong are races. Follow one with Show me with fingers, where everyone answers at once.
  • Finger flash sums and Multiples ping-pong need pairs. The random group generator makes them from your class list.

Questions and answers

What grades are these math brain breaks for?

Kindergarten to grade 5. Works in K to grade 2 marks 19, among them Count my claps, Make 10 partners and Be the clock. Prime freeze, Factor pair hunt and Angle arms suit the upper elementary grades.

Are the answers in the list right?

Each was worked twice, two different ways: the 10 primes up to 30, the 5 factor pairs of 36, the 7 guesses that find any number from 1 to 100. In Round it, a halfway number such as 45 goes up.

Does a math activity still count as a break?

That is your call. These keep the subject going while pupils stand, stomp, clap and turn, so they fit the middle of a math block. When a class needs a rest from numbers, try the fun or the calming list.

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