Five Minute Brain Break Free Printable

“Five Signs, Five Moves” is a five minute brain break that pairs a hand sign with a movement, so kids get a full body reset in just a few minutes. This free printable supports gross motor skills, bilateral coordination, motor planning, and focus. You can download it at the bottom of this post in both a full color version and a black and white coloring version.

What’s Included in This Five Minute Brain Break Printable

This two page download gives you a color version and a matching black and white version of the same five sign, five move sequence.

• Sign 1, Thumbs Up, has kids march in place while counting to 25.
• Sign 2, OK Sign, has kids make goggles with their hands and look up, down, left, and right, repeating the pattern twice.
• Sign 3, Peace Sign, has kids make bunny ears with their fingers and hop in place 15 times.
• Sign 4, Hang Loose, has kids pretend to surf, swaying and balancing for 15 seconds.
• Sign 5, Shake It Out, has kids shake their right hand, left hand, right foot, and left foot, counting to 5 for each.
• The black and white version offers the identical five sign, five move sequence as a printable coloring page.

Skills This Five Minute Brain Break Activity Supports

This quick sequence gives kids a chance to practice several skills at once, all through simple, repeatable movement.

• Gross motor skills, through marching, hopping, and the surf pose
• Core strength, balance, and coordination, while swaying and balancing during the Hang Loose move
• Bilateral coordination, using both hands for the goggles and bunny ears and alternating right and left sides during Shake It Out
• Motor planning, as kids follow a specific hand sign and match it to the correct movement
• Focus and attention, since kids need to track counts and follow the sequence in order

These are the same skills children rely on for handwriting, sitting still to learn, and following multi-step directions in the classroom. Practicing them in a short, low pressure format like a brain break helps them carry over into everyday tasks. A quick reset like this can also make the transition back to seated work smoother for the rest of the day.

How to Use This Five Minute Brain Break Activity

This five minute brain break fits into a variety of settings without any extra prep.

• Occupational therapy sessions, as a warm up or a transition activity between tasks
• Classroom use, for indoor recess, morning meeting, or a mid lesson brain break
• Home use, as a screen free way to get some wiggles out between homework or chores

Tips and Variations

For younger children, walk through each hand sign together first so they know which movement goes with which sign before starting the full sequence. You can also slow down the counts to make the pace easier to follow.

For an added challenge, have kids run through all five signs twice in a row, or call out the sign number instead of holding up the picture so they have to recall the movement from memory.

Print the black and white page and let kids color it in first, then use it as their own personal brain break reference card at their desk.

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