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What are brain gym exercises? And why would I have my child perform them?
o Brain Gym helps children with all kinds of problems. They help children that have difficulty with reading, writing, spelling, listening, comprehending, those who have ADHD, are anxious, or present with crossed dominance or mixed dominance which is when the eyes and hands are not all lined up. For instance, the child might be left eye dominant and right hand dominant. Educational research says dominance plays a great role in behavior and learning difficulties. It also is reflective of neurological disorganization. Brain gym exercises also help organize the brain.
What are some brain gym exercises?
oLazy 8’s: Improves visual attention, balance, coordination, and eye mobility needed for reading. On a piece of paper, or chalkboard draw a sideways “8”. Then place this paper at eye level. Using a marker or another writing utensil in one hand, have him starting in the middle and trace the sideway “8”. Perform this on both hands for a 10 times each way.
o Lazy 8’s for the eyes: This exercise is just like the one above. However, instead of using a writing utensil, the child will use their thumb to trace the imaginary sideways “8”. If the child has trouble imagining the “8”, you can have it traced in front of them to follow that pattern. Perform this on both hands for 10 times each way.
o The Elephant: Activates all areas of the min and body systems, this exercise is recommended with children who had attention deficit disorder. This is another exercise where you will be tracing the sideways “8”. However, you will first have the child put their left arm straight in front of them, and then have them put their left ear to the left shoulder (Just like an elephant). While keeping their ear to their shoulder, have them trace the imaginary sideways “8” with their hands. Again, if they have trouble imagining the sideways “8”, you can have it traced in front of them. Perform with both hands, 10 times each way.
o Cross Crawls: Improves spelling, writing, listening, reading as well as comprehension by coordinating the right and left brain. Cross Crawls can be performed it sitting, a sit up position and in standing.
o Seated Cross Crawls: While sitting, have them raise one leg slowly and have them use his/her opposite hand to hit that knee and hold for 5 seconds. Then switch sides. Perform 10 times on each leg.
o Standing Cross Crawls: This is a progression of the seated cross crawl. While standing, raise one leg slowly and have them use his/her opposite hand to hit that knee and hold for 5 seconds. Then switch sides. Perform 10 times on each leg.
o Cross Crawl Sit Ups: This is a progression of the seated cross crawl. Have your child start on their back with their knees bent and hands behind their head. Have your child slowly lift one knee up towards their head and hit that knee with their opposite elbow. Switch sides. Perform 10 on each leg (also known as bicycle sit ups).
oHook ups: Improve mood and decreases anxiety. While sitting, have your child cross their left ankle over their right. They will extend their arm before them with their palms facing the floor. Then turn their hands in so that their back of their hands are facing each other. Then have them take their left hand and cross it over their right. They then interlace their fingers and draw their hands up toward his chest. You can now have them close their eyes, breathe deeply, and relax for a minute. After the minute has passed, switch so that the right ankle and hand are on top of the left. Hold for a minute.
oBrain Buttons: Improves attention during learning and performing by increasing the blood flow to the brain. While sitting, positioning one hand thumb and index finger in the shape of an "L". Then place the thumb and the index finger in the indentation between your collar bone, either side of your sternum and press lightly. At the same time place your other hand over your belly button, press gently. Push gently with both hands for 1-2 minutes then repeat and switch hand placement.
oArm Activation: Increases attention span. Reach your left hand up above your head while lengthening from your rib cage, and hold your arm just below the elbow with your right hand. Then isometrically activate your left arm for a few seconds forward, backward and towards your ear. Rest your left arm at your side, then repeat with your right arm.
oThinking Caps: Improves spelling, short term memory, listening as well as abstract thinking. Use your thumb and index finger to gently squeeze and pull the outer part of your ear, start at the top and slowly move down to the lobe. Repeat three times.
oCalf Pumps: Improves concentration, attention, imagination, endurances and comprehension. Begin by standing arms length away from a wall and place hands shoulder width apart on the wall. Extend left leg straight out behind you, so the ball of your foot is on the ground and your heel is off the floor. Your body should be slanted
oEnergy Yawn: Increases learning and performance by reliving stress that can interfere with it. Massage muscles surrounding the temporal-mandibular joint (TMJ) at the junction of the jaws.
oPositive Points: Improves memory and relives stress. Lightly touch the point above each eye, halfway between your hairline and your eyebrow with your fingertips of both hands. Close your eyes and take deep breaths slowly for a few seconds. Stop then repeat 3 times.
o The Rocker: This activity helps release tension from the lower back. Have the child sit on the floor (on a padded surface to protect your tailbone). Have your child tuck their chin to their chest. Lean back with their knees bent and feet up off the floor with their weight balanced between your hands and feet. Have them rock themselves gently back and forth or in small circles or lazy 8’s for about 30 seconds. Avoid having them put excess pressure on the tailbone itself. This can be performed while the child is watching television! It might feel like less work!
o Neck Rolls: Neck rolls will help relax the neck muscles and release any tension. To perform neck rolls, have your child start in standing (if standing is too hard, they can perform this seated and once this becomes easier, perform in standing). Have their shoulders down and back with their feet parallel and hip length apart. Have them deeply inhale, then exhale as you have them relax their shoulders and drop their head forward, chin drawn in to chest. Allow them to roll their head slowly from one side to the other slowly as you breathe out any tension, while their chin grazes their chest in a smooth curve and alternately coming to rest just below each shoulder. This can be performed during commercial breaks!
Videos:
Concentration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loo5b6YnMhs
Cross Crawls before a test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ChXC-rHLE
For even more information on Brain Gym exercise, Please refer to these additional website:
http://esl.about.com/od/englishlessonplans/a/braingym.htm
http://brimhallwebsite.com/pdfs/braingymactivities.pdf
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