Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Brain breaks are often used during lessons to replenish childrens' attention, but children may respond differently to the variety of brain breaks they are offered. Therefore, two studies were conducted to identify both teachers' current use of brain breaks (Study 1) as well as the types of brain breaks children prefer (Study 2). Study 1 consisted of a survey of K-2 teachers (N = 796) across the United States regarding the implementation and types of brain breaks commonly used in their classrooms. The three most common break types reported by teachers were physical activity breaks, videos, and dancing. Study 2 consisted of a forced choice task in which elementary- and middle-school students were asked to pick between two instantiations of six different break types: cognitive engagement breaks, mindfulness exercises, physical activity breaks, nature videos, coloring, and mind wandering. For each break type, children were asked to pick the instantiation they preferred as well as the one they believed would help them focus. Children were then asked to rank the six breaks they selected from most to least preferred and most to least beneficial for focusing. Data collection is ongoing (N = 53). Preliminary results revealed children were more likely to rank cognitive engagement breaks as their most preferred break type. Analyses within break type revealed that students preferred mazes over pattern blocks as a cognitive engagement break, color jump over calisthenics for physical activity breaks, videos of forest scenery over cows grazing for a nature video break, mandala coloring over abstract coloring as a coloring break, and viewing a poster of a starry sky over an abstract poster as a mind wandering break.