Benefits of Movement in the Classroom

Table of Contents

Enhancing Student Focus and Engagement
Supporting Classroom Management and Behavior
Movement Breaks to Boost Academic Performance
The Role of Physical Activity in Social-Emotional Learning
Movement and Long-Term Benefits for Students
Tips Incorporating Movement into Daily Lessons
Encourage Movement in the Classroom

Movement is key to raising a happy and healthy child, both emotionally and physically. Movement is not just something children should do outside of school, it can be incorporated into the classroom in effective ways. Especially in the era of technology, where students are constantly on their computers, TVs, video game devices, and phones. As such, getting students moving in the classroom and at home can be extremely beneficial.

It is proven that regular movement can improve students’ attention spans, reduce behavioral problems, and increase engagement in classroom activities. In this article, we will review the many benefits of adding movement into the classroom, providing educators and facilitators with various strategies to seamlessly and effectively add movement into the classroom.

Enhancing Student Focus and Engagement

Adding movement to the classroom can help improve student focus and engagement during complex lessons. By adding movement into the day, students will be better prepared to enter into classroom activities with a healthy mindset. This movement does not need to be drastic or disrupt any other planned classroom lessons. It can be as simple as moving around the room, adding hands-on activities to the agenda, or getting kids up to do jumping jacks near their desk. These small efforts can have a major impact on students’ attention spans.

Supporting Classroom Management and Behavior

When children do not have a way to release their energy, it can lead to behavioral problems in the classroom. By adding consistent opportunities for students to move their body throughout the school day, educators and administrators can help students avoid acting out and creating problems in the classroom.

The classroom movement allows students a structured way to release their energy, which teaches them how to channel their energy into something positive. Scheduled movement breaks throughout the day help create calmer minded students who can use their learning-movement classroom structure to engage more fully in lessons, leading to increased academic performance.

Movement Breaks to Boost Academic Performance

The goal of every parent and educator is to help students succeed academically. It would be easy to assume that the best way to improve student success in the classroom is to increase their study time. While in some ways this is true, there is evidence of positive correlations between student movement and academic success. Stephen Witing, Technical Officer in the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) said, “physical activity is beneficial for the development of cognitive, motor and social skills, as well as and good metabolic and musculoskeletal health. There is also a knock-on effect on academic performance.”

Getting students engaged in frequent physical activity in the classroom improves student grades and standardized test scores. What better reason to add movement into your classroom curriculum!

The Role of Physical Activity in Social-Emotional Learning

Adding movement into the classroom can also benefit a child’s social-emotional development. By carving out time in the school day for physical activity, students have time to interact with their classmates, improving their communication, collaboration, and other key social skills. This social outlet also helps students feel more comfortable in the classroom and around their classmates, reducing stress and anxiety.

Physical activity in classroom curricula also provides students the opportunity to improve their teamwork skills, something beneficial to them throughout their education and in the workplace. Through hands-on, interactive learning opportunities, students improve their social-emotional skills that prepare them for the real world.

Movement and Long-Term Benefits for Students

There are many long and short term benefits for students when movement becomes a frequent part of their learning experience. Here is a list of ways physical activity in education can lead to lasting benefits for students:

Establishing Healthy Habits: Students learn that moving their body is an essential part of their mental and physical health. So, starting at an early age in the classroom, they build the habit of moving their body and doing something for their health everyday.
Reducing Sedentary Behavior: A body in motion stays in motion. By incorporating movement into everyday activities and tasks, students learn to avoid sedentary behaviors, which they will bring with them into adulthood.
Learning to be Present: The combination of physical activity and learning in the classroom promotes students to focus and be present in the learning process. By training their brain to focus on the current task at hand, students are learning a key life skill of being present in their actions and taking the time to really understand something before moving on.

Tips Incorporating Movement into Daily Lessons

At this point in the article, you are likely sold on why movement in the classroom is important and beneficial to students. But, you may not know how to realistically implement movement into your classroom. Here are some of the many ways educators can incorporate movement into daily classroom instruction:

Standing Desks: Standing desks allow students to engage their body while continuing to do their school work.
Active Learning: Through hands-on activities, such as scavenger hunts, group science experiments, or field trips, students can engage their body and their brain during the lesson.
Brain Breaks: Educators can schedule short breaks where students can walk around, jog in place, do jumping jacks, or stretch. This short break allows students to outlet their energy and come back to the lesson ready to engage.
STEM Sports®: STEM Sports® curricula engages K-8 students in hands-on STEM lessons that use sports as a way to connect STEM concepts to real world applications. In each STEM Sports® lesson, students are moving their bodies to engage with the lesson on a deeper level, leading to higher retention and comprehension.

Encourage Movement in the Classroom

As educators, we are responsible for engaging students, regardless of their learning style, attention span, or current skill set. This is no small feat. By finding ways to add movement into the classroom, we can help engage students who are more hyperactive and need a way to outlet their energy, which will lead to a more engaged student during lessons. On the other side, adding physical activity to the classroom can help a sedentary student get used to moving their body on a daily basis, a healthy life habit they can take out of the classroom and into their personal life. There is no student who will not benefit from daily movement, both academically and personally.

If you are looking for ways to add movement into your classroom, click here to explore STEM Sports®.

Lauren Chiangpradit