Go Noodle Back to School Fun!

It is back to school time in Oregon (as well as other areas of the country) and one of the things I am most excited about this school year is introducing my new class to Go Noodle!  I discovered Go Noodle last year and was intrigued.  I decided to find out what this Go Noodle thing was all about, and it quickly became a favorite brain break in my classroom.

Go Noodle is a FREE website that has myriad opportunities for brain breaks.  All students need to be able to move in the classroom, and sometimes a quick brain break is all it takes to get wiggly students back on track.  Go Noodle can be used before, during, or at the end of a lesson!

There are many different types of brain breaks that your students can do with Go Noodle.  They can do calming activities like yoga, get active with some running, or dance and sing with Zumba or Koo Koo Kangaroo.  Go Noodle even started an indoor recess station.  The activities range from about 7 - 19 minutes and it compiles many Go Noodle favorites to get the kids moving.

Go Noodle even has a You Tube station which has academic songs for math and reading!

When starting Go Noodle your class pics a "champ" and after 10 Go Noodle brain breaks, your champ goes in the Transmorgifier and grows.  After 3 more times, you max out that champ and then pick a new one.  The children LOVE when their champ grows.  This is also a great math lesson.  After completing a Go Noodle, a bar will show 7/10 and I will ask my students, "How many more do we need to get to 10?"

I can't wait to use it this year for brain breaks, calming activities during transitions, and fun academic movement.  However, my favorite way to use Go Noodle is to end our day watching a video on the SMARTBoard.  The children are very motivated to clean up, get their backpacks, head back to the carpet, and get ready for a fun closing activity.

Here is an example of my students at the end of the day with their backpacks on.  We are doing "Roller Coaster" by Koo Koo Kangaroo.  If you haven't watched this yet, DO IT!!!!  It is a blast!

Here we are taking a brain break to "Dino Stomp" by Koo Koo Kangaroo.  

Clearly, Koo Koo Kangaroo is our favorite!  Here is a video of us doing Pop See Ko - another favorite.  The kiddos couldn't get enough of this one.  We need to work on our timing a little bit, but you can see how engaged they are.

To celebrate being back in school, you can shop for swag at the Go Noodle shop for a 15% discount.  Just use the code BTSwithGoNoodle (valid September 5-11).

However, I am so excited because I also get to GIVEAWAY a tumbler from Go Noodle!  Wouldn't this be fun to bring to school and drink your morning coffee or tea?

If you'd like to win this tumbler, head on over to my Kindergarten Planet Facebook page and comment on the Go Noodle picture.  Let me know if you use Go Noodle in your classroom and if so, what is your favorite one to do with your class?

Do you Go Noodle?  If not, you should!