Brain Gym Exercises for Kids: What Works and What Doesn't

Published November 2, 2026

Brain Gym is a commercial program of 26 simple movements, such as cross crawls and drawing figure eights in the air, that its creators say help children learn. Reviews of the research have not found good evidence for those learning claims or for the brain theory behind them. Short movement breaks, on the other hand, do have research support for helping kids stay on task, so the exercises can still be a pleasant break, as long as you don’t expect them to rewire anything.

Below you will find what Brain Gym is, what the research says, and a set of free movement breaks for kids you can use at home or in class.

What is Brain Gym?

Brain Gym was developed by educator Paul E. Dennison and his wife and colleague Gail E. Dennison. It grew out of their approach called Educational Kinesiology, or Edu-K, and has been promoted by an organization known as Brain Gym International. “Brain Gym” is a trademark, so many worksheets, PDFs and videos that use the name are unofficial versions.

The program is built around 26 movements, which teachers’ materials often sort into three groups:

  • Midline movements, which cross the middle of the body, such as the cross crawl (touching each elbow or hand to the opposite knee) and “lazy 8s” (tracing a sideways figure eight).
  • Lengthening activities, which are stretches.
  • Energy exercises, such as “hook-ups” (crossing arms and ankles and holding still) and drinking water.

According to its promoters, the movements help “integrate” the two halves of the brain, improve blood flow to the brain and make reading, writing and other learning easier.

Do Brain Gym exercises work? What the research says

The claims about learning have been looked at several times, and the reviews point the same way.

  • Hyatt (2007). A review in the journal Remedial and Special Education examined both the theory behind Brain Gym and the peer-reviewed studies of it. It found that neither supported the promoters’ claims, and that the available studies had weak designs.
  • Spaulding, Mostert and Beam (2010). An in-depth review in the journal Exceptionality looked at Brain Gym’s claims and the research behind them and found little empirical evidence to support the program.
  • Kroeze, Hyatt and Lambert (2016). A later review described Brain Gym as a pseudoscientific practice, meaning its claims sound scientific but don’t rest on sound evidence.

Brain Gym is also a common example in discussions of “neuromyths”: popular beliefs about the brain that research doesn’t support. In a 2012 survey of 242 teachers in the UK and the Netherlands who were interested in neuroscience, Sanne Dekker and colleagues found that teachers believed about half of the neuromyths presented. The myths they believed most were often those linked to commercial education programs.

Why do kids and teachers feel it helps?

Many teachers and parents say their children seem calmer or more focused after Brain Gym. That can be true without the program’s theory being true. A short break, getting up from the desk, a bit of movement, a sip of water and a calm routine can all help a child settle, whatever you call the exercises. Critics of Brain Gym have made exactly this point: any benefit may come from the break and the activity, not from “integrating” the brain.

What does help: movement breaks

Here the research is more encouraging. Studies of short physical activity breaks in the classroom have found that they generally help children stay on task:

  • A 2017 meta-analysis by Amanda Watson and colleagues found that classroom physical activity had a positive effect on on-task behavior and reduced off-task behavior.
  • A 2020 review of active breaks in primary schools by Alice Masini and colleagues found positive effects on physical activity levels and classroom behavior, though results for thinking skills and school achievement were mixed.
  • A US public health task force, the Community Preventive Services Task Force, recommends classroom physical activity breaks, mainly to increase children’s physical activity. It also reported favorable results for classroom behavior, but inconsistent effects on reading and math test scores.

So the honest summary is: movement breaks are a reasonable, low-cost habit, they help many children get back to work, and the effect on grades is less clear. We know of no evidence that any branded set of exercises works better than ordinary movement.

Free movement break exercises for kids

These are simple movements you can do in one to three minutes. Some look like familiar Brain Gym exercises; here they are simply movement breaks, with no claims about brain wiring.

Exercise How to do it Time
Cross crawl March in place, touching each hand to the opposite knee. Go slow, then fast, then slow. 1 min
Air eights Draw a big sideways figure eight in the air with one arm, then the other, then both hands together. 1 min
Wall push-ups Stand an arm’s length from a wall and do 10 slow push-ups against it. 1 min
Jumping jacks Do 10 to 20 jumping jacks. 30 sec
Stretch and reach Reach up high on tiptoes, then fold down to touch toes. Repeat 5 times. 1 min
Statue freeze Dance or move to music. When it stops, freeze. Try a funny pose. 2 min
Mirror me Face your child. You move slowly; they copy like a mirror. Then swap. 2 min
Calm hold Sit, cross ankles, cross arms over the chest, and take five slow breaths. 1 min
Water break Fetch a glass of water and drink it. A short walk counts too. 1 min

Tip: Use the energetic moves (jumping jacks, statue freeze) when your child is restless or sleepy, and the quiet ones (calm hold, stretch and reach) when they’re wound up and need to settle before homework.

How to fit movement breaks into homework

  • Work in short blocks. For many younger children, 10 to 20 minutes of focused work followed by a 2-minute movement break works well. Adjust to your own child.
  • Use a timer. When it rings, do one exercise from the table, then return to work.
  • Let your child choose. A small “break menu” card on the desk gives them some control.
  • Keep it short. A break that turns into 20 minutes of play makes it harder to restart.

Ideas for teachers

  • Do a one-minute break between subjects or after long sitting.
  • Pair movement with content: hop on the correct answer, stand up for “true” and sit for “false.”
  • Rotate leaders so students take turns choosing the exercise.

Brain Gym for kids PDF and video: what to look for

Search for “brain gym for kids pdf” or “brain gym exercises for kids video” and you’ll find thousands of results. A few things to keep in mind:

  • Most are unofficial. Free worksheets and videos often mix Brain Gym moves with other exercises.
  • Check the claims, not just the moves. The movements themselves are generally simple and harmless for healthy kids. Be skeptical of materials that say they will fix reading problems, “balance the brain” or replace help from a specialist.
  • Simple beats fancy. A short video your child enjoys moving along to does the job of a movement break. You don’t need special training or a branded course.

If your child has a medical condition or a physical difficulty, check with their doctor or physical therapist which kinds of exercise suit them.

If your child struggles with learning or focus

If reading, writing or concentration are much harder for your child than for classmates, movement breaks are a nice addition but not a solution. Talk to their teacher and to your pediatrician or family doctor, who can help you find out what’s going on. Our guides on how to improve concentration in a child and when a child can’t focus in school cover practical steps and warning signs. For more play-based ideas, see our brain games for kids.

A structured option

Our Brain Training for Kids program is an English edition of Developing the Brain by educator Shamil Ahmadullin, already taught in Russian. It covers attention, memory and thinking, along with reading, writing and mental arithmetic. In the current Russian edition, lessons run 40–45 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 11 weeks, with three progress check-ups. The English edition is in development, and you can join the waitlist on the program page.

Sources

Brain Training for Kids 6–12: English edition coming soon

An 11-week program that works on attention, memory and thinking through daily lessons, with three progress check-ups along the way.

Try our free tools for kids →