10 Brain Gym Activities for Kids That Boost Focus & Memory

Published on May 21, 2026 by Ankita Singh | Beads of Brilliance

What if 5 minutes of simple exercises could help your child focus better in class, remember more, and learn faster? Brain Gym is a set of movement-based activities designed to activate different parts of the brain, improving coordination between the left and right hemispheres.

Originally developed by Dr. Paul Dennison, these exercises are used in schools worldwide. At Beads of Brilliance , we incorporate brain gym warm-ups before our abacus sessions — and the results speak for themselves.

How Brain Gym Works

Brain Gym exercises work by:

• Crossing the midline: Activities that cross the body's centre line activate both brain hemispheres simultaneously
• Increasing blood flow: Movement sends more oxygen to the brain
• Reducing stress: Physical movement releases tension that blocks learning
• Building neural pathways: Coordinated movements create new brain connections

Activity 1: Cross Crawls

Best for: Focus, coordination, reading readiness

How to do it:

• Stand up straight
• Touch your right hand to your left knee as you lift it
• Then touch your left hand to your right knee
• Continue alternating for 1-2 minutes
• Keep movements slow and deliberate

Why it works: Crossing the midline forces both brain hemispheres to communicate, improving reading, writing, and listening skills.

Activity 2: Lazy 8s (Infinity Drawing)

Best for: Eye tracking, writing fluency, creativity

How to do it:

• Extend your arm with thumb pointing up
• Draw a large figure-8 (infinity symbol ∞) in the air
• Start at the centre, go up and to the left first
• Follow your thumb with your eyes (don't move your head)
• Do 5-8 repetitions with each hand, then both hands together

Why it works: Improves eye-hand coordination and visual tracking — essential for reading and writing.

Activity 3: Brain Buttons

Best for: Alertness, blood flow to brain, morning wake-up

How to do it:

• Place one hand on your navel
• With the other hand, rub the soft spots just below the collarbone (on either side of the sternum)
• Rub firmly for 30 seconds
• Switch hands and repeat

Why it works: Stimulates blood flow to the brain and helps "switch on" the nervous system for learning.

Activity 4: Hook-Ups

Best for: Calming anxiety, emotional balance, test preparation

How to do it:

• Part 1: Cross your ankles. Extend arms, cross wrists, interlace fingers, and draw hands up to chest. Breathe deeply for 1 minute.
• Part 2: Uncross. Touch fingertips together gently. Breathe deeply for 1 minute.

Why it works: Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress and creating a calm, focused state ideal for learning.

Activity 5: Thinking Cap

Best for: Listening skills, auditory processing, attention

How to do it:

• Gently hold the top of each ear between thumb and index finger
• Slowly unroll the ear from top to bottom (pulling slightly outward)
• Repeat 3-5 times

Why it works: Stimulates over 400 acupressure points on the ear, improving attention and auditory processing.

Activity 6: The Elephant

Best for: Memory, listening, math comprehension

How to do it:

• Extend one arm and press your ear to that shoulder
• With arm extended, draw large lazy 8s in the air
• Move from your waist, keeping your arm straight
• Follow your hand with your eyes
• Do 5 repetitions on each side

Why it works: Integrates the brain for listening, short-term memory, and abstract thinking — perfect before math or language lessons.

Activity 7: Double Doodle

Best for: Writing, spatial awareness, creativity

How to do it:

• Hold a pencil/crayon in each hand
• Draw the same shape simultaneously with both hands (mirror image)
• Start with simple shapes: circles, squares, hearts
• Progress to letters and numbers

Why it works: Engages both hemispheres equally, improving spatial awareness and fine motor coordination.

Activity 8: Neck Rolls

Best for: Releasing tension, improving focus after screen time

How to do it:

• Drop your chin to your chest
• Slowly roll your head to one side, then the other
• Breathe deeply as you move
• Do NOT roll the head backward — only forward and to the sides
• Repeat 5 times

Why it works: Releases tension in the neck and shoulders that builds up during screen time or desk work, restoring blood flow to the brain.

Activity 9: Abacus Finger Exercises

Best for: Fine motor skills, number sense, brain-hand coordination

How to do it:

• Touch each finger to your thumb in sequence: index, middle, ring, pinky
• Then reverse: pinky, ring, middle, index
• Do both hands simultaneously
• Speed up gradually
• Try doing different sequences on each hand simultaneously

Why it works: This is the same fine motor coordination used in abacus training . It activates the motor cortex and builds the neural pathways needed for precise bead manipulation.

Activity 10: Visualization Practice

Best for: Memory, mental math, creative thinking

How to do it:

• Close your eyes
• Imagine a simple object (an apple, a ball)
• Try to "see" its colour, shape, and size clearly
• Now imagine rotating it, changing its colour
• Progress to imagining an abacus and moving beads mentally

Why it works: Visualization is the foundation of mental abacus — the ability to calculate without a physical tool. This exercise builds the "mental screen" that advanced abacus students use.

When to Do Brain Gym

• Before homework: 3-5 minutes to "switch on" the brain
• Before exams: Hook-Ups + Brain Buttons to calm nerves
• After screen time: Cross Crawls + Neck Rolls to reset focus
• Before abacus practice: Finger exercises + Lazy 8s
• When energy is low: Cross Crawls + Elephant to energize
• Before bed: Hook-Ups for calm sleep

Combining Brain Gym with Abacus Training

At Beads of Brilliance, we start every class with 5 minutes of brain gym. This combination is powerful because:

• Brain gym prepares the neural pathways that abacus training strengthens
• Children focus better during the lesson
• Retention of new concepts improves by 20-30%
• Children enjoy the physical movement before sitting for focused work

Learn more about how our abacus programs integrate brain development activities, or read about other strategies to improve concentration .

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