SPRINGDALE — Melissa Fink said she remembers being told not to move from her seat when she was a child in school.
Now students at Jones Elementary School, where she’s principal, use yoga balls and bike pedals to stop fidgety behavior.
At A Glance
Yoga balls are inflatable balls originally used to perform varying exercises. They are generally made of soft elastic and the air pressure can be changed by using a valve on the ball.
Source: Staff Report
Movement and muscle use can help children concentrate when in class; sitting on the balls provide movement, said Jennifer Mills, a third-grade teacher at Jones. Twenty-one students in her class sit on yoga balls at their desks every day. Sometimes Mills sits on one, too, said Fink.
“We never would have done anything like this when I was a kid,” Fink said.
Moving can help children focus when doing work in the classroom, according to the National Education Association website. Children often fidget more when working on math or reading than when they are watching a movie, because the former requires them to solve problems.
Ronie Wamsley, a teacher at Leverett Elementary School in Fayetteville, said she volunteered to have yoga balls in her classroom the past two years. Administrators asked teachers if anyone was interested or thought the tools would help their students.
At A Glance
Items That Help Fidgety Students
• Yoga balls
• Stationary bikes
• Stationary bike pedals
• Large stretchy bands on desk or chair legs
Source: Staff Report
“The kids are really excited about them, but I have been amazed at the amount of movement they need to listen and focus during instruction,” she said.
Sitting on yoga balls helps increase students’ attention span, because it makes them sit up straight, Fink said. It’s difficult to lean or slouch when sitting on a yoga ball, because it will cause the person to fall over.
In order to sit up straight and balance on a yoga ball, students have to use their muscles, Mills said. Muscle use increases blood flow to the brain and helps the students stay alert.
Mills said she doesn’t have exact numbers, but witnessed her students’ reading level and test scores increase after they started using the yoga balls in class.
Two classrooms at Turnbow Elementary School in Springdale used yoga balls last year, said Shawn Teters, physical education teacher. One teacher plans to find out if yoga balls increase test scores, and if so by how much. She’ll compare test scores next year from the first semester when balls will not be used and the second semester when they will be, Teters said.
Sitting on yoga balls in the classroom can also improve a child’s posture, said Josh Hicklin, physical education teacher at Elmdale Elementary School. Two classrooms at Elmdale have had yoga balls for two years.
“We have some very straight standing kids here,” he said.
Yoga balls come with some challenges, Hicklin said. Teachers need to set rules at the beginning of the school year so students won’t misuse or burst the balls.
“There’s kinda a learning curve,” he said. “It is not a toy. It is a chair.”
Mills said a few students sit in regular chairs in her classroom because they burst their yoga balls. This usually happens when a child pops the ball with a pencil.
Safety isn’t a big concern with yoga balls because it’s difficult to fall off of them, Hicklin said. The balls at Elmdale are about two and one-half feet in circumference.
Mills said her students sometimes fall off their yoga balls when they are playing with them, but no one has been hurt. She makes a point to speak with her students at the beginning of the school year about how to properly sit on the balls.
Jose Flores, 9, said he feels restricted when he has to sit in a plastic classroom chair. He said he likes that the yoga balls help him expel his energy so he can concentrate on the lessons.
Maritza Gomez, 9, said it’s easier for her to learn when she feels comfortable.
“The chair is hard, and the ball is soft,” she said.
Stationary bikes and stationary pedals can also be used as tools to help fidgety children, Hicklin said. Elmdale has a program in which a teacher can take a class to the cafeteria to use stationary bikes while they read.
Teachers can also request stationary pedals for their students, Hicklin said. They looks like a set of bike pedals and can be placed under a students desk so they can pedal while they learn.
Officials at Elmdale were able to purchase yoga balls and stationary pedals because of a grant they received last year for about $9,000, Hicklin said. Jones also received about $8,500 through a grant last year for yoga balls and stationary pedals, Fink said.
Some, but not all, schools in the Rogers School District use yoga balls and pedals, according to Ashley Siwiec, district communications director.
Cooper Elementary School, Bright Field Middle School and Old High Middle School in the Bentonville School District also use yoga balls, said Matt Young, principal at Cooper.