We all know that our students learn best when they’re able to move around throughout the day. In fact, one study suggests that our cognitive functioning improves by 20% when we’re standing up! That’s a huge advantage that we can’t afford to give up.

Whether it be rocking chairs, hokey stools, couches for reading, or standing desks for a movement break, we set up our classrooms every year to allow for flexible seating by sharing spaces. Until a global pandemic sent us back to school with new rules and very strict guidelines against sharing just about anything.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Here are 5 ways that we have come up with to allow for flexible seating in a crummy pandemic.

1. Lapdesks

• You can get your hands on these bright, easy to clean lapdesks for about $6 each. Take them outside for some outdoor classroom time (added bonus is having enough space to take the masks off for a while) or designate some mask-free zones around your classroom if there’s adequate space.

• If your student’s individual table space will allow for it, let them set these on top of their desk so they can stand up for part of their work time!

2. Wiggle seats

• These run for about $27 a piece (check out Shop School Essentials at the top of this page to get yours) but their size would allow for quick sanitizing between students so you might only need a handful to share. These could also make your “mask-free zones” more comfortable!

3. Bouncy Bands

• These are about $5 each if you want the real thing, but there are definitely ways to replicate the idea if you’re on a tighter budget!

(Follow this link to see how Julie from maketaketeach.com made herself an entire class set for $20!)

https://blog.maketaketeach.com/bouncy-bands-great-tool-for-your-students-who-need-to-move/#:~:text=So%2C%20making%20the%20Bouncy%20Bands,that’s%20enough%20for%206%20desks).

4. Blankets

• Let students bring a blanket from home- bonus if it can be about 4 square meters in size. They can take these outside to sit on if you’re able to do outdoor classroom, or they can cozy up their chair space in the classroom.

• This has an added social-emotional bonus: having a little piece of home with them can help to ease their anxiety. 😊

5. Let kids stand at their desks… or sit on them!

• Help students keep the oxygen flowing to their brains by letting them stand to listen for a few minutes during a lesson. It’s not ideal- but even 3—5 minutes will help them to wake up, stretch and improve their capacity to learn.

• If you’re ok with it, allowing them to sit on their desk or stand along the edge of the room for a movement break will bring back some aspects of flexible seating that can ensure our student’s can still enjoy their days the way that they’re used to.

Conclusion

This year we will have new obstacles in our way but if your school is anything like mine- tough times only bring out the awesome creativity in teachers! There are many ways that we can still provide for flexible seating options if we just think outside of the box. I look around at all of the new ideas that teachers are implementing and just how excited they were to have our students back in the classroom and it just really goes to show- we really were made for this!