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Chapter 4

⚡ Hyperactivity

Helping children channel boundless energy into purposeful movement — because movement is learning.

What does hyperactivity look like?

Hyperactivity is not "bad behaviour" — it is a regulatory pattern. Spot the pattern before choosing a strategy.

🏃 Motor Restlessness

  • Cannot stay seated for more than 2–3 min
  • Runs or climbs in inappropriate settings
  • Fidgets with hands, feet, objects
  • Always "on the go"

🗣️ Verbal Overflow

  • Talks excessively, interrupts constantly
  • Blurts answers before question is finished
  • Difficulty waiting silently

🔁 Task Switching

  • Leaves tasks unfinished; jumps to next
  • Difficulty doing quiet leisure activities
  • Easily drawn to any stimulus

😤 Sensory Seeking

  • Needs touch, pressure, or heavy work input
  • Crashes into people / furniture
  • Chews clothing, pencils, or non-food objects
⚠️ Before choosing a strategy: Ask — is the child under-stimulated (needs more input) or over-aroused (needs regulation down)? The answer changes the approach entirely. A "movement break" helps the under-stimulated child; a "heavy work" or breathing activity helps the over-aroused one.

4 Core Strategies

Engineered Movement Breaks

Build scheduled movement into the day rather than waiting for the child to dysregulate. Research shows 10-minute activity breaks every 30 minutes improve on-task behaviour by up to 40%.

  1. Divide learning into 20–30 min blocks.
  2. Place a visual timer (or sand timer) so the child can see the break coming.
  3. At the break: 10 jumping jacks, 5 push-ups against the wall, or a quick dance.
  4. Use a "movement menu" (picture cards) so the child picks their activity.
  5. Return to work signal: 3 deep breaths + sit down.
Vestibular inputPredictabilitySelf-regulation

Fidget Toolkit

Purposeful fidget tools provide the proprioceptive / tactile input the child's nervous system is seeking — channelling energy away from disruptive behaviour without removing all movement.

  1. Offer 3–4 pre-approved tools: squeeze ball, therapy putty, wobble cushion, chew necklace.
  2. Teach the child to choose their tool before the lesson starts.
  3. Keep tools in a clearly labelled "fidget box" — normalises their use for the whole group.
  4. Rotate tools every 2 weeks to maintain novelty.
  5. Review with the child weekly: "Is this helping you focus?"
ProprioceptiveTactileSelf-management

Yoga & Body Awareness

Simple 5-minute yoga sequences at the start of a session reduce cortisol, improve body awareness, and create a predictable "gear-shift" routine that the child's nervous system learns to associate with calming.

  1. Pick 4–5 child-friendly poses: Mountain, Warrior, Tree, Child's Pose, Lion's Breath.
  2. Pair each pose with a name and a picture card on the wall.
  3. Lead with slow, narrated breaths: "Breathe in as you reach up…"
  4. Keep the sequence identical each time — predictability is the point.
  5. Gradually transfer leadership to the child: "You lead today."
Body awarenessBreath regulationRoutine

Exercise as Primer

10–20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise before a demanding cognitive task ("priming") significantly improves attention and reduces hyperactive behaviour for 30–60 minutes afterward.

  1. Schedule a brief outdoor or indoor exercise session before schoolwork.
  2. Choose activities with bilateral crossing: skipping, bike riding, ball games.
  3. Intensity should be moderate — the child should be slightly out of breath.
  4. Follow immediately (within 5 min) with the cognitively demanding task.
  5. Track the effect: note on-task minutes before and after on a simple chart.
Aerobic primingExecutive functionData tracking

4 Structured Activities

🤖 Slow Robot

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⏱ 10 min👥 Pair or group🏠 Indoors

The child must move like a robot running on low battery — every action in extreme slow motion. The paradox is that slowing down requires enormous self-regulation effort and dramatically reduces motor overflow.

  1. Explain: "Robots use lots of power to move FAST, but our robot's battery is at 5%."
  2. Give a slow-motion instruction: "Walk to the door and back in 20 seconds."
  3. Time the child — cheer if they stay within the window.
  4. Progress: add a slow-motion task sequence (pick up cup → pour water → sit down).
  5. Debrief: "What did you notice in your body when you went slow?"
💡 Tip: Pair with calming music at 60 bpm to scaffold the pace.

🧘 5-Pose Yoga Sequence

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⏱ 5–8 min👤 Individual🏠 Indoors

A fixed 5-pose sequence used as a daily "gear-shift" ritual. Repetition is intentional — the nervous system learns what follows and begins to regulate in anticipation.

  1. Mountain Pose: Stand tall, feet together, 3 slow breaths.
  2. Warrior I: Step one foot forward, arms above head, hold 5 counts.
  3. Tree Pose: Balance on one foot, hands at heart, 5 counts each side.
  4. Child's Pose: Kneel and fold forward, arms extended, 5 deep breaths.
  5. Lion's Breath: Inhale through nose, exhale loudly through mouth with tongue out — 3 times.
💡 Tip: Use laminated picture cards on the wall so the child can eventually self-lead.

🏀 Jumping Jack Statue

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⏱ 8 min👥 Group or pair🏡 Outdoors/indoors

Alternates bursts of vigorous movement with sudden freezes — directly practising the stop/start inhibitory control that hyperactive children find most difficult.

  1. Call "GO!" — child does jumping jacks as fast as possible.
  2. Call "FREEZE!" (randomly, every 5–15 seconds) — child must stop instantly in whatever position they're in.
  3. Hold the freeze for 3 counts, then "GO!" again.
  4. Progress: add a balance challenge during the freeze (one foot, arms out).
  5. Track "freeze success rate" — child earns a star for each clean freeze.
💡 Tip: This is a direct analogue to the stop-signal inhibition task used in ADHD assessment — you're training the same neural pathway.

🏋️ Heavy Work Stations

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⏱ 10–15 min👤 Individual🏠 Indoors

Heavy work (carrying, pushing, pulling) provides deep proprioceptive input that the over-aroused nervous system craves — and naturally calms the child for 45–90 minutes afterward.

  1. Set up 3–4 stations around the room: a stack of books to carry, a box to push, wall push-ups, a bag of rice to lift and place.
  2. Child rotates through all stations at their own pace.
  3. Each station has a visual instruction card.
  4. After completing all stations, transition directly to desk work.
  5. Rate the child's alertness before and after on a 1–5 "engine" scale.
💡 Tip: See also the Proprioceptive section in the Sensory Guide for a full heavy-work menu.
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