GoNoodle!

A while back, I blogged about having class dance parties (you can see it here).  I have discovered something better!!  It is called GoNoodle, and it is awesome!  It is silly, energetic, fun, crazy, motivational, and best of all, FREE. You sign up, log-in, and create your class (I set up a demo class first so that I could check out the content and make sure that it was kid-safe and appropriate before I showed it to my students).  You can set up more than one class at a time.  Give your class a name, enter how many students you have, and then select the grade level.  You will be prompted to choose an avatar (they call them Champs).  There are many to choose from (I let my students vote on the one they wanted):

Once an avatar is chosen, you will be taken to the student home screen.  It will look something like this (the avatar you choose will be in the middle):

Clicking on Dashboard will take you to the teacher home screen.  Our Champ will take you back to the student home screen if you're on one of the other screens.  Explore will take you to an introductory video for students if you are new to GoNoodle, and a selection of new videos if you have been using GoNoodle for awhile.  Channels will take you to the different channels that GoNoodle offers (more about this later).  Clicking Categories will display the different categories that the videos fall under so that you can choose the specific type of video you want to see.  There are two buttons at the bottom: Champs and Play.  Champs takes you to the avatar selection screen, and the Play button works just like the Explore button at the top.

I don't usually select Play with my students.  Instead, I will click on Channels and let them choose from there.  The Channels screen looks like this: 

Each button will take you to a variety of videos.  Most of the videos range from one to five minutes.

• Don't know much about GoNoodle Plus.  It is a series of videos tied to core subjects that you need to pay for to see.  I live on a teacher's salary - enough said!
• Awesome Sauce is a kid-favorite.  It contains 24 very silly videos that encourage dance and free movement.
• Koo Koo Kanga Roo is another kid-favorite.  It has 32 songs featuring the two Koo Koo dudes during outrageous, crazy stuff.  This channel never fails to get my kids laughing, giggling, and moving.
  
  
  
• Indoor Recess has 21 videos that are range from 7 to 18 minutes long.  They are great for indoor recesses (imagine that!).  They contain a mixture of movement and brain activities.
• The Champ Harmonic are 5 videos featuring GoNoodle avatars moving to classical selections of music.
• Zumba Kids has 18 activities that feature kids doing Zumba.  They are upbeat and energetic, and my kids love to follow along.
• Flow contains 6 videos that encourage kids to slow down and be mindful.
• MooseTube has 11 camp-style songs that will gets kids moving and singing along.
• Fresh Start Fitness is 9 videos that are more like traditional work-out videos.  They feature people doing exercise moves to high-energy music.
• Game On! contains 3 interactive games that will get kids moving.
• Empower Tools contains 7 videos that teach kids some basic yoga moves.
• Kidz Bop has 11 pop-song favorites featuring the Kidz Bop kids singing and dancing.
• Brainercise with Mr. Catman is another kid-favorite.  These 11 activities feature a man in a cat mask (sounds silly, but the kids love it!) walking kids through moves that coordinate brain and body.
  
  
  
• Maximo features an animated character guiding children through 21 different types of movements that are for calming, stretching, and relaxing.
• Run With Us has 13 interactive track and field activities.
• Think About It activities are designed to get students thinking and reflecting on positive aspects of life.
• YouTube is a collection of brain break favorites (like Ants in Your Pants, Whip NaeNae, and Continental Drift) that have been found on YouTube.  You also have the option to add your own favorites from YouTube.

I would strongly encourage you check GoNoodle out.  It's great fun!!  If you like it, you can also invite parents and students to play at home.