Physically active games for the cognitive activation of students

The article describes an implementation of the
idea to cognitively activate students in the break of a
demanding university class by brief, moderate intensity
physical activity. The article's primary contribution is a
categorized list of suitable games. The article is based on the
author's participant-observations of activity breaks in an
introductory programming course for game designers. The
data have been collected in seven iterations of the course over
six years. Most of the games selected and facilitated by the
students in the activity break are well-known and only mildly
competitive children's games. The most popular games are
reaction games; followed by running/tagging and
throwing/hitting games. Games are regularly modified if they
do not feature enough movement or opportunity for the
participation of enough players.