The Facts about Recess and Academics (2024)

Recess is being scaled back or eliminated from many elementary schools. Among the reasons are increased pressure for higher academic scores.

But at what cost? Are scores increasing as recess decreases?

No. In fact, studies are concluding that physical activity can improve cognitive learning, increase neuron connections, and decrease inappropriate behavior in the classroom, as well as the obvious benefit of improving physical health.

Remember when we had three recesses a day - one in the morning, one after lunch and one in the afternoon? Esther Entin, M.D. states "Since the late 1970's children have lost 12 hours a week in free time, a 25% decrease in play and 50% decrease in unstructured outdoor activities."The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's physical activity guidelines recommend that children do an hour or more of moderate-intensity to vigorous activity a day. The Institute of Medicine advises that at least 30 minutes, or about half the daily physical activity, be done during the school day. Yet only about 11 percent of states and 57 percent of districts require elementary schools to provide students with regularly scheduled recess, according to CDC.

Research confirms that recess can play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of elementary school children.

Physical Activity Affects the Following:

• Overweight and obesity
• HDL cholesterol
• Blood pressure
• Insulin resistance
• Skeletal health
• Musculoskeletal injuries
• Psychological well-being
• Self-esteem
• Anxiety and depression

Benefits of Recess:

• Physical Activity = better health
• Helps children adjust to school
• Increases cognitive attention after releasing stress
• Encourages creativity, leadership and critical thinking skills
• Helps improve memory and more focused attention
• Fosters social skills such as learning games, taking turns, resolving conflicts, and forming friendships
• Develops skills in problem solving, negotiation, sharing, cooperation and self-control
• Decreases poor behavior in the classroom
• Strengthens a child's ability to pay attention
• May decrease medication for asthma and ADHD
• Improves recall when learning is spaced rather than presented all at once because the brain needs downtime to recycle chemicals crucial for long-term memory formation
• Enhancement of brain function, neuron connections, and cognition

How Physical Activity Improves Academics:


JAMA Pediatrics confirms that "participation in physical activity is positively related to academic performance in children." In addition to the positive physical and mental health impact of regular participation in physical activity, it is also linked to enhancement of brain function and cognition, thereby positively influencing academic performance. The increase in growth factors caused by exercise helps create new nerve cells and supports neurological development.

Exercise directly impacts the behavior and development of the brain. “It is likely that the effects of physical activity on cognition would be particularly important in the highly plastic developing brains of youth,” according to Charles Basch of Columbia University. Exercise affects executive functioning in the following ways:

• Increased blood and oxygen flow to the brain
• Increased brain neurotransmitters
• Increased levels of endorphins which decrease stress and improves mood
• Increased brain-derived neurotrophins that support creation of new nerve cells and assure the survival of neurons in areas responsible for learning, memory, and higher thinking.

Recess provides a critical change of pace and a recharging of energy, which then benefits learning by making the children less fidgety and more attentive to academic tasks. The American Academy of Pediatrics states "Recess is a necessary break in the day for optimizing a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. In essence, recess should be considered a child’s personal time, and it should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons."

Negative Effects of Recess:
A child may get hurt on the playground.
Response: A child may get hurt anywhere. Let them play!
Related Post: Stop Bullying: It Starts at Home

Play is a child's work.

Resources:

• PEACEFUL PLAYGROUNDS: RIGHT TO RECESS CAMPAIGN offers a Free Campaign Toolbox Package and research
• Back to the Basics: Play Outside
• The Role of Recess in Children's Cognitive Performance & School Adjustment
• SPARK: Countering Childhood Obesity
• Recess: Time Well Spent
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Physical Activity Strengthens a Child's Ability to Pay Attention
• States that Require or Recommend Recess
• Recess and the Importance of Play

A little girl had just finished her first week of
school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said
to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write,
and they won't let me talk!"