Want Better Math and Reading Scores? Give Kids More Recess.
Schools across the country have steadily reduced recess over the past two decades, often to make more room for math and reading instruction. But a growing body of research suggests that strategy may be backfiring.
In May, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued its first updated guidance on recess in 13 years, citing evidence that recess supports not only children’s physical and emotional well-being, but also their academic success.
University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development experts say the science is clear: Giving students time to move, play, and recharge can help them learn more effectively.
A Brain That Gets a Break Learns Better
When students dozed off in Tanya Evans’ high school chemistry class, they weren’t sent to detention or assigned extra work. Instead, their teacher had them run a lap around the classroom.
It usually got a laugh. More importantly, it worked. Students returned to class more alert and ready to learn.
Looking back, Evans — now a developmental neuroscientist and associate professor at the Education School — realizes her teacher understood what decades of research have since confirmed: Brief breaks improve learning.
Even as adults, there’s only so long that we can attend to one task without needing a break. When you give a break of any sort, it allows for a cognitive reset.TETanya Evans
Those pauses give the brain time to process and consolidate new information, said Sara Rimm-Kaufman, a professor and child development expert at the Education School.
“You need a break from the thinking so that the brain can process the recently learned information, which then results in consolidation of that information into long term memory,” she said.
The result isn’t just stronger memory. Mental breaks also improve attention, focus and mood, helping students stay engaged and better regulate their behavior when they return to class.
Why Movement Matters
Recess offers another advantage beyond a mental reset: It gets children moving.
Jacob Resch, an associate professor of kinesiology who teaches a course on the neuroscience of exercise, said decades of research show that regular physical activity supports learning by promoting healthy brain development.
During childhood, the brain is rapidly developing, including through myelination — the formation of a protective coating around nerve fibers that allows information to travel more efficiently. Exercise supports that process by increasing blood flow and delivering more oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Physical activity also stimulates the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine as well as brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), which strengthen attention, learning, and memory.
If kids are sitting for eight hours a day, they’re limiting their full potential.JRJacob Resch
The benefits may be especially significant for children from lower-income communities, who may have fewer opportunities for outdoor play after school, and for children with ADHD, for whom exercise can improve attention and executive function.
The encouraging news, Resch said, is that it doesn’t take much. He recommends at least 20 minutes of moderate physical activity each day — advice he put into practice by convincing his son’s middle school to replace part of a study hall with a daily 20-minute walk. It has since become a permanent part of the curriculum.
“Physical activity is going to improve behavior in the classroom, and you’re going to have better performing students,” he said.
The Power of Unstructured Play
Not every child spends recess the same way. Younger students often run, climb and play games, while older students may talk with friends or simply relax.
The common denominator, Rimm-Kaufman said, is choice.
“Free time for kids to do things that are autonomous, unstructured, self-selected — that’s really different than what you would have in PE, which would be more structured games and activities,” she said.
As classroom instruction has become increasingly teacher-directed and children’s schedules more structured both in and outside school, opportunities for self-directed play have become harder to find.
Adults should supervise recess to ensure safety and prevent bullying, Rimm-Kaufman said, but children benefit from having space to make their own decisions, resolve conflicts and navigate social situations.
“When kids are outside playing, they’re practicing a whole set of social-emotional skills: interacting with others, turn taking, negotiating, figuring out what to do when someone cheats, disagreeing and coming up with a compromise,” she said. “It’s a place where kids are developing the skills that they need to function in the adult world.”
Those same skills — collaboration, self-regulation and problem-solving — help students succeed academically once they return to the classroom.
“All humans thrive on a bit of autonomy,” Rimm-Kaufman said.
Rethinking Recess
Despite evidence of its benefits, recess has steadily disappeared from many American schools. Since the mid-2000s, roughly 40% of school districts have reduced or eliminated it, often to create more instructional time in tested subjects such as math and reading.
The experts argue that approach is often counterproductive.
“It’s backwards,” Evans said. ” The integration of movement and breaks in instructional time appears to actually support the same cognitive processes that underlie strong test performance.”
They also caution against withholding recess as punishment for behavioral issues, since students who struggle with attention or self-regulation may stand to benefit the most from movement and unstructured play.
As evidence continues to grow, some schools are experimenting with shorter, more frequent breaks throughout the day or introducing screen-free breaks for high school students. Other research suggests scheduling recess before lunch may help maximize its benefits.
Ultimately, Rimm-Kaufman said, conversations about academic achievement often overlook the basic conditions that help children learn.
“Kids are not heads on popsicle sticks going to school,” she said. “These are full, developing humans. What happens socially interacts with their emotional lives, their cognitive lives, their physical lives.”
“They need to have a rich set of experiences across these different domains of development.”