Importance Of Recess

Why Recess?

Recess has been one of the biggest debates of all time. Some wonder if their children are getting enough time on the playground, and others may think they are getting just enough. However, recess is crucial to a child’s development. Allowing for more time at recess in the schools is beneficial for the student’s well being. Students are more likely to have increased social skills, wellness, and focus. Not only is recess cognitively beneficial, but also physically beneficial. Exercise is healthy, and recess is the best time to go out and move around. Social Benefits

Recess holds great potential for promoting positive playground and school experiences among children. According to Pellegrini and Glickman, “Recess is one of

Movement and physical exercise is key to a child’s life, especially in developing necessary skills to function throughout their whole life. Recess can be a time where children are able to explore how their bodies can function. Student’s can learn and apply skills like bouncing, throwing, catching, running, skipping, and the list may keep going on. Research has even shown that children who are more physically active in school are more likely to be physically active at home. Children who don’t have the opportunity to be active during the school day don’t usually compensate during after-school hours.

Also, many children suffer from obesity, and being outdoors is the best way to burn those calories. Since 1980, the childhood obesity rates from ages two to nineteen have tripled — with the rates of obese six to eleven-year-olds more than doubling (from seven percent to seventeen and a half percent) and rates of obese teens from ages twelve to nineteen quadrupling from five percent to twenty percent. (NHANES, 2011-2014 data) Children need to be more active, and by reducing recess this is not assisting the obesity epidemic. Physical activity simply feeds the