The Many Benefits of Recess in Schools

Recess is defined as regularly scheduled periods in the school day for physical activity and play, that is monitored by trained staff or volunteers. During recess, students are encouraged to be physically active and engaged with their peers in activities of their choice, at all grade levels, kindergarten through 12th grade.

Recess benefits students by:

• Increasing their level of physical activity
  
  
• Improving their memory, attention, and concentration 
  
  
• Helping them stay on-task in the classroom
  
  
• Reducing disruptive behavior in the classroom
  
  
• Improving their social and emotional development (e.g., learning how to share and negotiate)

These are just a few of the reasons why it is so important that our schools have good strategies in place for facilitating a successful recess program. For more information please visit:

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/recess.htm