Children Are Missing Out on a Key Learning Opportunity

Time to Prioritize Outdoor Recess!

Around 10 o'clock each school morning, playgrounds from coast to coast in the U.S. are bustling with kids scaling jungle gyms and sliding down slides. They engage in games like tag and four square or wander the track, sharing stories with their companions.

These children are fortunate. Recreational breaks, particularly those outdoors, are viewed by professionals as a fundamental component of a young student's day.

According to Elizabeth Cushing, head of Playworks, when kids indulge in outdoor play, they not only experience happiness but also establish connections and a sense of belonging in their school environment. 'This is the type of experience we desire for all young learners,' she added.

Yet, many parents and advocates are concerned that numerous children are confined to indoor activities during these breaks, stripping away the myriad advantages of playing outdoors.

In the Western U.S., soaring temperatures are driving children indoors, according to Allison Poulos from Arizona State University. Her research from midsummer to early fall showed that nearly 40% of recesses in Arizona occurred indoors due to the heat.

Elsewhere, diverse factors come into play. Shanée Garner from Lift Every Voice Philly reported instances where playgrounds are off-limits to prevent messes, or due to staffing challenges or conflicts among students.

Indoor recess often results in inactivity with children watching movies instead of engaging actively, making it harder for them to transition back to academic focus compared to when they play outside, experts noted.

This shift has prompted families nationwide to advocate for more opportunities for outdoor activities, while researchers are examining how schools can accommodate outdoor play or encourage more dynamic indoor activities as climate concerns grow. Such transformations are deemed crucial since children's learning is stunted without the opportunity for play.

Why Outdoor Play is Limited

Playtime is more than a pause from academics. It's a crucial period where young individuals hone their interpersonal and emotional skills. Through play, they learn collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, and emotional control, as posited by UC Santa Cruz's Rebecca London.

Free-form play is vital for development and may represent the sole unstructured playtime available during their day.

Since the 2001 introduction of high-stakes testing policies, such as No Child Left Behind, recess generally declined as schools prioritized academic over playtime, diminishing by 60 minutes per week on average by 2019.

A few states, including California, have legislated recess time minimums, though without mandating outdoor activities. As climate warms, students often endure temperatures beyond 100 degrees during recess, making some playgrounds inhospitable due to inadequate shade and heat-retentive surfaces like asphalt.

Air quality problems stemming from wildfires also challenge outdoor activities. Days or weeks of poor air in states like California mean children must stay inside.

Though winters are becoming milder, unpredictable severe weather still threatens outdoor playtime, with varying policies on what constitutes too cold for outdoor recess.

Beyond weather, schools often face challenges in hiring or training enough staff for supervising outdoor activities. Additionally, playground supervisors often rank among the lowest-paid employees.

Many of those overseeing recess lack training and support. Without these, disagreements and disruptions are more frequent, prompting schools to keep students indoors to minimize chaos.

This neglect stems from a broader oversight of prioritizing children's enjoyment and self-direction. Schools appear to have forgotten that children need space and opportunity for free play, sometimes treating them like objects to be managed rather than people.

Revitalizing Recess

Indoor recess severely limits children's experiences, as noted by experts. Without gym facilities, many spend breaks in their usual classroom, missing out on movement, broader social interaction, and autonomy in choice of activities.

Indoor recess cannot replicate the experience of being outside.

Research and advocacy are targeting how to ensure all children get their needed outdoor time, especially in economically constrained or racially diverse regions, where outdoor recess access is less available.

Some locales have implemented covered playground areas to mitigate weather-related issues, structures that could be expanded to hotter climates to provide shade.

Arizona State University is collaborating with local governments to increase tree coverage and replace asphalt surfaces with more natural elements.

For indoor scenarios, schools are allowing more freedom by allocating different rooms for specific activities, letting students circulate as they wish.

Training supervising adults to manage disputes—using simple tools like rock-paper-scissors, for instance—can greatly decrease conflicts and make supervisors more inclined to permit outdoor time.

District-level policy reform is also in motion, seeking to eliminate practices detrimental to recess, highlighting its importance as a non-negotiable part of a child’s learning.

Ultimately, as Garner argues, the approach is clear: acknowledge that children are human beings deserving of play, not machines to be controlled.