Time for Recess

Recess rules. Kickball, soccer, monkeybars: whatever, any break from the classroom is a welcome break for many kids. It was for me, and it is for my two oldest boys, one of whom can't wait for the daily soccer game.

Recess, or at least the time when recess takes place in the school day, could lead to healthier and happier students, some experts believe. A recent article on The New York Times' Well blog suggests that holding recess before lunch rather than after lunch leads to calmer and better-nourished children at school. Administrators suggest that students eat more and there is less food waste when recess is held first because children are not rushing to go outside.

“Kids are calmer after they’ve had recess first,” said Janet Sinkewicz, principal of Sharon Elementary School in Robbinsville, N.J., which made the change last fall. “They feel like they have more time to eat and they don’t have to rush.”

Intuitively, this makes sense. My oldest son often leaves much of his food uneaten because he does not want to miss out on the fun outside, so he rushes through lunch. (Of course, he also likes to "socialize" at lunch, and he has a tendency to dawdle.)

Logistically, though, I wonder how many schools can handle such a change, and the blog post mentions several problems, such as handling the switch in colder climates. At my sons' elementary school, half of the classes already have recess before lunch, and I will be interested to see how my oldest reacts to the change.