By: Professor Daniel Gawrisch

This topic was initially started in a previous blog post, addressing the value recess has on physical activity and the psychomotor domain. This second blog post will focus on the cognitive and affective learning domains and spiritual growth applications.

“What is your favorite part of the school day?” Ask most children this question and the inevitable response will be, “Recess!” Although you may have been looking for an “academic subject” as a response, think twice before you correct the child. Recess is a highly valuable part of the daily school schedule that accomplishes educational objectives and battles childhood obesity. Opportunities at recess promote growth in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective learning domains and provide students with spiritual growth applications.

Cognitive Development: The Brain-Body Connection

Mens sana in corpore sano – “A sound mind in a healthy body.” In order to understand why it is important for children to be active throughout the school day, teachers must first understand the brain-body connection. Numerous research studies have proved that physically healthy students perform better in the classroom and score higher on standardized tests (Nemours, 2009). There is no known research that supports increased physical activity having a negative effect on academic achievement (National Association for Sport and Physical Education & American Heart Association, 2012). Therefore, allowing students to be physically active at recess will help them become healthier students, and healthier students perform better academically.

Second, teachers need to know that the brain needs a break in order to function at its highest level. The Council on School Health of the American Accadamy of Pediatrics (2013) states the following:
Optimal cognitive processing in a child necessitates a period of interruption after a period of concentrated instruction. The benefits of these interruptions are best served by unstructured breaks rather than by merely shifting from 1 cognitive task to another to diminish stresses and distractions that interfere with cognitive processing. Several studies demonstrated that recess, whether performed indoors or outdoors, made children more attentive and more productive in the classroom. (p.184)

Finally, recess is valuable because the nature of free-play stimulates the child’s brain promoting cognitive development. “A child’s work is a child’s play.” This may be an old saying, but it is not without reason. When children play, they are creating, problem solving, and developing an understanding of how the world works, while rehearsing future real-life events. Brain research shows that active free-play stimulates nerve growth within the brain and fosters growth of the cerebellum, which is responsible for cognitive functions such as attention, language processing, sensing musical rhythm, and more (Brown, 2010, p. 34).

Affective Development and Stress Relief

Through unstructured free-play at recess, students will develop the affective learning domain. Free-play at recess allows students to improve communication and cooperation skills. Students learn how to lead and how to follow. Students learn how to share and how to observe rules in a less structured environment (Council on School Health, 2013). At recess, students demonstrate individual and social responsibly learning self-management skills. Recess opportunities teach students affectively while allowing them to build new relationships and strengthen old ones with peers.

Furthermore, physical activity at recess is an important stress reliever for children. Physical activity has a positive influence on anxiety and depression, increasing children’s ability to cope with stress and improving their quality of life (Zahner et al., 2006). Recess is an opportunity for children to reduce the anxiety caused by academic pressures built up throughout the day (Jirikovic, Vansyckle, McIntyre, & Irish, 2005).

Spiritual Applications

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps. 139:14). In our Lutheran Elementary Schools, recess is a critical part of the school day because it teaches to the whole child. Recess allows students to develop psychomotor, cognitive, and affective learning domains and promotes development of all of the wonderful gifts that God created them with, helping them serve Him to the fullest of their abilities. Recess gives children the freedom to glorify God with their words and actions in how they carry themselves and treat one other on the playground. Certainly, children are sinful and will fall short of glorifying God and conflicts will arise during recess. That means that children will also have the opportunity to resolve conflicts, applying Law and Gospel principles while acting in Christian Love under Christian guidance. This makes recess even more valuable in our Lutheran Elementary Schools, as it provides practice for real-world obstacles that arise daily in a young Christian’s life.

Conclusion

Recess is a critical part of the school day because it promotes growth of the whole child, fights against the obesity epidemic, and provides spiritual training and applications for students. Teachers also benefit from daily recess, as adults need a break too (Jirikovic, et al., 2005). Teachers often withhold recess as a discipline technique. Perhaps this is because students enjoy recess, so taking away recess is seen as an effective consequence. However, recess may be exactly what a troubled student needs. Research studies suggest that promoting physical activity at recess will improve classroom behavior and result in better school attendance as well as fewer disciplinary incidents (Nemours, 2009). Therefore, when students say that recess is their favorite part of the school day, teachers can reasonably agree.

Professor Daniel Gawrisch serves at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN, where he teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in Physical Education. He also serves as the assistant women’s basketball coach.

References

Brown, S. & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Council on School Health. (2013). The crucial role of recess in school. Pediatrics, 131, 183–188.

Jirikovic, R., Vansyckle, J., McIntyre, C., & Irish, B. (2005). Recess: Time well spent.
Evergreen State College. Retrieved from  http://www.timeday.org/pdf/newsletter_february_2006/Recess_Project.pdf

National Association for Sport and Physical Education & American Heart Association. (2012).  2012 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA. Reston, VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Nemours. (2009). Facts about: Health and Learning. The Nemours Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.nemours.org/content/dam/nemours/www/filebox/service/preventive/nhps/pep/healthahealtha.pdf

Zahner, L., Puder, J., Roth, R., Schmid, M., Guldimann, R., et al. (2006). A school-based
physical activity program to improve health and fitness in children aged 6-13 years (“kinder-sportstudie kiss”): Study design of a randomized controlled trial [isrctn15360785]. BMC Public Health, 6, 147.