During April’s National Playground Safety Week, IPEMA and the Voice of Play hosted a Twitter Chat on recess and playground safety, highlighting results from our recent survey. Using #VOPChat, we heard from advocates in the play space who shared resources among their thoughts on recess today.
We asked the following questions:
Q1: Does your school currently have recess? If so, how long is it and tell us about it!
- Follow up Q1: How long do you think recess should be and what should it look like? Should it be structured or unstructured? On the playground or indoors? Weigh in!
Q2: Should teachers use recess as a motivator? What about a punishment?
Q3: Do you think recess positively changes a student’s behavior? Why or why not?
- Follow up Q3: What types of improvements have you seen in student behavior as a result of recess? What about a result of no recess?
Q4: Do you think recess helps students socially? What about academically? Why or why not?
Q5: Have you ever experienced a child or student being bullied? Tell us about that.
Check out some highlights below!
IPEMA member and #VOPChat participant, GameTime, shared some great data from their own research on recess and physical education:
The company also mentioned that even though recess varies in time and by state and school district, many physical education teachers see the value of play. The “Play On!” activity program is helping to promote play and physical activity with a guidebook and curriculum throughout schools with children in preschool—5th grade.
Kymm Ballard, a physical education advocate, educational consultant and SHAPE America Board member, joined in on our conversation as well. She shared this evidence-based resource on “Strategies for Recess in Schools” from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and SHAPE America. She agreed that recess helps students socially and academically, citing this source:
One of our most popular tweets during the chat came from Julie P. Jones, an education professor at Converse College and a clear play advocate:
Jessica Clayton, a certified teacher who has her own daycare, suggested following a different approach to recess and play:
Thank you again to everyone who was able to participate in our chat and to those who followed along after our chat ended. We hope we brought more public awareness to recess and got you thinking about playground safety. We’ll see you around this time again next year!
