Axios: Recess makes a comeback

Posted on August 4, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Recess makes a comeback
Illustration of kids playing hopscotch on a return arrow-shaped hopscotch court
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
 
After decades of schools squeezing playtime out of the day, recess is back in play, Axios’ Carly Mallenbaum writes.

🎒 Why it matters: Recess may look like a break from learning. But researchers say free play helps kids return to class healthier, calmer and more ready to focus.“Recess refreshes you. Recess helps you feel a little bit less cynical about what’s going on,” says psychologist Peter Gray, author of the forthcoming book “Restoring Childhood.”

🧩 By the numbers: As of December, 12 states and Washington, D.C., had mandated school recess, while another 12 states required some form of physical activity, according to Johns Hopkins research.

And recently, a new Oklahoma law requiring 40 minutes of recess each school day took effect in July.

🧠 The big picture: Unstructured play helps children practice social skills, manage stress and build stronger connections to school.

Research has also linked recess to better behavior, attendance, classroom motivation and academic performance.

🤸 Reality check: Not all movement is recess.Broader “physical activity” laws can include after-school sports and gym class.

Advocates say children also need time to play without being told how to do it.

“Anyone who’s ever spent even a day with a kid can recognize that if you kept them sitting all day, they’d go insane — they’d drive everybody else insane,” says Hannah Thompson, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

Zoom out: The decline in recess since the early 2000s is often tied to the testing-focused era that followed the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, when schools devoted more time to reading and math rather than play.

Weekly recess time in U.S. schools fell by an hour between 2001 and 2019, according to education consulting firm EAB.

🔔 But the pendulum is swinging back.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently expanded its recess recommendation beyond elementary schools, calling for middle and high school students to get at least 20 minutes, too.

Parent-led group Say Yes to Recess has become a national nonprofit, while support for the cause now stretches across the political spectrum.

The bottom line: “More recess” isn’t just a student council campaign promise. It’s increasingly an essential part of the school day.Share this story.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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