The Social Benefits of Recess
Perhaps one of the most accepted benefits of recess is the contribution of recess to social skill development. During recess children gain skills in conflict resolution by playing with their peers, learning how to share, take turns, being a leader, as well as, collaborating and negotiating around games and rules. Recess also offers one of the few times that children have unstructured opportunities to self select friends and playmates, test relationships, learn social appropriateness, and learn to generally "play nice". Physical activity is also known to help mitigate depression and anxiety in children."
Young children today have less unstructured time than ever before. Even play time outside of school is often scheduled with play dates, lessons and/or sports teams. Attendance in all of the previously stated activities are organized and directly supervised by adults. Recess is one of the few remaining opportunities in which children can select a friend out of a playground full of peers with the option of "trying out both a variety of playmates and a variety of game choices."
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RECESS PROGRAM OPTIONS
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