Last week there was a blog in the New York Times: Play, Then Eat: Shifts May Bring Gains at School. It was a great piece that outlined the simple, but still less common practice of having kids go out for recess before lunch. The basic idea is that having recess before lunch ensures that kids really sit down and focus at their meals. It makes a lot of sense that kids who have just exercised are going to be more interested in sitting down to their meal. It also seems likely that they will less likely to rush through their lunch if they are heading back to class after the meal as opposed to creating more time to play by hurrying through.
From personal experience, I know this to be true. Recess before lunch is the norm at my son’s public school, and he loves it. In addition to all the other benefits, he says that having time to play before coming in to eat gives him and his friends even more to talk about during lunch.
Frankly, we at Playworks are excited about recess before lunch because it means kids are getting recess and enjoying all the benefits it brings. And when we hear that kids are making the most of both recess AND lunch, we know that things are heading in a good direction.
