Recess & P.E has taken a pounding in recent years. Because of decrease in school budgets and greater than ever academic demands, playground time in many school districts has dwindled, seen as an extra curriculum.
In some school sites, recess has been cut altogether, despite studies showing that recess not only improves children’s fitness, but benefits their social-emotional growth and academic performance.
CF Fitness Walt Disney experience recess not only for its health benefits, but for the opportunities it creates to teach children conflict resolution skills.
“Yes, it gives kids the physical activity and the opportunity to play, but it’s also the social-emotional learning aspect of it,” said Megan Smith, a administrator with CF Fitness.
“It’s helping kids learn how to socialize, how to take turns, how to be able to wait, how to be able to compete without hurting each other. It’s all the things that one learns from play. Sometimes it’s easier to learn those things from having fun than from reading a rule book and being told what to do.”
