The Outdoor Recess Activities of Children at an Urban School - Longitudinal and Intraperiod Patterns

Oct 15, 2026

This article analyzes outdoor recess activities among 149 parochial-school students in kindergarten through eighth grade within an urban context. It examines how age, gender, and the size of play groups shape children’s outdoor play preferences and how those preferences shift across a single recess period. Findings show most children socializing with peers, with play differing by gender and age, including greater teacher interaction among girls. The study highlights cultural and historical influences and suggests policy value for recess duration and encouraged activity types to support children’s health, including obesity risk concerns.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Overview and research focus

Recess in play literature and policy debate

Prior empirical research on recess

Developmental, cognitive, and attentional benefits

Cross-cultural comparisons

Outdoor recess context and prior studies

Playground design and children’s perceptions

Social interaction and peer relationships

Study-related examples from prior work

Adolescents’ playground interactions

Fifth graders’ play-work perceptions

Preadolescents’ preferences

The Outdoor Recess Activities of Children at an Urban School Longitudinal and Intraperiod Patterns s Robyn M. Holmes Based on a study of 149 parochial-school students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade, this article explores children’s outdoor recess activities in an urban setting—with a focus on how age, gender, and size of play group inﬂuence their outdoor play preferences—and examines changes in children’s activity preferences over a single recess period. The majority of the children in the study have African American and Hispanic ethnic heritages and lower-socioeconomic backgrounds. Both boys and girls spent most of recess socializing with their peers, though their play varied by gender and age. Most girls spent the majority of their recess talking and socializing. Older boys engaged in physical, competitive activities such as sports and in larger boy groups. Younger children spent more time chasing eachother in boy-girl groupings and in informal activities. Girls interacted with their teachers more than boys. The author argues that these and other ﬁndings from the study have applied value, expanding our understanding of how cultural and historical factors have shaped the play of American children and indicating that urban school children of African American and Hispanic heritages are at a greater risk for obesity. Such ﬁndings would be useful in shaping school policy regarding the duration of recess breaks, the types of activities that should be encouraged, and the impact the policy might have on children’s overall health. Keywords: age inﬂuences on play activities; cultural inﬂuences on play activities; gender inﬂuences on play activities; outdoor recess; play references; school recess; time-sampling studies Recess at school, like vigorous physical play, receives relatively little attention in the play literature. This lack of attention is interesting in light of the ongoing debate regarding the beneﬁts of recess for children and the movement to abolish recess in school settings. Contemporary works on recess all draw attention to the developmental beneﬁts it provides children (Jarrett 2002; Jarrett and Maxwell 2000; Pellegrini 2005). Some school boards and policy makers, however, have disregarded these ﬁndings and chosen to omit recess as part of children’s school experiences (Pellegrini and Holmes 2006) . One might expect 327 American Journal of Play, volume 4, number 3. © The Strong Contact Robyn M. Holmes at [rholmes@monmouth.edu](rholmes@monmouth.edu) to ﬁnd more empirical studies on recess to support the beneﬁts of this part of the school day to children. Additional studies are sorely needed as they should help convince policy makers and school administrators to preserve recess as an important part of a child’s school experience. Current existing empirical studies on recess include topics such as the developmental beneﬁts of recess (Patte 2010); the relationship between recess and cognitive performance (Pellegrini and Holmes 2006); the connection between recess and attention (Jarrett et al. 1998; Pellegrini, Huberty, and Jones 1995; Pellegrini and Davies 1993; Holmes, Pellegrini, and Schmidt 2006); and crosscultural comparisons (Blatchford 1993, 1994, 1998; Blatchford and Sumpner 1998). Their ﬁndings position outdoor recess as a necessary part of the school day, one that affects children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. Outdoor school recess typically takes place in a playground setting. Previous studies on outdoor recess address playground design and developmental beneﬁts (e.g., Frost et al. 2004; Waite-Stupiansky and Findlay 2001); children’s perceptions of recess (e.g., Jarrett and Duckett-Hedgebeth 2003); and children’s playmate and activity preferences (e.g., Jarrett et al. 2001; Lewis and Phillipsen 1998). Recess is one of the few times during the school day when children have the opportunity to socialize with their peers in the absence of adult supervision (Pelleg

FAQs

How does age influence children’s outdoor recess activity preferences?

The article reports that older boys tend to engage in more physical, competitive activities such as sports in larger groups, while younger children spend more time chasing others in mixed groupings and informal activities.

What role do gender differences play during recess?

Most girls spend the majority of recess talking and socializing, and girls interact with teachers more than boys, while boys’ play varies with age and includes more competitive physical activities among older groups.

Why is outdoor recess discussed as important for children’s health and development?

The findings and cited research position outdoor recess as affecting children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. The article also suggests that better-informed school policies on recess duration and encouraged activities may help support overall health, including obesity risk for some children.

Oct 15, 2026

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