There is a common misconception in our society that recess does not serve any real purpose. The Board of Directors of the American Association for the Child's Right to Play believes that recess is vital to a child's overall healthy development. Recess periods, which are regularly scheduled periods within the elementary school day for unstructured physical activity and play, give students a chance to discover their interests and passions, to develop ingenuity and inventiveness and serves as a vehicle that helps children establish self-esteem and strive for achievable personal goals. It also allows children to practice life skills such as conflict resolution, cooperation, respect for rules, taking turns, sharing, using language to communicate and problem solving in real situations that are real.
             There is a common misconception in our society that recess does not serve any real purpose. The Board of Directors of the American Association for the Child's Right to Play (IPA/USA) believe that recess is vital to a child's overall healthy development. (IPA/USA ) Recess periods, which are regularly scheduled periods within the elementary school day for unstructured physical activity and play, (Wechsler, Devereaux, Davis, & Collins, 2000) gives students a chance to discover their interests and passions, to develop ingenuity and inventiveness. (Schulz, K. 1998) Recess serves as a vehicle that helps children establish self-esteem and strive for achievable personal goals. (Young, J.C. 1997) "It also allows children to practice life skills such as conflict resolution, cooperation, respect for rules, taking turns, sharing, using language to communicate and problem solving in real situations that are real." (Council on Physical Education for Children-COPEC, 2001)
             In a 1989 survey by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, 90% of the reporting school districts had some form of recess. Since that ...