What’s Getting in the Way of Play? An Analysis of the Contextual Factors That Hinder Recess in Elementary Schools

Abstract

This article describes the first two years of an ongoing, collaborative action research project focused on the troubled recess environment in 4 elementary schools in southern Ontario. The project involves an iterative, dynamic process of inquiry, planning, action, and reflection among students, teachers, university researchers, university student volunteers, and community agencies. The goal is to proactively transform the social landscape of recess into an engaging, positive, inclusive, and active environment. We present a brief review of research on recess in order to contextualize our project and highlight the important links between recess activities, school engagement, and academic outcomes. We then highlight the children’s voices about their recess environment, and add perspectives from the teachers, principals, and playground volunteers. Finally, we present our collective suggestions for action that will lead us into the next phase of our project.

“All the fun stuff, the teachers say, ‘that’s dangerous!’” Hearing from children on safety and risk in active play in schools: a systematic review

“…Of the 31 studies included in the synthesis and described in Additional file 4 , most were conducted in England ( n = 8) [ 85 – 92 ], Australia ( n = 7) [ 32 , 93 – 98 ] and Denmark ( n = 4) [ 99 – 102 ]. Three studies each were conducted in Canada [ 103 – 105 ] and the USA [ 106 – 108 ], and one study in each of Finland [ 109 ], Iceland [ 110 ], Netherlands [ 33 ], Spain [ 111 ], Sweden [ 112 ], and Tanzania [ 113 ]. A total of 15 studies focused on children’s physical activity during recess as the phenomena of interest [ 32 , 33 , 85 , 87 , 90 , 93 , 94 , 97 – 100 , 103 , 104 , 109 , 111 ], while 10 studies were interested in children’s development and play more broadly [ 86 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 92 , 95 , 96 , 101 , 102 , 105 , 107 , 113 ].…”

“…Three studies each were conducted in Canada [ 103 – 105 ] and the USA [ 106 – 108 ], and one study in each of Finland [ 109 ], Iceland [ 110 ], Netherlands [ 33 ], Spain [ 111 ], Sweden [ 112 ], and Tanzania [ 113 ]. A total of 15 studies focused on children’s physical activity during recess as the phenomena of interest [ 32 , 33 , 85 , 87 , 90 , 93 , 94 , 97 – 100 , 103 , 104 , 109 , 111 ], while 10 studies were interested in children’s development and play more broadly [ 86 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 92 , 95 , 96 , 101 , 102 , 105 , 107 , 113 ]. The remaining studies covered a range of other disciplines, including, environmental education and health ( n = 2) [ 89 , 110 ], education ( n = 1) [ 108 ], injury prevention ( n = 1) [ 112 ], psychology ( n = 1) [ 106 ], and human geography ( n = 1) [ 88 ].…”

“…Children’s ages were reported inconsistently; most reported the study population as an age or grade range and few reported actual numbers of children by age. While all studies were conducted in elementary schools (generally entry-level to grade 6), the year and grade levels in these institutions did not always correlate and varied across jurisdictions, with some including up to Year 7 [ 32 ], or Year 8 [ 99 , 104 , 105 ], and one study including Year 7–8 participants who were aged 13–15 years (from one of five schools) [ 99 ]. Two studies included Year 7 participants from a secondary school [ 93 , 94 ].…”

“…wrestling, fencing, Running and throwing (e.g. tagging with balls) Running and catching/ holding Play-fighting, super-hero play, sword-fighting (with sticks), conkers Snow fights Ball-tag games (dodgeball, brandi, skobolti) Catch and contain games (fire-catch) [ 33 , 85 , 87 , 93 , 94 , 96 , 97 , 99 , 101 , 104 , 106 , 110 , 112 ] [ 89 , 92 , 96 , 101 , 105 – 107 , 112 ] 4. DISAPPEAR OR GET LOST Children are unsupervised, alone Hiding, getting lost and found again Hide and seek and other play in unsupervised or ‘out of bounds’ areas Playing in tree houses, bushes, trees, dens Mazes, tunnels [ 32 , 33 , 86 , 93 , 97 , 99 , 100 , 102 , 109 – 111 ] [ 88 ] 5.…”

“…DANGEROUS TOOLS Potential for injuries or wounds Cutting, whittling, sawing, drilling, tying Building dens with tools like hammers and saws Playing with (skipping) ropes in ways other than intended e.g. to make swings or tie children up in chase and catch games [ 90 , 105 , 106 ] 6. DANGEROUS ELEMENTS Risk of injury from falling into or from something Sledding, sliding, skating Playing near fire, deep water, frozen water, steep hills Sliding down snowbanks or on ice [ 86 , 104 , 109 , 110 , 112 ] [ 89 , 112 , 113 ] 7.…”