ABSTRACT
This chapter expresses that the recess period actually maximizes social dimension and cognitive dimension of school performance and provides a brief historical and theoretical background to the debate surrounding the role of recess and breaks from work during the school day. It addresses what may be a more proximal effect of recess on children's cognitive performance in school by examining the experimentally manipulated effect of varying breaktime/recess timing regimens on children's attention to controlled classroom tasks. The first study to address directly this issue of outdoor recess activity and post-recess attention found that third grade children's attention before recess was lower than it was after recess, especially for boys, thus suggesting that recess facilitates attention. The chapter presents a developmental theory and data that provides support for the positive role of recess in the school curriculum. Friendships between primary-aged children were often manifested in, and supported by, active breaktime activities and playground games.
