Want to find out more? Here are more resources!
Schools that schedule recess before lunch report that students eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more milk, waste less food, and are better behaved on the playground, in the lunchroom, and in the classroom, according to an article in the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management. Some schools also note a decrease in visits to the school nurse and more instruction time as benefits of the schedule switch.
“Kids are calmer after they’ve had recess first,” Janet Sinkewicz, principal of Sharon Elementary School in Robbinsville, New Jersey, told The New York Times recently. “They feel like they have more time to eat and they don’t have to rush.
Changing the recess and lunch schedule, however, raises some practical concerns. For example, critics question when, in the rush from playground to cafeteria, students can wash their hands, as well as what to do with coats, gloves, and galoshes after playing.
Delaying lunch also puts additional strain on students from low-income families who often do not eat breakfast.
Schools address these problems in various ways. Sharon Elementary in New Jersey, for example, allows students more time to return coats to their lockers with less clothing ending up in the lost and found, Sinkewicz told the Times.
And hand sanitizers can help with the hand-washing problem, although many adopters of recess before lunch recommend building in hand-washing time before students enter the cafeteria.
To help hungry students, Montana schools offering recess before lunch program suggest offering a mid-morning snack along with promoting the school’s breakfast program.