Active Play and Say Yes To Recess - Episode 9
What if one of the most important parts of childhood was slowly disappearing from the school day?
In Episode 9 of the Active Play, Every Day podcast, Dr. Emily Greenwald sits down with founders Rachel Bush and Kathryn Truman to talk about why recess matters far beyond “letting kids burn energy.”
Together, they unpack the science behind recess, the growing national movement to protect it, and how a small group of parents helped change recess laws in Tennessee, expanding daily recess time and inspiring advocacy efforts across 19 states.
This episode is for parents, educators, pediatricians, and anyone who believes childhood should include movement, joy, and play.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why recess is not a break from learning, it actually supports learning and brain development
How unstructured play helps children build emotional regulation, conflict resolution, creativity, and social skills
The difference between recess, PE, and classroom “brain breaks” — and why they are not interchangeable
Why many children receive shockingly little recess time during the school day, sometimes as little as 15 minutes, including transitions
How the Say Yes to Recess movement successfully helped Tennessee increase daily recess requirements from 15 minutes to 40 minutes statewide
Why middle schoolers, and even high schoolers, still need recess and movement breaks throughout the day
Practical advice for parents who want to advocate for recess in their own schools or states
The Science Behind Recess
One of the major themes throughout this episode is that recess is not “extra”; it is foundational.
Dr. Emily explains that the brain needs opportunities for movement, wakeful rest, and emotional regulation in order to learn effectively. Recess allows children to reset cognitively, socially, and physically throughout the day.
Recess offers something uniquely valuable because children get to choose what their bodies and brains need in that moment:
Playing soccer with friends
Climbing
Running
Sitting quietly
Throwing rocks
Imagining games
Solving social conflicts independently
That freedom is exactly what makes recess powerful.
The conversation also explores how countries like Finland prioritize movement and learning breaks throughout the school day, and consistently outperform many traditional academic systems.
How Say Yes to Recess Started
The movement began when Rachel Bush’s kindergarten daughter came home from school and casually said:
“We don’t go outside.”
Rachel later discovered her daughter’s school schedule included only 15 minutes of recess, including the time it took to walk outside and back inside!
That moment sparked a grassroots effort that eventually became Say Yes to Recess.
Today, the organization supports advocacy chapters in 19 states and helps parents work with lawmakers, schools, teachers, and communities to improve recess policies nationwide.
The Active Play Prescription: What Makes a Good Recess Policy?
The Say Yes to Recess team shared several key principles they believe should be included in every recess bill:
Recess should be outdoors whenever safely possible
Recess should be screen-free
Recess should be unstructured, child-led play
Transition time should not count toward recess minutes
Recess should not be withheld as punishment
Recess should count as instructional time
The group also emphasized that recess is not the same as PE or classroom movement videos. Children need true free play.
Find Us
Where to find Say Yes To Recess
Where to find Dr. Emily
Subscribe to the Active Play, Every Day podcast
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and other popular podcast apps
Episode Sponsor
This podcast is sponsored by Nex Playground, an active play gaming system that helps families move indoors through full-body games that support learning, coordination, and joy!
Research & References
Hodges et al. (2022) — "The Benefits of School Recess: A Systematic Review" in the Journal of School Health. Reviewed literature from 2009–2020 and found recess provided academic/cognitive, behavioral/emotional, physical, and social benefits for school-aged children, with no literature implicating negative impacts.
