Recess is disappearing. Parents are pushing to bring it back.

When Kathryn Truman’s son Sawyer enrolled in kindergarten, she was surprised to discover his school only gave him 20 minutes of recess a day. The 40-year-old nurse worried he wouldn’t get enough of a mental and physical break.

Truman wasn’t the only one who felt this way. She teamed with other parents to help revive recess throughout Tennessee, which went on to pass a law last year requiring at least 40 minutes of recess in elementary schools. Now, Truman is looking to expand recess in middle schools and helps lead a nonprofit—Say Yes to Recess—with chapters in 20 states.

“Of course we want our kids to be good at math and reading, but what kind of people will they grow up to be? That’s determined at recess,” said Truman, explaining the benefits for children’s social development.

Mothers and fathers nationwide are alarmed by dwindling recess time and calling upon school administrators to restore it. In New Hampshire and Michigan, parents have had success increasing recess in some schools and are pushing for state laws mandating it. In New York, some parents say a bill backed by the statewide teachers union requiring up to 30 minutes of daily, unstructured recess time in elementary school doesn’t go far enough.

In Michigan, Shanel Talbert said she got involved in the fight for recess when her daughter’s elementary school reduced it last year. While her daughter wasn’t struggling academically, Talbert could see that she was burned out from her seven-hour school day.

Talbert and other parents launched a petition, calling for at least 60 minutes of recess, that has garnered over 1,300 signatures. They are working with a state legislator on a bill that would require 40 minutes of recess in elementary school, which Talbert said they thought was more likely to pass.

Morning and afternoon recesses were common in U.S. elementary schools during the post-World War II decades. But as pressure mounted on schools to improve test performance in the 2000s, many reduced or eliminated recess in favor of more instructional time in subjects such as reading and math. States often prescribe minimum instructional hours, and recess generally doesn’t count.

Chicago Public Schools was among the first big-city school districts to restore daily recess in 2012, after many of its elementary schools did away with it. But the effort was slow to catch on broadly.

Pediatricians have been sounding the alarm, saying recess has both mental and physical benefits. In May, the American Academy of Pediatrics expanded its endorsement of recess beyond elementary schools to include middle and high schools. Research suggests that at least 20 minutes a day with multiple breaks is best, the AAP says.

Catherine Ramstetter, co-author of that recommendation, said recess helps children remember information and learn better. It also allows young children to develop interpersonal skills.

Ramstetter upholds the Finnish model in which students typically get 15 minutes of recess multiple times a day. “The importance of recess as time to connect with one another cannot be understated,” she said. “Adults ideally are not intervening in the play but close by so they can intervene when necessary.”

In Oklahoma, legislators recently pushed for more recess time as part of an effort to improve learning and test results that has also included banning cellphones during school and emphasizing phonics, according to Republican state Sen. Ally Seifried.

Seifried drafted a law that passed in April requiring 40 minutes of daily recess in kindergarten through fifth grade, up from 20 minutes. “Parents who had little boys definitely recognized the importance of this,” she said.

Krissy West, a school physical therapist and mother from New Hampshire, started advocating for more recess last year, after seeing her daughter Daisy get overwhelmed, sometimes resulting in tantrums after school.

“She would say that [her] whole body is just ready to run,” said West. As a coping mechanism later on, her daughter, now 10 years old, would ask the teacher for permission to take bathroom breaks, time she would then use to take a walk through the hallways.

A bill West championed, which would have required 45 to 60 minutes of recess for K-6 students, was defeated on New Hampshire’s House floor earlier this year amid concerns it would violate existing teacher contracts by requiring extra staff.

The “Say Yes to Recess” initiative calls for at least 60 minutes of screen-free time daily when children get to pick their activities, and that it isn’t withheld as punishment. The hourlong recommendation is based on research from Texas Christian University on the optimal time needed for children to reduce stress and anxiety, improve test scores and fight obesity.

West and other parents have helped push for change locally at Valley View Community School in Farmington, N.H. This past academic year, the elementary school added a 25-minute recess block starting from 7:30 a.m., when parents can drop their children off. The start of classes was moved 10 minutes later to help accommodate it.

West said recess first thing in the day isn’t ideal and noted part of it became optional in practice because some children wouldn’t arrive until later. But she is encouraged that the school is trying to find solutions.

The school’s principal, Mark Dangora, said adding more downtime is still a work in progress. He is trying to bring daily recess time to a total of 50-55 minutes. Losing a bit of class time, so far, hasn’t affected learning, he said.

“Children need play,” said Dangora.

Write to Chao Deng at [email protected]