BHC Orientation

Recess is an excellent opportunity for children to be physically active at school. In fact, students who are active during recess can accumulate up to 40% of their recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity just during recess! Providing quality active recess time for students is not only good for their physical health, it is also shown to improve classroom behavior, social skills, emotional health and learning readiness.

There are a many effective ways to increase children’s physical activity during recess and having an “active recess” may look different for each student. The main thing you want to see is your students physically moving either by walking, running, playing on playground equipment, or participating in active gameplay.

At Building Healthy Communities, we aim to provide your school with all of the resources you need to make the most of your recess time, including equipment and play guidance. Below, you will find links to equipment information, recess planning resources, indoor and outdoor recess ideas, active discipline ideas, and movement challenges.

During this year with Building Healthy Communities, Schools will:

Provide at least 20 minutes of recess for every student, every day. Students who are actively engaged during recess are less likely to need discipline during recess and in class. Consider asking students who need help behaving well to help lead an activity or to help with equipment.
Ensure that all students have access to equipment. Sometimes the logistics of school schedules or available recess facilities require some creative thinking to ensure that all children have access to the equipment. You may consider splitting up equipment for multiple playgrounds, recruiting helpers to provide activity ideas in multiple locations, or providing teachers with indoor and outdoor recess ideas. If you need support to facilitate this or things like bags to make your equipment more mobile, please let your BHC School Coordinator know.
Promote activity! Help facilitate group games as an option to actively engage kids and help build social skills. Students love to help, so consider asking for ideas and promoting student leadership of activities. From time to time you may want to incorporate a mileage or activity challenge to add to the fun and provide structure.
Engage positively with students. When students are engaged in activity during recess they are less likely to need behavioral corrections, but when they do, aim to quickly resolve problems and redirect children to positive behavior as much as possible. Best-practice research suggests that in a play-based setting, staff should aim to have four positive interactions for every corrective action with students. Aim to focus your interventions on more activity, not less – consider an active challenge instead of requiring the student to sit out or miss recess. Peaceful Playgrounds offers 60 Alternatives to Withholding Recess ideas for promoting positive behavior.

Recess Equipment

Playground Recess Cart

Recess Planning

Outdoor Recess

Indoor Recess

Active Discipline Resources

Mileage/Movement Challenges

The Building Healthy Communities Program is undergoing an exciting transition within our broader school health initiative. We will not be accepting new applications for the elementary school program at this time; instead, we are expanding our impact through Building Healthy Communities: Step Up for School Wellness, a comprehensive K–12 program designed to support school-wide wellness initiatives across all grade levels.

The Building Healthy Communities: Step Up For School Wellness program builds on the success of our elementary model while offering:

Expanded grade-level inclusion (K–12)
Many additional healthy resources available for schools to select
Greater opportunities for school-wide engagement and impact

While we are no longer accepting new applications for the Elementary School Program, we are proud of the many schools and communities that have participated and will continue to support our alumni schools through ongoing access to program resources and materials on this site.

This transition reflects our continued commitment to supporting healthier school communities through innovative, scalable, and inclusive programming. We are grateful for the impact of the Elementary School Program and excited for what lies ahead with Step Up for School Wellness.

For New Schools:

If your school is interested in launching or strengthening a wellness initiative, we encourage you to apply for Step Up for School Wellness resources. This program is now the primary pathway for schools looking to join the Building Healthy Communities network.

APPLY HERE

For BHC Alumni Schools:
We remain committed to our alumni schools and invite you to continue utilizing the resources available on this website to sustain the healthy school environment you built during your year of BHC programing.

BHC alumni schools are also eligible to apply for additional support! Consider applying for Step Up for School Wellness resources related to mental health and social-emotional learning to expand or deepen your school wellness efforts.