FEATURED ARTICLES BY DR. MELINDA BOSSENMEYER
A series of articles on children’s health topics such as physical activity, bullying, school playgrounds, school recess, nutrition, PE, childhood obesity, and play.
Low Cost Solutions to Fun Fitness Activities5 Days of Physical Activity By Melinda Bossenmeyer, Ed.D. This article explores a listing of five great suggestions for low cost and fun fitness activities for students. The perfect Monday-Friday fitness activities that students will love while getting fit. Simple and Inexpensive Fun [...]
Most Students Deserve An Unstructured Recess Experience Today I received a phone call from a second-grade teacher. She indicated that she had a behavior challenged child (frequent discipline issues) and was growing pretty frustrated with him. In response to Jeremy (not his real name), who was hitting kids, pushing kids, and causing chaos at recess, [...]
School Recess: When Is It Too Cold To Go Out To Recess? Part of the Inclement Weather Series By Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, The Recess Doctor Indoor or Outdoor Recess? When the weather outside is frightful outdoor recess on the playground may not be delightful. Just ask any [...]
[jwplayer config="Large Player" mediaid="1653"]The playground is an essential part of any school and every community. Peaceful Playgrounds Programs reduces playground confrontations and arguments Reducing playground confrontations can may recess more enjoyable. Children spend many hours of their day occupying themselves with what the playground has to offer and have little control over the recess environment. [...]
Eliminate School Recess? Let's Skip It! Melinda Bossenmeyer, Ed.D. California State University San Marcos Every decade or so educators stumble upon a really bad idea. The elimination of school recess is one such current example. Citing valid, yet, inconveniencing reasons such as liability concerns, supervision hardships, and the pressure to increase academic achievement, some educators [...]
How to have a Peaceful Playground - 1999 Aria Lopez-Rosende Principal, Pioneer Elementary I first learned about Peaceful Playgrounds (PP) as a classroom teacher over 10 years ago and heard about the resulting reduction in playground problems. Then I became I Principal of Pioneer Elementary in Escondido and realized that with a playground of [...]
School Playgrounds Can Be Safe by Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, The Recess Doctor School Safety Update - October 1998 New Program Improves Playground Safety National School Safety Center Pepperdine University - Malibu, CA "As a playground supervisor, playground safety is of upmost importance. A playground supervisor at an [...]
By Cheri Carlson Ventura County Star Newspaper October 2007 New playground game markings boost physical activity. New playground game markings boost physical activity at Camarillo school. Getting students active is a goal of most schools since the majority of students in elementary school do not get the 60 minutes a day of recommended physical activity. [...]
Sheboygan Falls gets playground transformation August 2009 By Jeff Pederson Sheboygan Falls - Plymouth, WI When students return to Sheboygan Falls Elementary School for the first day of the 2009-10 school year, a whole new world of fun, fitness, and creativity awaits from the school's playground makeover. Thanks to the initiative, hard work, and dedication [...]
By Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, The Recess Doctor "Peaceful Playgrounds: An engaging recess solution." Playground Equipment Increases Physical Activity The basic playground ball is a great tool to get kids moving. Simple playthings like loose playground equipment such as balls, jump ropes, hula hoops and riding toys, do more for encouraging physical activity on [...]
America’s favorite pastime may be baseball but for children in school, it's definitely recessed! Just ask a group of students their favorite subject in school and you’re sure to get a loud enthusiastic array of “recess”! And much to the delight of students and parents alike, recess appears to be on the upswing. In 1998, [...]
Thinking about recess before lunch? These resources will help. As you may know, I’m a retired principal but I’d be the first to admit that changing the education system is a lot like turn a huge cruise ship in a small harbor. Possible but not probable and it requires lots of maneuvering. However, a few [...]
A professional perspective based on Case Study: Lessons from Los Angeles, in the Journal of Public Health Policy (2009) For years physical educators across the country have advocated for daily physical education for their students. Legislators have joined the bandwagon and passed legislation mandating physical education for most K-12 grade students throughout CA and across [...]
A Community Playground Project Last summer, I spent 5 days in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on a community playground project at Lanier Elementary School. It was during the height of summer, in a record setting heat wave painting playground games on [...]
10 Rainy and Snow Day Activities for Indoor Recess By Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer, The Recess Doctor Brain Breaks for Indoor Recess And P.E. Are you looking for indoor recess games for elementary students? I've compiled a set of indoor recess games for download below. This [...]