Do green schoolyards help kids focus after recess?
Spending recess in a natural school garden instead of a concrete courtyard improves children's attention and working memory.
Source
Green Breaks: The Restorative Effect of the School Environment's Green Areas on Children's Cognitive Performance
What they did
Researchers conducted two field experiments with Italian primary school children. In the first study, 82 students in the fourth and fifth grades played a structured team game during morning recess in either a green garden or a concrete courtyard. In the second study, 36 fifth graders were allowed 30 minutes of free play during an afternoon recess in either a natural or built setting.
What they found
In the first study, children who spent recess in the green garden showed significant improvements in sustained attention and working memory, whereas those in the built courtyard did not. Additionally, children in both studies rated the green garden as significantly more restorative. In the second study, those who played freely in the natural area showed better post-recess attention than those restricted to the built area, who actually experienced a decline in concentration.
The limits
What it doesn't show
This research cannot prove long-term academic benefits, as it only measured cognitive performance immediately before and after a single recess block. The tests used in the first experiment may have been too easy, potentially causing a ceiling effect that masked improvements in impulse control. Additionally, because the second study forced one group of children to stay in the built area when they wanted to play in the garden, their drop in attention might reflect frustration or a constrained restoration effect rather than the concrete environment itself. Finally, the small sample size of 36 children in the second study limits the generalizability of these findings.
Key terms
- Restoration
- The psychological and physiological recovery process of replenishing mental and energy resources depleted by daily life demands.
- Attention Restoration Theory (ART)
- A psychological theory suggesting that exposure to natural environments restores directed attention capacity by allowing the mind to rest.
- Directed attention
- The voluntary mental effort required to focus on a task, ignore distractions, and inhibit impulses.
- Fascination
- An effortless attraction to environmental elements that engages attention without requiring conscious cognitive processing.
- Constrained restoration
- A situation where the recovery of depleted psychological resources is blocked or hindered by unfavorable circumstances.
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What are the two primary theories in environmental psychology used to explain psychological restoration through nature?
Common questions
Did the children's actual activities during recess affect the results?
The researchers controlled for this by testing two different formats. In the first study, children played a structured, competitive game of basketball in both settings, while in the second study, they engaged in free play. Both formats led to better attention recovery when conducted in the natural environment rather than the built one, suggesting the physical setting itself is the primary driver of restoration.
Why didn't green recess improve children's impulse control?
The researchers suggest that the test used to measure impulse control may have been too simple for the children, creating a ceiling effect where almost everyone scored highly from the start. This makes it difficult to detect subtle improvements. It is also possible that nature impacts impulse control differently than it does working memory and focus.
Is a built outdoor environment worse than staying indoors?
While this study did not directly compare built outdoor areas to indoor classrooms, it did show that a built courtyard can sometimes fail to restore attention or even lead to a temporary decline in focus. This decline might occur if children feel restricted or frustrated by not being allowed to play in nearby green spaces.
What specific natural features did the school gardens have?
The school gardens utilized in the study featured trees, lawn areas, and shrubbery, whereas the built environments consisted of paved courtyards near school entrances without vegetative elements.
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