Attention
Do green schoolyards help kids focus after recess?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Spending recess in a natural school garden instead of a concrete courtyard improves children's attention and working memory.
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Brief environmental and activity interventions give mixed results, but they are not testing the same thing. A green-space recess improved children's sustained attention and working memory where a built courtyard did not, while 12 minutes of classroom exercise at low-to-moderate intensity produced no effect on processing speed or selective attention.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
Brief environmental and activity interventions give mixed results, but they are not testing the same thing. A green-space recess improved children's sustained attention and working memory where a built courtyard did not, while 12 minutes of classroom exercise at low-to-moderate intensity produced no effect on processing speed or selective attention.
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Do green schoolyards help kids focus after recess?
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82 students in the first study
Eighty-two children (average 10.1 years of age; 39 girls, 43 boys) attending two 4th grade and two 5th grade classes, participated in the study.
36 children in the second study
Thirty-six children (average 10.8 years of age; 17 girls, 18 boys) participated in the study.
Key findings
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.
Methodology
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.
Limitations
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.
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