Elementary school classroom physical activity breaks: student, teacher, and facilitator perspectives

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Exercise Science
• Educational Psychology
• Public Health Interventions

Background:

• Current physical activity (PA) guidelines emphasize daily activity for children and inter-sectoral collaboration for adults.
• Brief Classroom Physical Activity Breaks (CPABs) offer a practical strategy to increase daily PA in school settings.
• Implementing CPABs aligns with recommendations to integrate PA opportunities throughout the school day.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess elementary school students' and teachers' perceptions of a 14-week CPAB program.
• To evaluate the feasibility and impact of CPABs on student engagement and learning readiness.
• To gather feedback for program improvement and encourage broader adoption of similar initiatives.

Main Methods:

• A 14-week CPAB program was implemented in a suburban elementary school involving 254 students (grades 1-4) and 18 teachers.
• University exercise science students administered the CPAB program.
• Student and teacher perceptions were collected via surveys.

Main Results:

• The vast majority of students found CPABs fun (86%), a good break (88%), beneficial for health (94%), and helpful for learning readiness (71%) and learning (50%).
• Teachers overwhelmingly reported students enjoyed CPABs (100%) and viewed encouraging physical activity as important (100%).
• Teachers expressed high confidence in leading CPABs (100%) and no negative impact on classroom learning was reported.

Conclusions:

• CPABs are perceived as enjoyable, easy to administer, and supportive of the learning environment by both students and teachers.
• The program fostered a beneficial and positive collaborative experience.
• Recommendations for program enhancement were minimal, suggesting successful integration and advocating for similar program implementation.