PHOENIX - Arizona students will soon be required to take two recess breaks a day, under a new law Governor Doug Ducey signed this week.
Many school districts across the country have cut recess in favor of more classroom time to boost test scores.
But does recess actually help kids learn?
"Kids who get time to essentially be outdoors, physically active, play, tend to focus better and can concentrate better," said Dr. Hans van der Mars at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers' College.
And there's research to back him up.
A 2009 study found 8- and 9-year-olds who had at least 15 minutes of recess were better behaved in class.
A 2010 CDC study found kids performed better on standardized tests if they were given a recess period.
In 2016, another study found boys who were not given a recess break learned reading and math more slowly than boys who were.
And the American Academy of Pediatrics's official stance is that kids should have an hour of recess a day for social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.
In fact, we could not find a single study that showed recess was bad for kids or bad for test scores.
So we can verify, based on nearly every major study, that adding recess periods does help kids learn.