Playworks TeamUp Recess Program¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 4 studies (2 quant-synthesis, 1 causal, 1 review), q3 · 1 of 4 report an effect size

Description¶

TeamUp is a variant of the Playworks program model in which school staff — rather than a full-time Playworks coach — run a structured recess. Schools receive training, a game guide, and equipment, then treat recess like an instructional period: games are planned in advance, taught explicitly, and led by rotating adults or older students. The design goal is to convert unstructured playground time into a predictable social-learning environment that builds cooperation, conflict resolution, and physical activity while reducing bullying and post-recess classroom disruption.

Design Implications¶

TeamUp applies the logic of Direct Instruction to a non-classroom setting: rather than hoping social skills emerge from free play, it models and rehearses them through repeated, structured game routines. The evidence base for recess-based structured interventions is generally positive — playground interventions reliably increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and can reduce antisocial behavior [~M] — and the Mathematica randomized controlled trial of Playworks found improvements in recess safety, student inclusion, and teachers' reports of students' conflict-resolution abilities, with weaker and less consistent effects on academic outcomes [~M].

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Trained adults (teachers, paraprofessionals, or parent volunteers) who are present and leading, not merely supervising
• A small repertoire of well-taught games with explicit rules, so disputes have an agreed reference point (Clear Structure)
• A conflict-resolution routine (e.g., rock-paper-scissors as the Playworks "junior referee" mechanism) that students learn once and apply independently

Constraints¶

• Effects depend on implementation fidelity; schools where staff turnover is high or training is superficial see the program degrade into ordinary supervision [~M]
• Structured games can crowd out the developmental benefits of genuinely free, self-directed play — creativity, self-organized negotiation, and autonomy — if every recess minute is scripted [~M]
• Gains in recess climate do not reliably transfer to classroom behavior or achievement; the RCT found academic and school-climate effects were smaller and less consistent than recess-level effects [~M]
• Requires buy-in from playground staff; where adults see recess as "their break," leadership routines collapse

Implementation Variability¶

• TeamUp (school-led) vs. full Playworks coach model: the coach model embeds a dedicated site coordinator; TeamUp trades intensity for cost and sustainability
• Junior coach / peer-leader variants: older students run games, adding a learning-by-teaching [+M] benefit for the leaders themselves
• Partial adoption: schools may implement only the game library and conflict-resolution routine without full scheduling

Target Learners¶

• Elementary students (K–6), the population in which nearly all recess-intervention evidence has been gathered
• Students who struggle with unstructured social settings — the predictable rules and adult facilitation lower the social-executive demands of the playground [~M]
• Older students serving as game leaders, who benefit from leadership responsibility and modeling roles [~M]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Social-emotional skills: turn-taking, inclusion, and peer conflict resolution
• Behavioral regulation: returning to class settled and ready to learn
• Physical health: increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the school day
• Procedural fluency in a shared game culture that reduces rule disputes

Instructions¶

1. Train all recess staff in the game library and the conflict-resolution routine before launch (Coaching).
2. Publish a weekly recess plan — which games, which zones, which adults — like a lesson plan (Clear Structure).
3. Teach each new game explicitly during the first days: model it, play a demonstration round, then release students (Practice).
4. Establish a universal dispute-resolution move (e.g., rock-paper-scissors) so students resolve conflicts without adult adjudication (Fading [+M]).
5. Rotate student leaders into game-leadership roles to build ownership and reduce adult dependence.
6. Check in with teachers weekly about post-recess classroom behavior and adjust the game plan (Check-In).

Related Strategies¶

• Active Recess — the broader category of structured-activity recess interventions; TeamUp is one branded implementation
• Cooperative Learning — TeamUp games are designed so success requires interdependence among players of mixed skill
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports — TeamUp's predictable routines and explicit expectations operate on the same reinforcement logic in a non-classroom setting
• Guide students in organized activities during recess and improve the recess play yard to raise physical activity, especially for girls
• Promote active play with family and peers to facilitate creativity skills and physical activity

Examples¶

• Playworks TeamUp (playworks.org) — the program itself: training, game guides, and equipment kits enabling schools to run structured recess without a full-time coach.
• Ready for Recess (Omaha, NE) — a similar structured-recess intervention using activity zones and staff training, which increased children's physical activity at recess (Huberty et al., 2013).
• SPARK Active Recreation (sparkpe.org) — a commercial structured-recess and physical-education program with a comparable game-library model.

Key Sources¶

• Fortson, J., James-Burdumy, S., Bleeker, M., Beyler, N., London, R. A., Westrich, L., & Inverness Research Associates. (2013). Impact and implementation findings from an experimental evaluation of Playworks: Effects on school climate, academic and social-emotional outcomes, and physical activity. Mathematica Policy Research / Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• Huberty, J. L., Beets, M. W., Beighle, A., & McKenzie, T. L. (2013). Association of environment and policy characteristics on children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and time spent sedentary in afterschool programs. Preventive Medicine, 57(5), 608–613. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.09.010
• Ridgers, N. D., Stratton, G., & Fairclough, S. J. (2006). Physical activity levels of children during school playtime. Sports Medicine, 36(4), 359–371.
• London, R. A., Westrich, L., Stokes-Guinan, K., & McLaughlin, M. W. (2015). Playing fair: The contribution of high-functioning recess to overall school climate in low-income elementary schools. Journal of School Health, 85(1), 53–60. doi:10.1111/josh.12216