Leveraging Student Voice and Choice in Recess Activity Offerings: A Collaborative Approach to Inclusion

by: Nathaniel Crane, Bryan Arthur Amichand Heal, Jesse Porter, Katie Glover, Tammy Shubat, Andrea Haefele, Marika Warner

date: February 18, 2026

The benefits of sport and physical activity participation are undisputed, including improved physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being. The issue, more so, lies in who is participating—or rather, who is NOT. Women and girls, racialized youth, and youth with disabilities are all under-represented in sport and physical activity (PA). With sense of belonging being a key indicator of healthy, active living in young people, schools should work to strengthen this outcome by reimagining how youth engage in sport and PA during the school day —recess time (McNamara, 2021). We define recess time as the time students spend outside of the classroom participating in sport and PA. This could be the official recess breaks, but can also include intramurals, Daily Physical Activity (DPA) breaks, and lunch.

Adrienne Clarkson Public School (ACPS) is an elementary school in Ontario’s York Region District School Board that wanted to reimagine recess time to be something accessible to all students, including those who often feel like outsiders to organized sport and PA participation. To address this challenge, ACPS partnered with the MLSE Foundation, the University of Toronto, and Ophea, and Adrienne Clarkson Public School (ACPS) to creating a structured recess activity program called Junior Jams. The partnership was part of MLSE Foundation and the University of Toronto’s Change the Game research project exploring barriers and challenges to access and participation in youth sport. A curriculum consultant from Ophea brought their expertise in physical education and health programming to lead activities in both the feedback and outcome stages of the project. Ophea is a registered charity in Ontario that works to ensure youth and children experience the benefits of physical activity. Specifically, they strive to strengthen students’ sense of belonging, including among those who are historically marginalized, in schools, while prioritizing student health and wellbeing.

What was the ask from Adrienne Clarkson Public School?

Staff at ACPS expressed concern with the lack of sport and PA engagement from students in the junior division (grades 4-6) and wanted to create new PA opportunities that were accessible to all students. Students in these grades who did not consider themselves to be athletic, or who did not play team sports, had few opportunities to engage in PA. Self-perceptions of not being athletic led these students to feel they could not participate in the organized activities that did exist such as the basketball and volleyball teams. Before addressing this, we sought to learn what the students wanted their recess time to look, feel, and sound like. We then used these learnings to co-create an inclusive, safe, and fun recess program that meets the needs of all students in the school community – a program that would eventually be named Junior Jams.

What did the students say?

Our team created an interactive and fun way for students to share ideas and feedback on how recess could be reimagined. We spent two days with over 100 students in grades 4-6 playing games and activities in the gymnasium and outdoors. We used a guided-thinking routine with pictures of the students playing to provide an opportunity for reflection and to gather feedback on how the students want to reimagine recess. The games and activities that the students participated in were student-centered, and used a range of approaches that allowed them to participate individually, in small groups, and as a whole group, along with using a variety of equipment and materials in ways that students may not have experienced before. Students had multiple entry points for participation; the games and activities were intentionally planned to foster social and emotional connections with peers of varying abilities, interests, and experiences.

Games and activities included variations of tag using clothes pins, pool noodles and scarves, as well as cooperative relay races using the simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and rubber animals. This approach provided a low-skill gap for students to participate. This meant that students who did not identify as the traditional “sporty” or “athletic” type were able to engage and participate. Whether the student came from a physically literate background or had no experience playing team sports, students were now meaningfully playing alongside each other while having fun.

During the guided-thinking routine, students provided their reflections and feedback on chart papers with written and drawn responses to questions such as:

What do you want recess to look, feel, and sound like?
Where do you want to play?
What’s the purpose or goal of recess?

The insights drawn from these responses led to four main takeaways:

Students expressed a need for inclusion, safety, and fairness
There needs to be a focus on happiness and having fun
They desired playing outside rather than inside
They want a mix of new and classic games to play

A large portion of the responses focused on characteristics of recess related to emotional and physical safety, playing with friends —both current and new —and laughter and smiles. It was clear that strengthening a sense of belonging was key to a successful recess program with full and ongoing participation.

How did we create a recess environment that strengthens sense of belonging?

We created Junior Jams, an organized recess program for junior students that runs each week during Friday recess and centers inclusion and accessibility in its activity offerings. These activities emphasize a low skill-gap and collaboration fostering feelings of inclusion and accessibility.

Junior Jams schedules and activity plans were co-created and led between a teacher at ACPS and a curriculum consultant at Ophea with the idea being that after the first few weeks of support from Ophea, the teacher(s) could take over the planning and leading on their own. The end goal of the program is to have 1-2 teachers or staff running the program with senior student helpers to encourage role modelling and leadership amongst peers.

Each week of the program would be dedicated to a different grade or grades, for example the first week of the program was for grades 4 and 5 and a signup process was used to keep attendance numbers manageable for the 2 program leaders – in this case 35 students attended. Many of the activities that were played during the program came directly from resources that Ophea provides on their website:

**Was Junior Jams a success?**

Junior Jams ran for two months in May and June to end the school year, and afterwards we asked some of the students for their feedback – this is some of what they said:

“[The games] were great at teambuilding”
“[they] helped me make new friends”
“I liked the people…because we were all participating and having fun”

It was great to see that the students felt the activities were helping them socialize and make friends, as this can positively influence one’s belief in their ability to participate in activities and fit in (Zou et al., 2023).

The staff of ACPS also shared that they enjoyed seeing students they wouldn’t typically see on organized sports teams, and many of the students who showed up were girls, a target demographic of the program. Teachers seemed optimistic in their ability to continue the program after seeing its success and the impact it had on students.

What can you do at your school to boost sense of belonging through recess?

Understandably, some schools may not have the time or resources to plan their own feedback sessions such as the ones in this project, but we hope the overview of our journey can inspire some to take small steps to enhance students’ sense of belonging through a student-centered approach. Offering opportunities outside the norm in sport and physical activity can be an easy way to keep activity fresh in your school, introduce students to something new and active, and help them build social connections.

A guiding principle of this project was the idea of student voice and choice. If we take the time to get to know the students and ask them what they are looking for in a PA program, they will tell us. Giving students autonomy and engaging students through the process can be a great way to increase participation in PA, while also achieving important outcomes such as an increased sense of belonging and social connection. If there is an opportunity to gather feedback from students, even in a small way or informally at the end of class, it can go a long way.

Reflection Questions

Which students at your school are, and are not, participating in existing PA opportunities? How might you find out what would interest a wider variety of students?
What resources can you access to discover new PA ideas?

References

Home | ophea.net. Ophea. (2025). https://ophea.net/

McNamara L. 2021. School recess and pandemic recovery efforts: ensuring a climate that supports positive social connection and meaningful play. FACETS 6: 1814–1830. doi:10.1139/facets-2021-0081

Zou, Y., Liu, S., Guo, S., Zhao, Q., & Cai, Y. (2023). Peer Support and Exercise Adherence in Adolescents: The Chain-Mediated Effects of Self-Efficacy and Self-Regulation. Children, 10(2), 401. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10020401

Meet the Expert(s)

Nathaniel Crane

Research Assistant

Nathaniel is a Research Assistant at MLSE LaunchPad primarily working on MLSE Foundation and University of Toronto's Change The Game project, a project that investigates sport interest and experiences of youth aged 6-29 in Ontario. With a background and Master's degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from the University of Waterloo, his passions and interests center around Sport for Development and community-based work through lenses such as mental health and EDI.

Bryan Arthur Amichand Heal

Social Impact Research Lead

Bryan Heal (he/him) is the Social Impact Research Lead at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) Foundation, where he builds research, sport and community partnerships to mobilize knowledge in service of improved access and quality youth development outcomes. Bryan's leadership of MLSE Foundation's Change the Game research project has engaged more than 35K youth voices since 2021 on issues related to access, engagement, and positive outcomes in sport; alongside the development of 20+ participatory partnerships developing interventions on the path toward safer, braver play spaces and cultures. Outside of his day job, Bryan is a Board of Directors of Canada's Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC); and of Strides, Toronto's Lead Agency for Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health.

Jesse Porter

Researcher

Jesse is a PhD Candidate in Kinesiology under the supervision of Dr. Gretchen Kerr at the University of Toronto with a collaborative specialization in Women and Gender Studies. Her research explores care work and coaching through the lenses of gender and safeguarding in Canadian sport. Jesse is the head coach of the UofT women's lacrosse program and has over 10 years of coaching experience in multiple countries at various levels.

Katie Glover

Director of Knowledge Mobilization

With over a decade of experience in project management and training, Katie is a dedicated leader passionate about fostering a culture of continuous learning. As Ophea’s Director of Knowledge Mobilization, she specializes in creating and implementing effective strategies that enhance knowledge exchange among diverse interest holders. More recently, her focus is on developing and delivering innovative professional learning opportunities that utilize differentiated tools and strategies to further contribute to collaboration within school communities and advancing regional and provincial educational initiatives. Outside of work, she enjoys keeping active and spending time with her family — often spent cheering on (and trying to keep up with!) her two kids in all their pursuits.

Tammy Shubat

Chief Strategy Officer

Tammy has worked in health promotion and education for more than 25 years, and specifically for the last 18 years with Ophea, advancing health and well-being in Ontario schools. Currently in the Chief Strategy Officer role, Tammy aligns provincial and national partners, business development opportunities, and strategic objectives for Ophea, and for the sector at large. With a practice in grounded in social justice and anti-oppressive approaches in education, Tammy is a proud member of the 2SLGBTQ community, an advocate, and a mum.

Andrea Haefele

Health & Physical Education Curriculum Consultant

Andrea Haefele, she/her: I am a teacher in the York Region District School board, currently seconded as a Health & Physical Education curriculum consultant at Ophea. I have been part of many regional and provincial initiatives that support the H&PE curriculum, Healthy Schools, and also the Daily Physical Activity provincial policy. I am a strong advocate for people with disabilities and have spoken at professional learning networks such as the Hospital for SickKids, the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Jumpstart Charities, and Autism Ontario.