Sports4Kids: Teaching children the joys of recess

Kevin Duran, Joanna Komninos and Mylia Williams, all 6-year-old first-graders, told her. They’re learning to read, and they agree that reading is their favorite class. But their favorite time of the day, they say and shout in unison — is “Recess!”

Of course.

However, like reading, they’re still learning how to play. And that’s where Sports4Kids comes in.

Sports4Kids was founded in 1996 at two elementary schools in Berkeley, Calif., and now reaches nearly 50,000 students in 115 low-income public schools in Baltimore, Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, with full-day programming emphasizing play and physical activity.

Its mission is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for safe, meaningful play.

Last year, the program, which sends one full-time coordinator to each school, started in six Baltimore schools.

The program was so successful in reducing conflicts at recess and teaching children the skills to play well together, according to principals and parents, Sports4Kids nearly doubled in size this fall to 11 BCPS schools.

Jill Vialet, a former Marylander, was running a project called the Museum of Children’s Art in San Francisco when she got the inspiration for Sports4Kids.

“I was sitting in a principal’s office one day to talk about the art program — which was going well — but she was having problems with kids at recess, there were fights and arguments and teachers thought it was more trouble than it was worth,” Vialet said.

“She looked at me and said ‘Can’t you do something about this, too?’ ”

At Ruhrah, Colleen Harvey, a recent University of Minnesota graduate, organizes and teaches children games such as kickball, tag, four square and soccer in a 45-minute “classroom” playtime once every two weeks and then works with all the children in school during the daily 15 to 20-minute recess to keep games fun and moving.

Older students, the fourth- and fifth-graders, are encouraged to become junior coaches and help the younger children.

There is also an after-school component that includes more play, snacks and an hour of homework.

The program cost $60,000 per school annually; $22,000 of that amount comes from the school budget.

Sports4Kids, a nonprofit, raises the other $38,000.

“It’s been two months but it’s made an impact,” said Ruhrah assistant principal Pamela Zavala, who noted that the school doesn’t have traditional physical education.

“I love it: Kids are having fun, playing together, and I’ve already had one fourth-grade parent tell me that the junior coaching has been a good influence on her son.”

More information on Sports4Kids can be found at www.sports4kids.org.