1KHO 541: Recess Is Not Optional, Why Our Kids Need More Than 22 Minutes to Be Human | Say Yes to Recess!

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Kids & Family, Parenting

4.8 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the decline in childhood mental health, self-regulation, and academic engagement could be traced back to a missing piece of the school day? In this powerful and passionate episode of The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, Ginny Yurich sits down with the founding team of Say Yes to Recess, a grassroots movement turned national nonprofit fighting for more play, more time outside, and more humanity in our schools. With just 22 minutes of average daily recess—and many kids getting even less—this conversation peels back the layers of how educational priorities have shifted dangerously away from the needs of the whole child. The team shares how they went from frustrated parents to successful policy changemakers and how you can start a chapter in your own state. This is the rallying cry. Recess is not a break from learning—it is learning. Movement builds brains. Free play teaches the life skills that Fortune 500 CEOs are begging for. And the best part? Kids want to do it. Say Yes to Recess is leading the charge, and this episode shows you why the time to act is now. Visit sayyestorecess.com to learn more, donate, or launch a chapter in your state. You can also follow their movement on Instagram and Facebook @sayyestorecess. A huge thank you to our sponsors! Check them ALL out below: Select Quote: Head to www.selectquote.com/1000hours to learn more. BetterHelp: Visit www.BetterHelp.com/1000HOURS today to get 10% off your first month. Quince - Visit www.quince.com/outside and get free shipping and 365 day returns NIV Application Bible - visit www.NIVapplicationbible.com if you’re looking to grow in your understanding of Scripture and make it real in your daily life. Cozy Earth - Upgrade your summer sleep at www.cozyearth.com and use code OUTSIDE for 40% off their best-selling sheets, loungewear, and more. Lagoon - Go to LagoonSleep.com/OUTSIDE and take their awesome 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match.Use the code OUTSIDE for 15% off your first purchase Brave Books - Right now, you can get 20% off your first purchase at www.BRAVEBooks.com/1000hours with the code 1000HOURS. COSMO - Right now, COSMO is running an amazing back-to-school deal, plus free shipping and a risk-free 30-day guarantee. Head to www.cosmotogether.com/1KHO to grab one today. NurtureLife - Head to NurtureLife.com/1000HOURS55 and use code 1000HOURS55 for 55% off your first order PLUS free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside Podcast.
0:02.5	My name is Ginny Urich and there are some fantastic guests today, three of them actually,
0:08.7	from this incredible, incredible and incredibly important grassroots movement.
0:15.1	It is called Say Yes to Michigan.
0:18.2	Oh, no.
0:19.5	That would be nice. It is called Say Yes. You should say yes to Michigan. Oh, no. That would be nice. It's called say yes. You should say yes to Michigan,
0:24.6	but also say yes to recess. There's a Michigan chapter of it. And so that's why I was thinking
0:31.7	about that and we're in Michigan. But say yes to recess. Welcome to the team. Thank you. Yeah,
0:36.7	I was going to say Michigan has said yes team. Thank you. Yeah. I was going to say yes again has said yes.
0:40.7	Yes. Yes. Okay. This is a huge deal because recess is a huge deal for kids' health and
0:47.4	well-being and it is getting cut. It has gotten cut so much in the last several decades.
0:51.4	Let's take a minute for everybody to introduce themselves.
0:57.7	Tell us where you're from and how you got involved with Say Yes, Teresa.
1:05.0	Well, my name is Morgan Garner. I've been a part of this movement since the beginning.
1:14.6	Rachel and I met early on when it's been three years now, probably. And it's very much a grassroots movement.
1:20.9	I got involved because my daughter was in kindergarten at the time when I, well,
1:25.0	before Rachel and I met and I just noticed a massive behavioral shift from kindergarten or from preschool to kindergarten.
1:29.4	And I just thought, gosh, something's got to be done about this and I just kind of flittered around until I found Rachel
1:33.9	a few years later and then yeah and she had posted something on Facebook and you can tell that
1:40.5	story Rachel. I don't remember the details. No yeah so like you said you said, it was crazy because I thought, you know, I'm hearing other people talk about this. But I had a kindergarten start, my oldest daughter, and she's a very anxious kid. And she would come home. And I said, why didn't you just go outside and take your three deep breasts like we talked about? And she said, why don't ever go outside? And I said, what are you talking about?
2:01.4	And I looked into it and thought, oh, that is not okay.
2:06.0	And so I started, I started making the phone calls, got nowhere, realizing,
	...

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