By Dr. Brad Johnson
Walk into any fitness center and take a look around.
You don’t see people lining up to jog on an indoor track. If there is one, it’s usually empty. Because let’s be honest—most people don’t walk into a gym excited to run in circles.
What you do see are rows of treadmills and bikes, each with flat-screen TVs streaming Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, or YouTube. Some offer virtual trail runs through scenic mountain paths or European cities. Many have Bluetooth connectivity for Spotify, internet browsers, or even guided workouts with avatars and game-like scoring.
Why?
Because people don’t love cardio.
And the irony? They know it’s good for them.
They know it strengthens the heart, reduces stress, lowers the risk of disease, improves brain function—and can literally help them live a longer, healthier life.
But even when the benefits are that big…
we still have to make it more enjoyable for them to actually do it.
Because knowledge isn’t enough.
Importance doesn’t equal engagement.
And even when the stakes are personal and long-term, adults still need support, stimulation, and motivation to follow through.
In fact, only about 23% of U.S. adults meet the recommended levels of both aerobic and strength-building activity each week (CDC, 2022). That’s despite knowing exercise is critical for their health.
So we build in comfort. We add entertainment.
Not because cardio isn’t serious—but because it is.
If adults need that just to walk in place…
what makes us think kids can sit still and grind through learning all day without it?
Adults Get Engagement—Kids Get Compliance
We build fun into nearly everything adults do:
- Offices offer coffee bars, snack lounges, and collaborative “fun zones” with ping-pong, games, or music.
- Some companies have gym access, massage chairs, nap pods, meditation rooms, even yoga spaces.
- Workplaces run “wellness programs” with rewards, challenges, and incentives—all built around enjoyment.
- And even prisons include outdoor yard time and movement breaks because we recognize it’s essential to human wellbeing.
Meanwhile, students—who are biologically wired for movement, connection, and joy—are told to sit still, be quiet, and “earn” the right to play. We reduce recess to make room for more test prep. We remove art, music, and PE in favor of “core content.” We see fun as a distraction. Play as a privilege.
And then we wonder why students are anxious, distracted, and disconnected.
Joy Isn’t a Disruption—It’s the Doorway
We’ve conditioned ourselves to believe that fun and learning can’t coexist. That rigor requires silence. That movement is a threat to order. That laughter is off-task.
But science—and common sense—tells a very different story.
The things we often push to the margins of education—play, creativity, movement, joy—are not distractions. They are the doorway into deeper learning. They don’t get in the way of academic development; they lay the foundation for it.
- Play fuels creativity and problem-solving. Through open-ended, playful experiences, children learn to navigate challenges, test ideas, and think flexibly—all skills essential for critical thinking and innovation.
- Play builds executive function. According to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, play strengthens working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self-control—core components of executive functioning that directly influence academic achievement, focus, and behavior regulation.
- Executive function supports emotion regulation. When students develop these internal skills, they’re better able to handle frustration, persist through difficulty, and shift focus when needed—all crucial for success both inside and outside the classroom.
- Emotion drives attention and recall. Dr. Judy Willis, a neurologist turned educator, explains that joy, curiosity, and novelty activate the brain’s reward system, improving attention span and encoding of new information.
- Laughter reduces stress and builds connection. Humor lowers cortisol and increases oxytocin, creating psychological safety in the classroom—an essential precondition for meaningful learning.
Joy, play, and movement are not the opposite of learning—they are the fuel that drives it. They engage the whole child: cognitively, socially, and emotionally. And when those systems are supported, academic growth accelerates.
If we’re serious about helping students succeed in school and in life, we can’t treat joy as an extracurricular.
It’s not the reward after the “real” work.
It is the real work.
If We Wouldn’t Accept It for Ourselves, Why Should They?
Let’s be honest. No adult would tolerate what we ask of students.
Imagine being asked to sit still for hours at a time, no conversation, no humor, no breaks, no stimulation—just task after task, with occasional threats about performance. Most adults would call that toxic. Many would quit.
And yet, that’s what we ask of kids every single day.
We give adults engagement to support performance.
We give kids control to enforce compliance.
We invest in adult comfort but cut corners on childhood experience.
That’s not just bad practice. It’s bad science.
It’s Time to Rethink the System
Fun isn’t fluff. It’s fuel.
Play isn’t a break from learning—it’s how learning begins.
Joy isn’t the enemy of rigor—it’s the engine behind it.
If we want students to show up, stay curious, and grow—not just academically but socially and emotionally—we have to build school environments that reflect how people actually learn.
Let’s stop designing school like punishment.
Let’s stop stripping away the very things that make learning meaningful.
Let’s stop pretending engagement is optional.
Because kids deserve what we give ourselves:
Movement.
Connection.
Emotion.
And yes—sometimes fun.
In fact, all students need movement, not just the youngest. But let’s start with what we know: elementary students especially need more play, more recess, and more freedom to move. We wouldn’t expect adults to sit still for hours and stay focused without breaks—why do we ask it of children?
More movement isn’t a luxury.
More recess isn’t a reward.
More play isn’t a distraction.
It’s what the brain—and the heart—need to learn, grow, and just be human..
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Adult Physical Inactivity Prevalence Maps.h
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2021). Executive function & self-regulation.
Johnson, B., & Jones, M. (2022). Learning on your feet: Incorporating physical activity into the K–8 classroom (2nd ed.). https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Your-Feet-Brad-Johnson/dp/0367748274