At a glance
- Classroom activity can improve student academic performance and behavior.
- Classroom physical activity is an important addition to physical education at all school levels.
- Schools can encourage active lessons and physical activity breaks in the classroom.
Overview
Classroom physical activity is any physical activity done in the classroom. It can take place at any time and occur in one or several brief periods during the school day. It includes integrating physical activity into academic instruction as well as providing breaks from instruction for physical activity.
Classroom physical activity can benefit students by:
- Improving their concentration and ability to stay on-task in the classroom.
- Reducing disruptive behavior, such as fidgeting, in the classroom.
- Improving their motivation and engagement in learning.
- Helping improve their academic performance (higher grades and test scores).
- Increasing their amount of daily physical activity.
Recommendations
Classroom physical activity strategies
- Strategies for Classroom Physical Activity in Schools—This document describes 10 evidence-based strategies to promote and plan classroom physical activity.
- Integrate Classroom Physical Activity in Schools: A Guide for Putting Strategies Into Practice —This guide provides key questions and activities. The guide also has templates that teachers and other champions can use to adopt, promote, enhance, or sustain the strategies identified in Strategies for Classroom Physical Activity in Schools.
- Online Platform: Integrate Classroom Physical Activity in Schools—This online platform offers ways to integrate the strategies identified in Strategies for Classroom Physical Activity in Schools. The platform includes:
- Key questions and activities.
- Templates and tools.
- Stories from the field showing how the strategies are being used in different states.
- Resources for each of the recommended strategies.
Content Source
Division of Adolescent and School Health; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)
About This Page
Published: November 19, 2024
Updated: June 26, 2024
This page was last updated on this date. Updates may include minor edits, image changes, or other modifications to page content.
Reviewed: June 26, 2024
The information on this page was last reviewed by subject matter experts to ensure accuracy.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strategies for Classroom Physical Activity in Schools. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; 2018. Accessed August 7, 2026.
- Sliwa SA, Hawkins GT, Lee SM. Special Issue: A Collection of Evidence-Based Strategies for School Nutrition and Physical Activity. J Sch Health; 2023;93(9): 745-870.
- Institute of Medicine. Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School. National Academies Press; 2013. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18314/educating-the-student-body-taking-physical-activity-and-physical-education
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Guide for Developing Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2013. Accessed September 6, 2024.
- Michael SL, Merlo CL, Basch CE, Wentzel KR, Wechsler H. Critical connections: health and academics. J Sch Health. 2015;85(11):740-758
- Community Preventive Services. Physical activity: classroom-based physically active lesson interventions; 2021. Accessed August 7, 2026. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-classroom-based-physically-active-lesson-interventions.html