According to Van Brussel, there is now convincing scientific evidence that sport and physical activity are beneficial for children aged 4 to 12 and have a positive effect on their physical and mental health.

In practice, schools have been working for many years to make use of the positive effects of sport and physical activity. This is done in various ways, which can also be combined:

  1. (Sufficient and high-quality) physical education (PE) lessons.
  2. More physical activity before and/or after learning:
    1. Starting the day with half an hour of physical activity.
    2. More structured physical activity during breaks.
    3. Additional extracurricular sports activities.
    4. Short movement breaks, or energizers, between lessons.
  3. Active learning: language or arithmetic while pupils perform movements.
  4. Combating sedentary behaviour (sitting for long periods) by having children work standing up or cycling.

What are energizers?

Energizers are ‘movement breaks’. Although definitions can vary considerably, they are usually short activities lasting 10 to 30 minutes, indoors or outdoors, that encourage physical activity. Energizers are used to interrupt the programme and prevent a dip in energy. Doing something completely different for a short time creates new energy and restores the pupils’ attention. Energizers can be used once or several times a day.

What are the effects of energizers?

  • Increased physical activity: more movement
  • Attention, concentration and motivation
  • Enjoyment and feeling fitter among teachers and pupils
  • Cognitive performance

What energizers are available?

Energizers come in many different forms. The intensity, duration, purpose and location, such as in the classroom or outdoors, play a major role.

Researchers could pay more attention to:

  • Which energizers have the greatest effect.
  • Which energizers teachers and pupils like best.
  • What the effects are on different target groups, such as by gender, ethnicity, et cetera.

Many energizers are available in the Netherlands that can be used in primary schools. For example, plenty can be found on various websites and YouTube. Due to the widespread use of interactive whiteboards, they are also easy for teachers to implement. Examples include:

  • SMART MOVES! Movement breaks
  • Daily Mile
  • Zapp Sport
  • Riskcare
  • Smartbreaks

In her report ‘Effects and substantiation of energizers in primary education’, Femke van Brussel concludes that energizers make a positive contribution to increasing children’s physical activity, improving children’s fitness, creating more enjoyment in the classroom, and improving children’s attention and concentration. In addition, there are no negative effects on academic performance from the time devoted to additional physical activity at school.