When we turn everyday play into serious sport, we create barriers to participation.

Recess time enhances academic time, yet we've moved from a typical 3-recess day down to less than 30 minutes.

Introducing casual activity into children's lives—both at home and school—is both fun and healthy.

Last week I pulled out my bicycle to ride to work. I live in a wonderful town for biking—wide streets, low traffic, half my route is off-road entirely, and it’s Ohio, so flat flat flat.

I had forgotten how much I loved bicycling: the wide looping turns, the wind on my face. . . . And I had forgotten how fast bikes are. With my short commute, I can make it in 5 minutes instead of a 20-minute walk. Faster than driving and parking and walking to my office. And more ecologically friendly than having my husband drop me off.

So why had I stopped riding? I’ve always owned a bike.

I know that I stopped riding when I lived in Ithaca, a city famous for mountainous hills and crowded cobbly streets. But it was more than that. The big change came when I "professionalized" my riding routine. As kids, we’d run out the door in whatever we were wearing—shorts, dresses, fancy slacks—jumped on the bike and were off.

In the late '80s in Ithaca, riding had become a "sport." The three-gear "racing" bikes we had ridden were replaced with 10- or 20-gear mountain bikes. People changed into "bike shorts" to ride, and biking shoes to fit into toe clips. And of course there were helmets.

I embraced all those changes, but it took riding from something you just did to an activity—something you prepared for by changing your clothes and then changing back when you hit your destination. It was a sport, not transportation.

My equipment got better. I stopped riding.

Historical Changes in Children’s Exercise

I was not the only one to walk or ride my bike to school. Everyone did.

1969: 40-42 percent of........

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