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International organizations Aside from the historical literature on the 
need for children to play (dating back to the 1600s), the most promi-
nent and widespread support for recess is rooted in the International 
Play Association and its work through the United Nations (UN). The 
International Play Association, founded in 1961 in Denmark, is a global 
nongovernmental organization that protects, preserves, and promotes 
children’s fundamental human right to play. The UN’s Declaration of the 
Rights of the Child (1959), Article 7, Paragraph 3, states:
The child shall have full opportunity for play and recreation which should 
be directed to the same purposes as education; society and the public 
authorities shall endeavor to promote the enjoyment of this right.
The declaration asserts that spontaneous play fulfills a basic childhood 
developmental need. It further defines play as “a combination of thought 
and action that is instinctive and historical and that teaches children how 
to live” (IPA, 2013). At the 1989 UN General Assembly, the International 
Play Association played a key role in the inclusion of “play” in Article 31 
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It reads: 
That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and 
recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate 
freely in cultural life and the arts. That member governments shall respect 
and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic 
life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportuni-
ties for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity. (IPA, 2013)
The U.S. affiliate of the International Play Association has as its pri-
mary goal to protect, preserve, and promote play as a fundamental right 
for all children.