Physical activity is recognized as crucial for children’s development in many aspects. However, its integration into the classroom remains a challenge, particularly in STEM subjects, despite this area being a central component of school curricula worldwide. This systematic review investigates the characteristics and the relationships between active breaks (AB) and curriculum-based active breaks (CB) interventions on executive functions, attention, on-task behavior, performance in STEM, and math anxiety in primary school children. A database search, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, was conducted in March 2024, identifying 19 eligible studies for descriptive analysis and assessed for risk of bias. A total of 13 studies focused on AB, four on CB, and two compared the two conditions. Only one paper considered math anxiety. The results revealed mixed effects on executive functions and attention, with some studies reporting improvements and others finding no significant changes. Math performance improved with both AB and CB interventions, especially when AB lasted 10 to 20 min. Most interventions were led by teachers, though few studies incorporated intervention fidelity. Overall, the inconsistent findings highlight the need for further research to determine the optimal characteristics for effective interventions and reliable assessment methods and to explore long-term effects and the appropriate level of teacher involvement.

A growing number of studies show that integrating exercise interventions (such as active breaks) into teaching is associated with physical, mental, emotional, and social benefits and improved cognitive performance in some disciplines, including mathematics. This paper presents a review of previous SRs and MAs that have addressed the topic, with particular references to mathematics and students with special educational needs. In addition to outlining the research trends regarding the introduction of physical activity interventions in instructional design, which have emerged from the evidence already summarized at the international and national levels, the effectiveness of different programs undertaken to implement physical activity in the classroom about the primary outcomes examined by the studies will be discussed. Effetti dell’integrazione dell’attività fisica in classe: una panoramica preliminare delle ricerche precedenti. Un numero crescente di studi mostra che l’integrazione nella didattica di interventi di esercizio fisico (come le pause attive) è associata a benefici sul piano fisico, mentale, emozionale, sociale, nonché ad un miglioramento delle prestazioni cognitive in alcune discipline, tra cui la matematica. Questo contributo presenta una revisione di precedenti SR e MA che hanno trattato il tema, con particolare riferimento alla matematica e ad alunni/e con bisogni educativi speciali. Oltre a illustrare le tendenze di ricerca in merito all’introduzione di interventi di attività fisica nella progettazione didattica, emerse dalle evidenze già sintetizzate a livello internazionale e nazionale, verrà discussa l’efficacia dei diversi programmi condotti per implementare l’attività fisica in aula in relazione ai principali outcome presi in esame dagli studi.