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Schools are cutting back on programs that very likely are needed for children to thrive in life and to achieve the most academically. The arts, physical exercise, and play are being squeezed out of school curricula — so more time and resources can be devoted to academic instruction and testing. Yet indications are that the arts (such as music, dance, or theatre) and physical activity (such as team sports, martial arts, or circus) are critical for all aspects of children’s development (social, emotional, cognitive, and physical) – including success in school. Correlational studies have laid the groundwork, as have moving personal accounts and theoretical arguments. The time is ripe for rigorous multi-year studies that test whether the arts and physical activities do indeed produce the benefits seemingly evident to the naked eye and suggested by research to date. National funding agencies, however, have been reluctant to fund intervention studies of real-world arts and physical-activity programs. Instead of simply claiming that the arts and/or physical activities can transform kids ’ lives, that needs to be demonstrated and granting agencies need to be more open to funding research to rigorously study that. More Studies of Activities that Touch the Head, Heart, and Hands page