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. 2021 May 24;8(6):440.
doi: 10.3390/children8060440.

The Effect of a 10-Week Physical Activity Programme on Fundamental Movement Skills in 3-4-Year-Old Children within Early Childhood Education Centres

Ajmol Ali  1   2 , Claire McLachlan  3   4 , Owen Mugridge  1 , Tara McLaughlin  5 , Cathryn Conlon  1 , Linda Clarke  5
Affiliations

The Effect of a 10-Week Physical Activity Programme on Fundamental Movement Skills in 3-4-Year-Old Children within Early Childhood Education Centres

Ajmol Ali et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a 10-week physical activity (PA) programme, in early childhood education (ECE) settings, on 3 and 4-year-old children's fundamental movement skills (FMS). A further aim was to examine FMS three-months post-intervention. The PA instructors delivered one 45 min session/week over 10 weeks, to 3- and 4-year-old children (n = 46), across four ECE centres. These sessions involved participation from ECE teachers. Children in the control group (CON; n = 20) received no PA classes and completed pre- and post-intervention assessments only. Locomotor (e.g., running/hopping) and object-control (e.g., kicking/throwing) skills were assessed using the Test for Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2), before and after the intervention and, for the intervention group (EXP), at 3 months. Locomotor and object-control skills significantly improved in the EXP group, with typically no change in the CON group. The EXP group's locomotor and object-control skills were maintained at 3 months. The 10-week PA intervention successfully improved 3- and 4-year-old children's FMS.

Keywords: motor skills; physical activity; physical education; pre-school; test of gross motor development.

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Conflict of interest statement

The primary author is a director of Jumping Beans Ltd. There is no conflict of interest for all other authors and no competing financial interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) locomotor skill standard scores pre-and post-intervention in (A) Control (n = 20) and (B) Experimental (n = 46) groups. * Significantly higher than baseline (p < 0.05). # significantly higher than control group (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) object control skill standard scores pre- and post-intervention in (A) Control (n = 20) and (B) Experimental (n = 46) groups. * Significantly higher than baseline (p < 0.05). # significantly higher than control group (p < 0.05).
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