Effects of Group-Play Moderate to Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity Intervention on Executive Function and Motor Skills in 4- to 5-Year-Old Preschoolers: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of group-play intervention on executive function (EF) in preschoolers. This group-play intervention was integrated as moderate to vigorous physical activity and cognitively loaded exercise to promote EF in preschoolers. An 8-week group-play MVPA intervention program, consisting of a series of outdoor physical and cognitively loaded games, was designed to improve preschoolers’ EF. This intervention program was implemented in group-play form, and conducted by teachers who received standardized training before the intervention. Two classes of second grade preschoolers (N = 62) were randomly allocated to experimental (n = 30, Mage = 4.16, SD = 0.29) and control (n = 32, Mage = 4.7, SD = 0.43) groups. The intervention group received the intervention three times a week, while the control group exercised as usual in preschool. Before, in the middle of, and after the intervention, 10-m running, standing broad jump, throwing, body flexion, balance beam, and skip jump were assessed as tests of motor skills. In addition, three components of EF were measured separately before, in the middle of, and after the intervention: inhibitory control was assessed by using the silly sound Stroop task, working memory was tested using the empty house task, and shifting was assessed using the dimensional change card sorting task. Although both groups showed an increasing trend in terms of motor skills and EF during the intervention, the increasing amounts of the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group. The findings of the present study suggested that group-play intervention has positive effects on aspects of EF in addition to motor skills in preschoolers.

The association between music training and executive function in 6–7-year-old children

“…Preschool age is the most sensitive age for the development of EF (Garon et al, 2008;Diamond and Lee, 2011). The development of EF in preschool age is influenced by many factors, such as quality of caregiver-child interaction (Valcan et al, 2018), engagement in play (Yogman et al, 2018), screen time (McNeill et al, 2019), physical activity (Bai et al, 2022), family SES (Kellens et al, 2023), and participation in extracurricular activities (Rosas et al, 2019). Music training is one of the possible extracurricular activities that influence EF development in preschoolers (Chen et al, 2022).…”

Associated biological and environmental factors of impaired executive function in preschool‐aged children: A population‐based study

“…Evidence also confirms that this intensity level was associated with favourable EF development (B. Zhang et al, 2020). The most recent randomized controlled trial conducted on preschoolers examined whether the MVPA intervention program positively affected EF skills, and these effects were found to have a significant correlation (Bai et al, 2022). However, there are inconsistencies in the articles suggesting that the MVPA is not significantly associated with EF in early childhood (Haas et al, 2022; McNeill et al, 2018; Willoughby et al, 2018).…”

Potential impact of extra education on the development of executive functions within a year in preschool children: an exploratory research

“…Children who do not sleep enough may have a lower level of EF ( Kahn et al, 2021 ). Another important factor that can influence EF development is physical activity ( Bai et al, 2022 ). So, preschoolers are recommended to engage in at least 180 min of physical activity per day to ensure normal cognitive development ( McNeill et al, 2020 ; Veraksa et al, 2021 ).…”