Effects of Integrating Physical Activities Into a Science Lesson on Preschool Children's Learning and Enjoyment

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of physical activities that were integrated into a science lesson on learning among preschool children. A total of 90 children from seven childcare centres (M age = 4.90, SD = 0.52; 45 girls) were randomly assigned across an integrated physical activity condition including task-relevant physical activities, a nonintegrated physical activity condition involving task-irrelevant physical activities, or a control condition involving the predominantly conventional sedentary style of teaching. Children learned the names of the planets and their order, based on the distance from the sun. For both the immediate and delayed (6 weeks after the programme) assessments, results showed that learning outcomes were highest in the integrated condition and higher in the nonintegrated condition than in the control condition. Children in the integrated condition scored higher on perceived enjoyment of learning than children in the control condition. Implications of integrated physical activity programmes for preschool children's health, cognition, and learning are further discussed.

Impact of the “Thinking while Moving in English” intervention on primary school children’s physical activity and academic outcomes: A cluster randomized controlled trial

“…The program components (delivery and content) were well-received by teachers and students, showing the program's feasibility and potential sustainability for introducing movement-based English lessons in primary school students, and their potential to become part of the regular practice. Importantly, the post-program evaluation questionnaire revealed that children rated the program as very enjoyable, consistent with evidence from other studies that students consider integrating physical activity an enjoyable teaching method of several learning domains [83][84][85][86][87][88] .…”

Preschoolers exhibit greater on‐task behavior following physically active lessons on the approximate number system

“…This finding suggests that single bouts of physical activity at lower intensities may offer similar attentional enhancements to those observed following higher intensities (ie, moderate-to-vigorous), which are widely supported in the extant acute physical activity and classroom activity break literature. 4,10 Importantly, the physically active instruction intervention in the present study resulted in a greater duration (ie, seven more minutes of physical activity) of physical activity at higher intensity (low-to-moderate) relative to other physically active learning interventions in preschoolers 11,12,14 ; and future research may seek to integrate similar activities to increase the likelihood that children accrue the many health-related benefits associated with greater amounts of moderate-to-vigorous activity during lessons. Taken together, the findings suggest that physically active instruction improves on-task behavior and reduces the time spent sedentary.…”

“…Findings from the present investigation are consistent with the notion that physically active lessons create a substantive change in physical activity by reducing sedentary behavior. 5,[11][12][13][14] Mahar and colleagues 5 observed that school-aged children who engaged in the energizers' classroom-based physically active lessons accumulated almost 800 additional steps over the course of an entire school day relative to students engaged in conventional lessons. Mavilidi and colleagues 14 integrated movement with number knowledge, which resulted in preschoolers accruing about 2 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity.…”

“…Namely, daily physically active lessons lasting from 4 weeks to 6 months have been associated with improved retention on assessments of literacy, foreign language, geography, science, and math in preschool-aged children relative to sedentary lessons immediately and up to 6 weeks following cessation of the intervention. [10][11][12][13][14] Although these studies suggest that such approaches are feasible in preschool-aged children, the acute effects of a single bout of physically active instruction on academic constructs and on on-task behavior-which provides insight into possible implications for classroom behavior and scholastic performance-remain underspecified in preschool-aged children.…”

Physically active lessons in schools and their impact on physical activity, educational, health and cognition outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Intervention length ranged from one-off sessions [48][49][50][51][52] to three years 39 44 53 54 . Of studies providing physically active lessons on multiple occasions, total weekly intervention duration ranged from 10 minutes 55 to 180 minutes a day 56 . Only two studies were explicitly based on theory, namely the COM-B model of behaviour change 18 37 .…”