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Playful Physical Activity for Executive Functions and School Readiness in Preschool Children
Sponsor: Inonu University
Summary
Executive functions, such as attention, inhibition, working memory, and planning, are important for early learning and school readiness in preschool children. This completed randomized controlled trial evaluated whether an 8-week cognitively enriched playful physical activity program could support executive functions and school readiness in preschool children compared with the regular physical education curriculum. Preschool children were assigned to either a playful physical activity intervention group or a control group receiving conventional physical education. The intervention included structured movement-based games designed to combine physical activity with cognitive challenges, including response inhibition, working memory, planning, rule following, and cooperative problem solving. Outcomes included measures of executive functions and school readiness domains, including mathematical, linguistic, and social competence.
Official title: Effects of a Cognitively Enriched Playful Physical Activity Program on Executive Functions and School Readiness in Preschool Children
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
55 Months - 64 Months
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
48
Start Date
2025-04-07
Completion Date
2025-05-23
Last Updated
2026-07-02
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Interventions
Playful Physical Activities Intervention
The 8-week Playful Physical Activities intervention consisted of structured movement-based games integrating executive function challenges, including response inhibition, working memory, attention, planning, and cooperative problem-solving. Sessions were delivered three times per week for 60 minutes per session.
Regular Physical Education Curriculum
The control intervention consisted of the regular physical education curriculum delivered for 8 weeks, three times per week for 60 minutes per session. Sessions included traditional age-appropriate physical education activities without systematically embedded cognitive-motor executive function challenges.
Locations (1)
Physical Activity, Sport and Health Research Unit UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport
Tunis, Tunisia