Evidence for Learning: Physical development approaches

Physical development approaches aim to improve young children’s physical growth, skills and health. Activities in this area may be focused on a particular aspect of physical development, e.g. fine motor skills related to writing, or be more general, for instance, encouraging active outdoor play.

Only two Australasian studies appear to have investigated links between physical development approaches within ECEC settings and pre-schoolers’ learning or cognition: in Wollongong, New South Wales (NSW), Mavilidi et al, found the integration of meaningful, moderate-vigorous physical activity was beneficial in learning specific concepts, such as foreign vocabulary; children who integrated physical activity (e.g., acting out the word using whole-body movement) when being taught 14 Italian words in a four-week teaching program were found to have the best free recall, even up to six weeks later (Mavilidi, Okely, Chandler, Cliff, & Paas, 2015). In the Hunter region of NSW, Wolfenden et al., assessed the efficacy of a childcare-based intervention where children were given unrestricted access outdoors to active free-play (intervention group) or provided their usual scheduled periods of outdoor play (control group). No significant differences were identified between these groups in terms of total physical activity or measures of child cognition (Wolfenden et al., 2019).

Several Australasian ECEC physical development intervention programs have been developed and empirically tested. For example, the NSW ​‘Much & Move’ program is a professional development program designed to support ECEC staff to promote healthy eating, active play and fundamental movement skills (FMS) among children in their care. Core components of the program include a one-day professional development workshop, a resource manual, access to a health promotion professional to support the delivery of the program and a small grant to support staff training or purchase physical activity equipment. An evaluation study conducted in Sydney, found FMS scores improved significantly in the ​‘Much & Move’ intervention group (n=15 preschools) compared with the control group (n=14 preschools) and the number of FMS sessions per week also increased (Hardy, King, Kelly, Farrell, & Howlett, 2010). ​‘Jump Start’ is another NSW movement skill development physical activity program, comprising of a professional development component and structured lessons and unstructured activities for children implemented by ECEC staff. In a 20-week pilot randomised controlled trial conducted in Wollongong, NSW, Jones et al., found that compared with children in the control group, children in the ​‘Jump Start’ intervention group showed greater improvements in movement skill proficiency, including overall movement skill development and greater increases in objectively measured physical activity (counts per minute) during the preschool day (Jones et al., 2011). Other physical development interventions such as, ​‘Romp & Chomp’, and programs based on the ​‘Get up and Grow’ resources, such as ​‘Learning, Eating, Active Play and Sleep (LEAPS)’ have shown promise in reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity and sedentary behaviours, and improving educator knowledge of physical activity guidelines and benefits of physical activity; however, these programs have not yet seen a significant improvement in children’s physical activity levels at ECEC (Cleland et al., 2018; de Silva-Sanigorski et al., 2012; de Silva-Sanigorski et al., 2011; Wiseman, Harris, & Lee, 2016).