Peer-reviewed article
Effects of a Cognitively Enriched Playful Physical Activity Program on Executive Functions and School Readiness in Preschool Children.
Chikha AB, Eken Ö, Arslanoğlu B, Lousaif R, Goumni C et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study tested whether an 8-week program combining physical activity with cognitive challenges could improve executive functions and school readiness in preschool children. Children were randomly assigned to either a cognitively enriched playful physical activity program or regular physical education. The enriched program led to better improvements in attention control, planning ability, and school readiness skills including math, language, and social competence. The researchers note these are preliminary findings and larger studies are needed to confirm whether this approach genuinely works.
Key points
- Playful physical activities (PPA) integrating executive function challenges produced greater improvements in attentional control and inhibition compared to regular physical education (Go/No-Go errors: g = -1.78)
- Visuospatial organization and planning showed large improvements with PPA (RCFT copy: g = 1.36)
- School readiness improved across mathematical competence (g = 1.95), linguistic competence (g = 2.05), and social competence (g = 1.31) with PPA
- The program involved 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks, 60 minutes per session
- Visuospatial memory findings showed very large effects but were exploratory due to use of measures outside their validated age range
Limitations
The study is explicitly described as exploratory and preliminary. The researchers caution that some outcome measures (BVMT-R) were used outside their validated age range for this preschool sample, limiting interpretability of those findings.
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) are foundational for early learning and school readiness. Interventions that couple motor engagement with explicit cognitive demands may offer an efficient approach to support EFs during preschool years. This exploratory randomized controlled trial examined the preliminary effects of an 8-week Playful Physical Activities (PPA) program on EF and school readiness. Preschool children were randomized to (i) PPA, a structured program integrating executive challenges (response inhibition, working memory, and planning) into movement games, or (ii) an active control receiving the regular physical education curriculum (3 sessions/week, 60 min/session, 8 weeks). Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention and included Go/No-Go error rate, BVMT-R immediate and delayed recall, RCFT copy score, and school readiness domains (mathematical, linguistic, and social competence). Group × Time effects were tested using mixed ANOVA and summarized with partial eta squared (η2p). Between-group post-test differences were quantified using Hedges' g. PPA was associated with greater pre-to-post improvements relative to control in attentional control/inhibition (Go/No-Go errors: η2p = 0.134; g = -1.78) and visuospatial organization/planning (RCFT copy: η2p = 0.307; g = 1.36). Visuospatial memory outcomes showed very large interaction effects (BVMT-R immediate η2p = 0.937, g = 5.14; delayed η2p = 0.854, g = 4.10), but these values are exploratory and should not be emphasized as the primary evidence for cognitive improvement because the BVMT-R was used as a non-normed raw-score index outside its validated age range in this preschool sample. School readiness indicators showed favorable changes across mathematical, linguistic, and social competence (η2p = 0.514, 0.385, and 0.337; g = 1.95, 2.05, and 1.31, respectively). Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that cognitively enriched movement may support EF-related performance and school-readiness indicators, but they should not be interpreted as definitive proof of efficacy. Larger prospectively registered trials with balanced groups, age-appropriate outcome measures, and stronger fidelity documentation are needed before firm recommendations can be made.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Cognitively Enriched Playful Physical Activity (PPA) program: a structured 8-week program integrating executive function challenges (response inhibition, working memory, planning) into movement games, delivered 3 sessions/week, 60 minutes/session
- Population
- Preschool children randomized to PPA group or active control (regular physical education curriculum)
Key finding
Go/No-Go error rate (attentional control): g = -1.78, η2p = 0.134 (favorable for PPA)