Impact Of An 8-week Teacher-guided Active Play Intervention On Preschoolers’ Physical Activity Levels

PURPOSE: The current physical activity guidelines for Americans stipulate that preschool aged children should participate in a variety of types and intensities of active play. It has further been recommended by the National Academy of Medicine that preschool aged children should be active at least 15 minutes every hour. Current literature suggests preschool children are not meeting these recommendations. Childcare settings serve as an ideal location to implement active play interventions as they are developmental appropriate. The current study examined the impact an 8-week teacher-guided active play intervention on preschoolers’ physical activity levels. METHODS: Two preschool centers were randomly assigned to the intervention or the control group. The intervention group received an teacher training for activity play activities, an activity kit that contained a binder of activities, a cue card for FMS, and small portable equipment. Teachers were asked to implement a 15-minute guided play activity inside and outside every day. To assess physical activity, children wore accelerometers on their non-dominate wrist during the school day. RESULTS: The intervention group significantly increased indoor PA from baseline to post-intervention (F (1,40) = 13.59, p < .001, ηp2 = .254) and from baseline to retention (F (1,33) = 16.84, p < .001, ηp2 = .994). Closer examination of the data indicates that at baseline and post-intervention, 68.4 % of the intervention group met the physical activity guidelines; this increased to 83.3% at retention. Whereas the control group had 26.09% at baseline, 26.01% at post-intervention, and 35.29 % at retention meet the physical activity recommendations. CONCLUSION: Results of the current study indicate that a teacher-guided active play intervention is effective in increasing preschool aged children’s physical activity levels indoors. Despite these promising findings, teachers indicated a need to prioritize “academic” learning instead of “play”. These antidotal findings indicate future training regarding active play is needed for preschool teachers.