Summer Success: SKIPing to Motor Competence for Disadvantaged Preschoolers

<b>Background</b>: Disadvantaged children often enter kindergarten with delays in fundamental motor skill (FMS) competence, which is critical for future physical activity engagement. The Summer Success-Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers (SS-SKIP) program was designed to address these developmental gaps, with a short, intensive intervention. This pilot study evaluated the impact of a 4-week SS-SKIP program on FMS, perceived motor competence (PMC), and executive function (EF). <b>Methods</b>: Twenty-one preschool children (mean age = 62.62 ± 4.61 months) from disadvantaged communities participated in an intensive, month-long (240 min) program. FMS were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2), PMC was evaluated using the Pictorial Scale for Perceived Competence, and EF was measured via the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), Go/No-Go, and Sorting cards tests. Standing long jump was measured in meters. A pretest-post-test design assessed program impact using 2 Gender X 2 Session MANOVAs/ANOVAs on dependent variables. <b>Results</b>: Analysis of differences in baseline measures of FMS competence and EF by Gender and Session revealed no significant main effects of Gender, Session, or their interaction across measures (all <i>p</i> > 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVAs by Gender revealed a significant main effect for Time for locomotor standard scores (<i>p</i> < 0.001), object control standard scores (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and HTKS scores (<i>p</i> < 0.001), indicating improvement from pretest to post-test. By contrast, jump distance, PMC, Go/No-Go and Card Sorting scores were non-significant (<i>p</i> > 0.05). <b>Conclusions</b>: A short, intense SS-SKIP FMS intervention significantly enhanced FMS and improved HTKS performance. This pilot study was limited by the lack of a control group and small N. These findings underscore the potential of short, targeted interventions in addressing early motor delays in disadvantaged preschoolers, warranting further investigation into their long-term impacts.