Cognitively enriched physical activity may foster motor competence and executive function as early as preschool age: a pilot trial

Background The relation between physical activity (PA), motor skills and cognitive function in children is receiving considerable attention. To transition scientific evidence into pedagogical practice, however, we need to further our understanding of which qualitative PA characteristics are best suited to stimulate motor skills and executive functions (EFs) relevant for children to develop their full potential.Purpose The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effects of cognitively enriched PA on the development of motor skills and core EFs at preschool age, which is still less investigated than middle childhood in exercise and cognition research. Specific objectives were to also provide detailed information on the intervention for replicability and effect sizes for sample size computation for future well-powered studies.Participants and setting A sample of 36 children (19 girls; 17 boys) aged 3–6 years was divided in two intervention groups allocated to afterschool PA enriched with cognitive challenges or swimming (45-minute sessions twice a week for 12 weeks) and one control group that did not practise any afterschool PA.Methods Before and after the intervention period, children were assessed for gross and fine motor skills with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition (PDMS-2) and for core EFs (working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility) with the Forward Word Span Test and Trail Making Test for young children. Intervention effects were explored with two-way Repeated Measures MANOVAs (Group × Time), followed by similar ANOVAs for each dependent variable, planned pairwise comparisons for post-hoc simple effects.Results Only children assigned to the enriched PA intervention showed significant improvements in gross motor skills (p = .001, ηp2 = .35) and working memory (p < .001, ηp2 = .53) with higher performances at post-test as compared to children assigned to swimming, who showed a marginally significant, less pronounced gross motor improvement, or to the control group, which did not show any improvement. Both intervention groups also showed significant and similar improvements in fine motor skills (p = .011, ηp2 = .24) but no between-group differences at post-test, as they caught up, reaching the level of the control group at post-test.Conclusions The results suggest that cognitive enrichment in PA is a viable way to ‘fill two needs with one deed’ as early as preschool age. The ‘two needs’ are motor and cognitive development promotion, while the ‘one deed’ is designed PA that joins physical and cognitive challenges. The results are discussed in the framework of pedagogical approaches to motor and cognitive development promotion through early quality PA experiences and limitations of this pilot study are presented to orient future research.