An In-Depth Analysis of Preschool Movement Environments

Abstract

Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are an important component of developmental trajectories of health. FMS develop in early childhood, and the current standard practice for children to learn FMS in preschools and childcare centers is an outdoor free play session. Unfortunately, children who only engage in this outdoor free play FMS environment fail to learn these skills. Conversely, children who complete FMS interventions learn these skills. The most effective FMS interventions (a) replace the standard practice of outdoor free play and (b) are implemented by motor-experts who are external to the preschool. These interventions are effective, but ultimately an unsustainable approach to FMS interventions. Hence, there is a need for sustainable FMS intervention designs that can work within the standard practice of outdoor free play and be implemented by non-motor experts. This dissertation addressed this gap by creating, implementing, and examining the efficacy of a sustainable FMS intervention- Motor skills At Playtime (MAP). MAP was implemented by a non-motor expert during outdoor free play. The effect of MAP on changes in children FMS was examined and compared against two other FMS environments: an FMS intervention that was implemented by motor experts and replaced outdoor free play (i.e., traditional FMS intervention), or a control condition (i.e., standard practice). This dissertation also completed an in-depth examination of how child characteristics (e.g., sex, weight, and initial FMS levels) and behaviors in an FMS intervention (e.g., engagement in skill practice) related to FMS changes after the interventions. Lastly, this dissertation compared children’s performance on two FMS measures (process and product) before, after, and across the intervention. Children from two Head Start centers served as participants. Results support that children in both MAP and traditional FMS intervention exhibited FMS gains, whereas children in the control condition did not exhibit FMS changes. Regarding child-characteristics, no sex differences were present in FMS changes in each group though there were sex differences in FMS changes between groups. Initial skill level was inversely related to changes FMS across both interventions. Regarding child-behaviors, children were more engaged in skill practice in the traditional FMS intervention, but engagement failed to predict most FMS changes. Finally, product and process measures were related before and after the intervention but did not measure change in FMS similarly. Overall, this research supports that FMS interventions that are implemented by non-motor experts and added to the standard practice of outdoor free play (e.g., MAP) can be an effective and potentially sustainable approach to FMS interventions in this population. Further, these results support that child-characteristics and behaviors relate to intervention outcomes. These results are promising and provide a foundation for continued research on sustainable FMS interventions that can be successfully implemented by non-motor experts with a specific emphasis on the MAP intervention.