An Indoor Physical Activity Area for Increasing Physical Activity in the Early Childhood Education Classroom: An Experie
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An Indoor Physical Activity Area for Increasing Physical Activity in the Early Childhood Education Classroom: An Experience for Enhancing Young Children’s Movement Patrícia Segura‑Martínez1,3 · Javier Molina‑García2,5 · Ana Queralt4,5 · María del Mar Bernabé‑Villodre2,3 · Daniel A. Martínez‑Bello6 · Vladimir E. Martínez‑Bello2,3 Accepted: 12 October 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Several aspects of the indoor early childhood education (ECE) environment may be associated with physical activity (PA), including indoor areas. Modifying the indoor physical environment in classrooms could have significant potential to influence PA in young children. However, to our knowledge, PA promotion interventions involving changes to the ECE indoor physical environment have not been empirically implemented or monitored by accelerometry and direct observation. Therefore, the aims of this study were twofold: (a) to evaluate personal, social, and environmental correlates of moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) in young children during indoor free play time; and (b) to assess the impact of incorporating a physical activity area in an indoor ECE environment on PA patterns during recess and the overall school day. Outcomes were measured at baseline, at 1 week post-intervention, and at 6 weeks’ follow-up. We studied contextual variables such as the presence of others, location, availability of equipment, and gender-based group interactions during indoor free play. It is notable that at 1-week post-intervention, both girls and boys increased their PA levels, but by the 6-week follow-up, the increase in MVPA was significantly higher in boys compared to girls, suggesting that our PA area is not benefitting girls to the same extent as their male counterparts. In addition, at all time points, boys spent more time during recess and overall in MVPA minutes than girls. MVPA is below the recommended levels for this age during the school day, the role of the indoor physical environment and context should be revised. Keywords Early childhood environment · Physical activity · Indoor physical activity area · Free play
Introduction Research confirms how important the physical setting is to maximize the developmental, learning, and social outcomes of young children in the early childhood education (ECE) learning environment (Hnatiuk et al. 2019; Knauf 2019; Matthews and Lippman 2020). This evidence provides a strong justification for focusing on the built environment as a locus of the discourse on educational quality. A recent review suggests that enriching existing The project (Reference number 939566) was approved by the Department of Education of the Valencian Autonomous Community (Spain). * Vladimir E. Martínez‑Bello [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
activity areas with additional materials that can trigger children’s exploration can positively affect their social and cognitive behavior (van Liempd et al. 2019). In order to evaluate the quality of ECE contexts, different environmenta
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