MedTrace Logo

Playful Physical Activity for Executive Functions and School Readiness in Preschool Children

NCT07678294 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 48

Last updated 2026-07-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Executive functions, such as attention, inhibition, working memory, and planning, are important for early learning and school readiness in preschool children. This completed randomized controlled trial evaluated whether an 8-week cognitively enriched playful physical activity program could support executive functions and school readiness in preschool children compared with the regular physical education curriculum.

Preschool children were assigned to either a playful physical activity intervention group or a control group receiving conventional physical education. The intervention included structured movement-based games designed to combine physical activity with cognitive challenges, including response inhibition, working memory, planning, rule following, and cooperative problem solving. Outcomes included measures of executive functions and school readiness domains, including mathematical, linguistic, and social competence.

Conditions

  • School Readiness
  • Executive Function (Cognition)
  • Preschool Child Development

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Playful Physical Activities Intervention

The 8-week Playful Physical Activities intervention consisted of structured movement-based games integrating executive function challenges, including response inhibition, working memory, attention, planning, and cooperative problem-solving. Sessions were delivered three times per week for 60 minutes per session.

BEHAVIORAL

Regular Physical Education Curriculum

The control intervention consisted of the regular physical education curriculum delivered for 8 weeks, three times per week for 60 minutes per session. Sessions included traditional age-appropriate physical education activities without systematically embedded cognitive-motor executive function challenges.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Inonu University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
55 Months
Max Age
64 Months
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-04-07
Primary Completion
2025-05-23
Completion
2025-05-23

Countries

  • Tunisia

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07678294 on ClinicalTrials.gov