Parents, Teachers, and Community: A Team Approach to Developing Physical Competence in Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Physical Education
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Childhood physical activity engagement is crucial for immediate and long-term health.
• Developing physical competence is fundamental for sustained participation in physical activities.
• Early childhood is a critical period for establishing foundational movement skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a 12-week, multi-setting physical literacy intervention on children's physical competence.
• To assess changes in locomotor, object control, and overall physical competence in kindergarten and first-grade students.

Main Methods:

• Quasi-experimental design with intervention (n=103) and control (n=83) groups across four schools.
• Physical competence assessed pre- and post-intervention using the PLAY Fun tool.
• Parent and teacher perceptions of physical competence measured using PLAY Parent and PLAY Coach tools.
• Repeated measures MANOVA used to analyze intervention effects on physical competence.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in locomotor, object control, and overall physical competence observed in both groups over 12 weeks.
• A significant intervention effect was found for locomotor and overall physical competence (p < 0.05).
• Teachers perceived improved physical competence in the intervention group, while parents did not report significant changes (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• The 12-week physical literacy intervention effectively enhanced the physical competence of kindergarten and first-grade children.
• Teacher perception aligns with objective measures of improved physical competence, highlighting the intervention's success.
• Further research may explore reasons for the discrepancy in parent-reported perceptions versus objective outcomes.