Does Quantity Matter? How Extracurricular Activities Affect Working Memory Development among 5-7-Year-Old Children

It is widely recognized that sports, dance, and other structured extracurricular activities can positively influence children's executive function. However, previous research has not thoroughly examined whether participation in a diverse range of activities aimed at acquiring new skills affects working memory development in children.

To investigate the impact of the quantity of extracurricular activities on the development of working memory among 5-7-year-old children.

Longitudinal data on working memory development were collected from children aged 5 to 7 years (N = 101). Three assessments of verbal and visual working memory were conducted at ages 5, 6, and 7 years. Information on children's participating in extracurricular activities was obtained through parental surveys.

The findings indicate that the number of extracurricular activities in which children participated has a significant positive effect on verbal working memory, with children engaged in multiple types of activities demonstrating a superior ability to retain and reproduce verbal information. Conversely, visual-spatial working memory did not show statistically significant differences based on the number of extracurricular activities.

These results suggest that increasing access to extracurricular activities may foster verbal working memory, which is an important predictor of subsequent academic success and socialization.