Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior

Background: Physical activity professional development programs for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators are a viable strategy for improving preschool children’s physical activity behavior. This pilot intervention evaluated the effectiveness of ‘nature play&#82...

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Main Authors:	Pulan Bai, Ashleigh Thornton, Leanne Lester, Jasper Schipperijn, Gina Trapp, Bryan Boruff, Michelle Ng, Elizabeth Wenden, Hayley Christian
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	MDPI AG 2019-12-01
Series:	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:	early childhood education professional development childcare preschool physical activity behavior
Online Access:	https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/223

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spelling	doaj-0278199bab194a239c61d1e02f75049d2020-11-24T22:07:24ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-12-0117122310.3390/ijerph17010223ijerph17010223Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity BehaviorPulan Bai0Ashleigh Thornton1Leanne Lester2Jasper Schipperijn3Gina Trapp4Bryan Boruff5Michelle Ng6Elizabeth Wenden7Hayley Christian8School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaSchool of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaSchool of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaDepartment of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, DenmarkSchool of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaSchool of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaTelethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaSchool of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaSchool of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, AustraliaBackground: Physical activity professional development programs for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators are a viable strategy for improving preschool children’s physical activity behavior. This pilot intervention evaluated the effectiveness of ‘nature play’ and ‘fundamental movement skills’ (FMS) professional development programs on ECEC educators’ practices on physical activity. Methods: 148 ECEC educators from 20 ECEC centers took part in either the Nature play or FMS professional development programs in Perth, Western Australia. Educators self-reported their physical activity related practices at baseline and three months post-professional development training, using established items. Wilcoxon’s test and adjusted models using Mann−Whitney U tests were run at the individual educator level to examine the change between baseline and post-professional development educator physical activity behavior. Results: Educators’ self-efficacy to engage children to be active significantly increased in both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In the Nature play professional development program, ECEC educators’ perceived time set aside for children to participate in nature-based play increased by 9.2%, and their perceived behavioral control for supporting general and nature-based play activities for preschool children increased by 5% and 10.3%, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.05). However, these results were no longer significant after adjusting for educator socio-demographics. Conclusion: Both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs were effective in improving educators’ self-efficacy to engage children to be active in Nature play or FMS activities. Larger pragmatic trials are required to confirm the impact of these professional development programs on educator perceived physical activity behavior.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/223early childhood educationprofessional developmentchildcarepreschoolphysical activity behavior
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Pulan Bai Ashleigh Thornton Leanne Lester Jasper Schipperijn Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Michelle Ng Elizabeth Wenden Hayley Christian
spellingShingle	Pulan Bai Ashleigh Thornton Leanne Lester Jasper Schipperijn Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Michelle Ng Elizabeth Wenden Hayley Christian Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health early childhood education professional development childcare preschool physical activity behavior
author_facet	Pulan Bai Ashleigh Thornton Leanne Lester Jasper Schipperijn Gina Trapp Bryan Boruff Michelle Ng Elizabeth Wenden Hayley Christian
author_sort	Pulan Bai
title	Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior
title_short	Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior
title_full	Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior
title_fullStr	Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior
title_full_unstemmed	Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior
title_sort	nature play and fundamental movement skills training programs improve childcare educator supportive physical activity behavior
publisher	MDPI AG
series	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn	1660-4601
publishDate	2019-12-01
description	Background: Physical activity professional development programs for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) educators are a viable strategy for improving preschool children’s physical activity behavior. This pilot intervention evaluated the effectiveness of ‘nature play’ and ‘fundamental movement skills’ (FMS) professional development programs on ECEC educators’ practices on physical activity. Methods: 148 ECEC educators from 20 ECEC centers took part in either the Nature play or FMS professional development programs in Perth, Western Australia. Educators self-reported their physical activity related practices at baseline and three months post-professional development training, using established items. Wilcoxon’s test and adjusted models using Mann−Whitney U tests were run at the individual educator level to examine the change between baseline and post-professional development educator physical activity behavior. Results: Educators’ self-efficacy to engage children to be active significantly increased in both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In the Nature play professional development program, ECEC educators’ perceived time set aside for children to participate in nature-based play increased by 9.2%, and their perceived behavioral control for supporting general and nature-based play activities for preschool children increased by 5% and 10.3%, respectively (<i>p</i> < 0.05). However, these results were no longer significant after adjusting for educator socio-demographics. Conclusion: Both the Nature play and FMS professional development programs were effective in improving educators’ self-efficacy to engage children to be active in Nature play or FMS activities. Larger pragmatic trials are required to confirm the impact of these professional development programs on educator perceived physical activity behavior.
topic	early childhood education professional development childcare preschool physical activity behavior
url	https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/223
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Nature Play and Fundamental Movement Skills Training Programs Improve Childcare Educator Supportive Physical Activity Behavior

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