Physical activity is essential for children’s healthy development, yet COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions such as school closures and staying at home, playground closures, and the cancelling of organised community sport have dramatically altered children’s opportunities to be physically active. This study describes changes in levels of physical activity and screen time from February 2020 (i.e., before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Western Australia) to May 2020 (i.e., when COVID-19 restrictions were in place). Parents of children aged 5 to 9 years from Western Australia were eligible to participate and recruited through convenience sampling. An online survey instrument that included validated measures of their children’s physical activity (unstructured, organized, home-based, indoor/outdoor active play, dog play/walking), sociodemographic, and other potential confounders was administered to parents. Paired t-tests and mixed ANOVA models assessed changes in physical activity outcomes. The analytic sample comprised parents of 157 children who were 6.9 years of age (SD = 1.7) on average. Overall, weekly minutes of total physical activity (PA) did not change from before to during COVID-19. However, frequency and duration (total and home-based) of unstructured physical activity significantly increased. Outdoor play in the yard or street around the house, outdoor play in the park or playground or outdoor recreation area, and active indoor play at home all significantly increased. Frequency and total duration of organised physical activity significantly declined during COVID-19 distancing. During Western Australian COVID-19 restrictions, there was an increase in young children’s unstructured physical activity and outdoor play and a decrease in organised physical activity. It remains to be seen whether children’s increased physical activity has been sustained with the easing of physical distancing restrictions.

Physical inactivity is a significant risk factor for childhood obesity. Preventing obesity in the early years reduces the risk of developing chronic health conditions later. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are important settings to establish good preschooler physical activity behaviors. This natural experiment investigated the influence of ECEC outdoor physical environment upgrade on preschoolers’ physical activity (aged 2–5 years). Centers implemented upgrades without researcher input. Physical activity was measured by 7-day accelerometry for intervention (n = 159; 6 centers) and control (n = 138; 5 centers) groups. ECEC outdoor space was assessed using a modified Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) Instrument. Key outcomes were measured at baseline and 6–12 months follow-up. Fixed sandboxes, balls, portable slides, portable floor play equipment (e.g., tumbling mats), and natural grassed areas were positively associated with activity levels; fixed tunnels and twirling equipment were negatively associated with activity levels (all p < 0.05). Post-upgrade portable play equipment (balls, twirling equipment, slides, floor play equipment) increased intervention preschoolers’ moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels compared to control (p < 0.05). Intervention preschoolers were more active than control at follow-up (58.09 vs. 42.13 min/day increase in total physical activity; 30.46 vs. 19.16 min/day increase in MVPA (all p < 0.001)). Since few preschoolers meet daily activity recommendations while at ECEC, the findings may help ECEC providers to optimize outdoor physical environments and encourage more active play among preschoolers.

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 (p < 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 (p < 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.

(1) Background: Limited research exists on the pathways through which physical activity influences cognitive development in the early years. This study examined the direct and indirect relationships between physical activity, self-regulation, and cognitive school readiness in preschool children. (2) Method: Participants (n = 56) aged 3–5 years were recruited from the PLAYCE study, Perth, Western Australia. Physical activity was measured using 7-day accelerometry. Self-regulation was measured using the Head Toes Knees and Shoulders task and cognitive school readiness was assessed using the Bracken School Readiness Assessment. Baron and Kenny’s method was used for mediation analysis. (3) Results: After adjustment for socio-demographic factors, total physical activity was positively and significantly associated with cognitive school readiness (B = 0.16, SE = 0.07, p ≤ 0.05). Moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was positively and significantly associated with self-regulation (B = 0.3, SE = 0.13, p ≤ 0.05) and cognitive school readiness score (B = 0.20, SE = 0.09, p ≤ 0.05). Self-regulation was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between MVPA and cognitive school readiness. (4) Conclusion: These findings highlight the direct and indirect association between preschool children’s physical activity, self-regulation, and cognitive school readiness. Further research is needed to determine the causal relationships between young children’s physical activity and cognitive development, over time.

(1) Background: Participation in physical activity is crucial for the healthy growth and development of young children. More robust measurement of environmental influences on children’s physical activity in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings may help resolve inconsistencies in the literature. This study evaluated the reliability of an environmental audit and educator practice survey for assessing ECEC physical, policy, and social environments related to young children’s physical activity. (2) Methods: A convenience sample of 20 ECEC centres participated in this PLAYCE (Play Spaces and Environments for Children’s Physical Activity) sub-study. Trained auditors conducted audits and educators completed surveys, two weeks apart. Test-retest reliability of the survey (n = 32), inter-rater (n = 20 pairs) and intra-rater reliability (n = 38) of the audit was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), Kappa statistics and percent agreement. (3) Results: Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability ICCs for outdoor equipment, spaces and features were good to excellent (ICC = 0.70–0.94), while ratings for indoor equipment, media and spaces varied from fair to excellent (ICC = 0.46–0.78). The majority of items were rated by Kappa as moderate or above for intra-rater, inter-rater and survey test-retest reliability. (4) Conclusions: The PLAYCE Study instruments provide reliable measures of ECEC physical activity environments which can help to better understand influences on young children’s physical activity.

This study investigated where preschool children were more or less active in outdoor play areas in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers using a novel method of combined device-measured physical activity, spatial data and on-site audit data. Preschool children (n = 237) aged 2–5 years from 30 ECEC centers wore accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X+) and Global Positioning System device (Qstarz Q-1000XT) for 7 days. Optimized hot spot analysis was performed to identify physical activity hot and cold spots in ECEC outdoor play areas. Preschoolers’ mean daily minutes of physical activity per ECEC day were significantly higher in large-very large ECEC centers compared to small-medium sized ECEC centers (all p < .01). Physical activity hot spots were frequently found in open areas and sometimes also found in their adjacent outdoor play areas if children can freely move between these areas. The amount of running space in ECEC outdoor play area and its location in relation to open areas are important for facilitating physical activity in preschool children. The findings provide objective behavioral and spatial information of ECEC outdoor play area designs that promote physical activity behavior in preschoolers, which can be used to inform the planning and design of physical activity promoting ECEC outdoor environments.