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.

Background: Pet ownership brings many health benefits to individuals. In children developmental benefits can extend to improved self-esteem, better social competence and decreased loneliness. The majority of households with children own a dog, however only a small proportion of children gain the benefits of dog ownership through dog walking and play. There are few intervention studies investigating the impact of dog-facilitated physical activity in children. The PLAYCE PAWS study aims to test a minimal-contact intervention through the use of mobile health (“mhealth”) strategies, i.e. text (SMS) messages, to parents to encourage their children to walk and play with their dog more, and evaluate the impact on children’s overall physical activity and development.Methods/design: The PLAYCE PAWS intervention study will target parents in dog-owning families with children aged 5 to 8 years in Perth, Western Australia. Approximately 150 dog-owning parents and children will be randomly allocated into either one of two intervention groups or a ‘usual care’ control group. The first intervention group will receive SMS messages over 4 weeks to encourage and prompt parents to undertake dog walking and dog play with their child. The second intervention group will receive the same text messages, plus a dog pedometer and personalised ‘dog steps’ diary for their child to complete. Parent-reported outcome measures include changes in children’s dog walking and play, overall physical activity, socio-emotional development, self-regulation, self-esteem, empathy, and level of attachment to their dog.Discussion: The PLAYCE PAWS study appears to be the first to examine the effectiveness of a low-cost, mhealth intervention for increasing young children’s physical activity through dog walking and play. Given the high prevalence of dogs as family pets, this study presents a valuable opportunity to investigate if mHealth interventions encourage children to walk and play with their dog more, and if there are any associated impact on children’s overall physical activity and socio-emotional well-being. If effective, a larger trial or program could be implemented at low-cost and with wide reach in the community.Trial registration: ANZCTR,ACTRN12620000288921. Registered 4th March 2020 - Retrospectively registered.

• Dog-owning preschoolers were more active, had lower screen time and slept more. • Dog-facilitated walking and play can support preschooler movement behaviours. • Potential for dog-facilitated activity to promote positive movement behaviours.