Effects of a Physical Literacy Program on Preschoolers in Northern Mexico
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59614/acief62026302Keywords:
physical literacy, preschoolers, knowledge, fundamental movement skills.Abstract
Introduction: Physical Literacy (PL) is a holistic and comprehensive educational approach; UNESCO recommends its inclusion in Physical Education (PE) programs. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a PL program on Health-Related Physical Activity Knowledge (HRPAK) and Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) in preschool children. Methods: A all of 27 girls and 18 boys participated in the study. A Control Group (CG) n=17 and an Intervention Group (IG) n=28 were included. HRPAK was assessed using a multiple-choice examination, while FMS were evaluated using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3). The intervention group participated in two 40-minute sessions per week for 10 weeks. SHAPE America curricular standards were used to plan the sessions. A Pre-test and Post-test were administered. Results: The instruments showed adequate levels of reliability and internal consistency. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) for HRPAK was .756; FMS showed an ICC of .751 for Locomotor Skills and .723 for Object Control Skills. HRPAK and FMS in the IG showed statistically significant positive changes (p ≤ .01). Conclusion: The intervention improved HRPAK and FMS among preschool children in the IG, reinforcing the importance of implementing PL programs from an early age as a strategy to promote holistic development and establish the foundations for active and healthy lifestyles.
References
Cairney, J., Clark, H. J., James, M. E., Mitchell, D., Dudley, D. A., & Kriellaars, D. (2018). The preschool physical literacy assessment tool: Testing a new physical literacy tool for the early years. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 6, 138.
Cairney, J., Clark, H. J., James, M. E., Mitchell, D., Dudley, D. A., & Kriellaars, D. J. (2021). Evaluation of a physical literacy intervention in early childhood. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 9, 638407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2021.638407.
Cairney, J., Dudley, D., Kwan, M., Bulten, R., & Kriellaars, D. (2019). Physical literacy, physical activity and health: Toward an evidence-informed conceptual model. Sports Medicine, 49(3), 371–383.
Caldwell, H. A., Spencer, R. A., Joshi, N., Branje, K., Cawley, J., Hobson, H., … Stone, M. R. (2023). Impact of an outdoor loose parts play intervention on Nova Scotian preschoolers’ physical literacy: A mixed-methods randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1126.
Cale, L., & Harris, J. (2018). The role of knowledge and understanding in fostering physical literacy. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 37(3), 280–287.
Calzada-Rodríguez, J. I., Mendoza-Muñoz, M., Pastor-Cisneros, R., Barrios-Fernandez, S., Carlos-Vivas, J., Gómez-Galán, R., & Muñoz-Bermejo, L. (2023). Effects of a 4-week after-school physical literacy program on health-related quality of life and symptomatology in schoolchildren with ADHD: A study protocol. Healthcare, 11(14), 2113. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11142113.
Carson, V., Lee, E. Y., Hewitt, L., Jennings, C., Hunter, S., Kuzik, N., Predy, M., & Spence, J. C. (2025). Efficacy of a virtually delivered parent-focused physical literacy intervention for early childhood (PLAYshop): A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 22, Article 35.
Diamond, A. (2015). Effects of physical exercise on executive functions: Going beyond simply moving to moving with thought. Annals of Sports Medicine and Research, 2(1), 1011.
Dudley, D. A., Cairney, J., Wainwright, N., Kriellaars, D., & Mitchell, D. (2020). Critical considerations for physical literacy interventions. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 39(4), 510–518. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2019-0067.
Hernández-Sampieri, R., & Mendoza, C. (2020). Metodología de la investigación: Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. McGraw-Hill.
Kretaine, A., & Vecenane, H. (2025). Characteristics of the physical literacy of preschool children. Education Sciences, 15(7), 835. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15070835.
Longmuir, P. E., Gunnell, K. E., Barnes, J. D., Belanger, K., Leduc, G., Woodruff, S. J., & Tremblay, M. S. (2018). Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy Second Edition: A streamlined assessment of the capacity for physical activity among children 8 to 12 years of age. BMC Public Health, 18(Suppl. 2), 1047.
Pastor-Cisneros, R., López-Gil, J. F., Carl, J., Adsuar, J. C., & Mendoza-Muñoz, M. (2025). Exploring the associations of perceived physical literacy with depression, anxiety, and stress among Spanish adolescents. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 59, 101948.
SHAPE America–Society of Health and Physical Educators. (2015). National standards & grade-level outcomes for K–12 physical education. Human Kinetics.
SHAPE America–Society of Health and Physical Educators. (2018). PE Metrics: Assessing student performance using the National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K–12 Physical Education. Human Kinetics.
Suherman, A., Juliantine, T., & Mahendra, A. (2021). Thematic learning based on physical literacy for early children. JUARA: Jurnal Olahraga, 6(2), 318–331.
Telford, R. M., Olive, L. S., Cochrane, T., Davey, R., & Telford, R. D. (2022). The effect of a 6-month physical literacy intervention on preschool children’s gross and fine motor skills: The Active Early Learning randomized controlled trial. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 25(5), 412–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2022.02.003.
Ulrich, D. A. (2017). Introduction to the special section: Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the TGMD-3. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 5(1), 1–4.
Ulrich, D. A. (2019). Test of Gross Motor Development—Third Edition: Examiner’s manual. Pro-Ed.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2015). Quality physical education (QPE).
Whitehead, M. (Ed.). (2010). Physical literacy: Throughout the lifecourse. Routledge.
Whitehead, M. (Ed.). (2019). Physical literacy across the world. Routledge.
World Medical Association. (2013). World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA, 310(20), 2191–2194.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Salvador Jesús López-Alonzo, Alejandra Orona-Escápite, Arturo Martínez-Trevizo, Arturo Iván Chávez Erives, Samuel Alfredo Isalas-Guerra

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
International Academic Journal of Physical Education, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source is credited.
![]()
