The purpose of this position paper is to raise awareness of intriguing interdisciplinary intersections among physical activity, motor learning/development, creativity, and cognition. A major intersection is the potential of physical activity that involves the effortful learning of novel and/or complex movement actions to elicit cognitive…

The aim of this paper was to examine the influence of picturebooks on children's "physical literacy" (PL). Fostering PL in early childhood can promote a physically active lifestyle in children and later adults. Picturebook use is a great opportunity for movement exploration in physical education classes, and recent research findings…

This paper examines the influence of task and skill level constraints on the generality of proximal-distal control for within-limb movement coordination. Analysis and synthesis of the experimental findings leads to the proposition that proximal-distal is one of several within-limb patterns of coordination, including: the reverse distal-proximal…

Introduction: Recently Baggs and Chemero (2018. "Radical Embodiment in Two Directions." "Synthese," 1-16. doi:10.1007/s11229-018-02020-9) advocated for the possible 'productive synthesis' between the enactive and the ecological approaches in order to understand and to explain how an agent behaves and interacts with the…

The article investigates several ways in which creating, entering, and playing games requires uniquely human levels of intelligence. It examines an element of our evolutionary heritage and the possibility that games (particularly in the form of sport) were among the first elements of culture. It describes sport as a "way of knowing," a…

It is widely accepted that children in Scotland, as in other high-income countries, are not engaging in sufficient moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), the consequences of which can be adverse for health and wellbeing. In this paper, it is contended that active play (a form of gross motor or total body movement in which…

Differences in early self-regulation skills contribute to disparities in success in early learning and school transition, as well as in childhood well-being. Self-regulation refers to managing emotional, cognitive, and behavioral processes that are conducive to positive adjustment and social relationships. Researchers have identified that various…

There is substantial scientific research suggesting the physical and psychological health benefits of a physically active lifestyle. Consequently, governments worldwide prioritize policies, finances, and resources in healthcare, education, and sports sectors to increase mass participation in physical activity. However, practices in physical…

Growth, maturation, and development dominate the daily lives of children and adolescents for approximately the first 2 decades of life. Growth and maturation are biological processes, while development is largely a behavioral process. The 3 processes occur simultaneously and interact. They can be influenced by physical activity and also can…

The health benefits of physical activity are well documented, and the important role that schools and physical education (PE) can play in reducing sedentary behavior and contributing to population health has been identified. Although effective teaching is ultimately judged by student achievement, a major component of teacher and school…

Many (56%) US children aged 3-5 years are in center-based childcare and are not obtaining recommended levels of physical activity. In order to determine what child-care teachers/providers perceived as benefits and barriers to children's physical activity in child-care centers, we conducted nine focus groups and 13 one-on-one interviews with 49…

In this review, we propose a social ecological constraint model to study inclusion of overweight or obese students in physical education by integrating key concepts and assumptions from ecological constraint theory in motor development and social ecological models in health promotion and behavior. The social ecological constraint model proposes…

Purpose: This systematic review examined the efficacy of hippotherapy or therapeutic horseback riding (THR) on motor outcomes in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Databases were searched for clinical trials of hippotherapy or THR for children with CP. Results: Nine articles were included in this review. Although the current level of…

This investigation examined short-term changes in child and adult cyclists' gap decisions and movement timing in response to general and specific road-crossing experiences. Children (10- and 12-year-olds) and adults rode a bicycle through a virtual environment with 12 intersections. Participants faced continuous cross traffic and waited for gaps…

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of overweight compared with healthy-weight children attending kindergartens in Munich, Germany. Mean age of the children at the beginning of the study was 53.2 months (SD = 7.5); the duration of the study was 20 months. At the beginning of the study children were classified as overweight (n…