Development and evaluation of an intervention focusing on healthy lifestyle in promoting preschoolers’ creative movement

Abstract

Early childhood is a critical period for the development of child’s creativity. Creativity has been closely linked with child’s cognitive and emotional development. Thus, it is important to study thoroughly creativity in childhood. The aim of the present study was the evaluation of an intervention emphasizing health promotion on pre-school children’s creativity and creative movement in particular. In the study took part 101 children (Μage=4.71±.47, 52 girls) of typical kindergartens in Thessaloniki. Children were randomly assigned into Interven-tion Group (n=39, Μage= 4.69±.46, 19 girls) and Control Group (n=62, Μage=4.72±.48, 33 girls). Children at the Intervention Group participated in physical education lessons designed to promote creative movement. The intervention included 12 daily lesson plans. The Control Group children attended the typical physical education lessons. The “Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement” was used to measure the dimensions of creative movement. The results of the analysis demonstrated that children in the Intervention Group scored significantly higher in all dimensions of creative movement compared to those in the Control Group. Children’s gender did not influence the development of creative movement. The findings of the present study provide valuable information about the promotion of creative movement in preschool education.