The Effects of Mindful Movement Intervention on Academic and Cognitive Abilities Among Kindergarten Children

Evidence suggests that acting mindfully, that is, by stressing the purpose of the action and monitoring its current state, may benefit health, wellbeing, and academic achievements. We sought to investigate the underlying motor abilities affected by mindful-movement (MM) intervention, and which mediate its effect on academic achievement among kindergarteners. To this end, 160 children aged 3-6 years participated for 145 days, which included pre- and post-intervention tests of verbal and non-verbal intelligence, namely language, mathematics, and Raven matrices. The three conditions consisted of MM (integrating movement in academic learning), MS (movement-for-its-own-sake; promoting movement without promoting awareness), and control (regular academic environment activities). Results indicated that, compared to MS and controls, MM improved verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The effect on verbal intelligence was mediated through static balance performance, whereas the effect on non-verbal intelligence was mediated by dynamic balance performance. Possible mechanisms accounting for these mediation effects are discussed.