Clinical trial NCT06381687: A Movement and Music Programme in Early Childhood Education and Care (The MoviMusi Study Protocol)
Official title: A Movement and Music Programme in Early Childhood Education and Care to Promote Physical Activity, Gross and Fine Motor and Musical Skills: The MoviMusi Study Protocol
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Fundamental Motor Skills
Physical Activity
Music Intervention
Keywords: Early Childhood
Movement behaviors
Gross and fine motor skills
Lead sponsor: University of Valencia
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-04-24
Enrollment: 312
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 14
Maximum age (years): 22
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The allocation of ECECs to the intervention versus control group will be randomised in a blinded procedure at the end of the first year, following the baseline assessment. Once ECEC centres meeting the selection criteria are identified, they will be randomised to one of the trial arms.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The early childhood education and care (ECEC) environment is an important setting for providing children with daily opportunities for movement and music, supporting holistic child development in the early years. To date, there are no studies evaluating the implementation of a holistic programme in the ECEC context in the areas of movement behaviour, motor, and musical skills. The main aim is to examine the impact over time of a holistic movement and music programme on correlates of movement behaviour, gross and fine motor skills, and musical skills in young children (1-3 years). The secondary aims are to examine the impact of the movement and music programme on the perceptions of the educational community, as well as the barriers and facilitators they perceive in the process of baseline assessment, construction, and implementation of the movement and music programme in their own ECEC community. This cluster-randomised controlled trial (intervention and control groups) with public ECEC centres will be performed over a 24-month period. Baseline measurements will be taken in the first year of the project, and the longitudinal evaluation of the implementation of the movement and music programme in the second year. educational community's perceptions about the barriers and facilitators associated with the correlates of movement behaviour will be taken into account, as will the results of the assessment of gross and fine motor and musical skills identified in the first year of the project, with a special focus on the structured and unstructured opportunities for movement and music both in the ECEC settings and at home. This research project aims to fill a knowledge gap during a period of childhood that has rarely been explored, either nationally or internationally (1-3 years), and to position movement and music teaching practices as key contexts in the curriculum development of infant and toddler education.

Detailed description: ECEC settings are important determinants of children´s behaviour. Ecological models help to contextualise and explain how the different environments in which children interact on a daily basis (school, home, and peer relations) have the capacity to influence childrens development. To date, there are no studies evaluating the implementation of a holistic programme in the ECEC context in the areas of movement behaviour, motor, and musical skills. A pending line of research is the identification of the key correlates of changes in movement behaviour throughout the early years, which would generate knowledge crucial to developing policy interventions that promote general wellbeing in young children. Thus, this study focuses on the importance of home and ECEC settings in the development of movement behaviour through a critical analysis of how curricular practices can be more effective in influencing childrens holistic development.

Aims The main aim is to examine the impact over time of a holistic movement and music programme on correlates of movement behaviour, gross and fine motor skills, and musical skills in young children (1-3 years). The secondary aims are to examine the impact of the movement and music programme on the perceptions of the educational community, as well as the barriers and facilitators they perceive in the process of baseline assessment, construction, and implementation of the movement and music programme in their own ECEC community.

Hypotheses The research set out to test the following hypotheses: 1. Girls and boys (1-2 years) will perform the same amount of PA during the school day. 2. The implementation of a music and movement intervention programme will increase children´s PA during the school day. 3. The music and movement intervention programme will have an impact on higher levels of childrens GMS as well as a variety of musical processes in the intervention group. 4. The ECEC community will be actively involved in the co-creation process of the movement and music intervention programme.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Young children aged 14 to 22 months.
* Regularly attending the Early Childhood Education and Care centre.
* Parents giving informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Young children not attending more than two days to centre.
* Young children attending only half part of the day.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Physical activity
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: Sleep time
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: Motor skills
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: Musical skills
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: Sedentary time
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: For young children, the first secondary outcome measure is physical activity and sedentary time during unstructured and structured physical activity opportunities.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For young children, the second secondary outcome measure will be the play patterns during unstructured outdoor free play.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For ECEC educators, the first secondary outcome will be the perceived barriers and facilitators for the inclusion of movement and music as curricular practices in the ECEC institution.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For ECEC educators, the second secondary outcome will be the perceived impact of the implementation of the movement and music program.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For families, the first secondary outcome is the perceived barriers and facilitators to PA in young children.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For families, the second secondary outcome is the perceived barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of music at home.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For families, the third secondary outcome are the means of transport to ECEC settings and barriers to active comm
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For families, the fourth secondary outcome is the habitual perceived PA and sedentary behaviour in the child's home environment.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
measure: For families, the fifth secondary outcome is the perceived barriers and facilitators to PA in young children.
timeFrame: At baseline and 12 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Valencia
country: Spain
facility: University of Valencia
state: Comunidad Valenciana
Study officials:
References:
citation: undefined
citation: Gubbels JS, Van Kann DHH, Cardon G, Kremers SPJ. Activating Childcare Environments for All Children: the Importance of Children's Individual Needs. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jul 3;15(7):1400. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15071400.
citation: Carson V, Draper CE, Okely A, Reilly JJ, Tremblay MS. Future Directions for Movement Behavior Research in the Early Years. J Phys Act Health. 2023 Dec 18;21(3):218-221. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2023-0679. Print 2024 Mar 1. No abstract available.