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

Evidence suggests that acting mindfully – that is, stressing the purpose of the action and monitoring its current state, may benefit health, well-being, and academic achievements. We sought to investigate the underlying motor abilities affected by mindful-movement (MM) intervention, which mediates 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.