Social Competence and Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity of School-Aged Children through a Creative Physical Education Intervention

Traditional school physical education focuses on physical skills or strategies with an expectation that learning these skills lead to healthier lifestyle outside physical education classes, while children’s overall moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is widely decreasing. Creative Physical Education (CPE) understands physical education more holistically, as the central pedagogical element of movement is social learning. The current study examined the development of social competence in school physical education (PE) and total moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) participation through a CPE-based intervention. Participants were 363 (177 intervention, 186 control) children from public elementary schools in Central Finland. The data collection was completed across two measurement points using questionnaires. The key findings were that: 1) the associations between social competence and MVPA engagement were relatively weak and 2) the 12-month intervention was effective in increasing students’ social competence in PE and total MVPA engagement. CPE teaching practices could provide positive social experiences in PE. However, applying new strategies into actual school settings may take time, and therefore, children need to be given sufficient timeframe to take ownership of the activities.