A school-year mini basketball curricular program promotes fundamental movement skills of urban Chinese preschoolers with typical development

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a school-year skill-based mini basketball program on the fundamental movement skills (FMS) of urban Chinese preschoolers. A cluster randomized trial was conducted, in which 18 intact classes were randomly assigned to either the mini basketball (MB; 9 classes) or conventional physical education (CP; 9 classes) group. Children in the MB group received the MB curricular intervention, while the CP group received regular physical education curriculum representing standard practice in urban Chinese preschools. Motor development was evaluated by the Test of Gross Motor Development 2nd Edition. The results of the 2 × 2 (time × group) multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures showed that the MB program was associated with greater improvements in FMS compared to the CP program, suggesting an added benefit beyond typical developmental progression. Our findings also revealed that the effects of MB on object control were influenced by age, with four- and five-year-old children demonstrating greater improvements than three-year-olds. These findings suggest that MB appears to be a feasible and potentially effective intervention to promote FMS development in preschool settings.