Learning aquatic movement skills can significantly enhance the fundamental movement skills and aquatic competence of preschool children aged 4-6 years, and object control skills of boys are related to their aquatic competence acquisition.
Key Findings
Results
The aquatic movement skills course significantly improved aquatic competence (AC) in the experimental group compared to the control group.
AC improvement was assessed using ANCOVA with F = 1663.96, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.93, indicating a very large effect size.
The improvement level of AC (ΔAC) in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (Z = -9.48, p < 0.01) as assessed by Mann-Whitney U test.
The intervention consisted of a 6-week aquatic movement skills course (twice a week, total of 12 sessions).
120 preschool children aged 4-6 years with no swimming experience were recruited, stratified and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (30 boys and 30 girls each).
Results
The aquatic movement skills course significantly improved locomotor skills in the experimental group compared to the control group.
Locomotor skills improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group (F = 18.98, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.14).
Both the experimental and control groups showed higher locomotor skills scores in the post-test compared to the pre-test.
Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and rank-transformed ANCOVA were used for inter-group difference analysis.
Results
The aquatic movement skills course significantly improved object control skills in the experimental group compared to the control group.
Object control improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group (F = 32.19, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.22).
Both the experimental and control groups showed higher object control scores in the post-test compared to the pre-test.
The effect size for object control (η2 = 0.22) was larger than that for locomotor skills (η2 = 0.14).
Results
Overall Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) improved significantly more in the experimental group than in the control group.
FMS improvement was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group (F = 45.85, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.28).
FMS scores of both the experimental and control groups in the post-test were higher than in the pre-test.
The effect size for overall FMS (η2 = 0.28) was the largest among the FMS-related outcomes.
Results
In boys, acquisition of aquatic competence was significantly positively correlated with object control skills and overall FMS scores.
AC acquisition in boys was significantly positively correlated with object control skills (r = 0.419, p = 0.021).
AC acquisition in boys was significantly positively correlated with overall FMS scores (r = 0.388, p = 0.034).
Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between FMS and AC acquisition.
No significant correlations between FMS components and AC acquisition were reported for girls.
Li H, Zhao G. (2026). Correlation analysis of fundamental movement skills level and aquatic competence acquisition in children aged 4-6 years.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1706377