Childhood plays a key role in human life because it acts as a window when the rapid motor and cognitive development occurs. Although there are limited published studies assessing the relationship between physical activities and cognitive developments in children those available have demonstrated a positive correlation between sports and improvement in cognitive functions in children. Researchers normally focus on language learning, academic achievement, attention, and working memory of children when they are studying the effects of physical activities on cognitive developments. To give you some insights regarding the relationship between physical activity and cognitive development we have outlined here how physical activities influence attention, thinking, language, and memory in physically active children, so continue reading this article to learn more.
Attention in children have been observed to improve with participation in regular physical activities, in a cross-sectional study evaluating effects of participating in regular physical activities in children between age 13 to 14 years it was noted that engaging in regular moderately intense physical activities improved focus of children toward given tasks significantly, this was evident in class in a three-hour lesson where the processes that need attention to start to deteriorate, other studies have also indicated that children who participate in sports are calm and controlled in class compared to those who spend most of their time playing passive games or watching videos on computers.
The thinking process of children have been reported to improve for children who participate in regular physical activities especially organized sports such as football and karate, some cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that children who participated in football for more than six months have highly developed planning skills, unlike their sedentary peers.
When looking at language and its relationship with physical activities, a good number of studies have found a positive correlation between sports and speech development in sports, some studies have pointed out a positive impact of physical activities in developing a comprehensive understanding of complex words and improved ability to detect syntax errors in children, this has made some authors associate the good grade with regular participation in physical activities in school.
It is important to note that scientists have identified a positive correlation between physical activities, learning, and memory in children, this is so because engaging in regular physical activities such as karate or football promotes the growth of greater basal ganglia and hippocampus capacities the areas that are associated with cognitive control and memory, some studies have found that children between age 3-5 years with improved physical activities have great cognitive functions especially in the area of working memory. Those are some effects of physical activities on children cognitive development process.