Why Movement Matters: What Preschoolers on a Treadmill Can Teach Us About Brain Development

Preschoolers, Cardio, and Cognitive Gains

The study, led by doctoral student Shelby Keye and professor Naiman Khan, examined the connection between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive performance in 4- to 6-year-old children. Researchers found that preschoolers who demonstrated greater cardiovascular fitness — measured through a modified six-minute walk test — also performed better on tasks that measured attention, mental flexibility, and language use.⁴

This isn't the first time researchers have linked aerobic fitness with cognitive ability in school-aged children and adults. But what makes this study remarkable is just how early in life these connections begin to show up. Before kids can read fluently or do long division, their ability to move — to run, jump, and play — is already shaping their brains.

Movement and the Brain: A Foundational Principle of Brain Balance

This groundbreaking research aligns directly with the Brain Balance approach. We’ve built our program on the principle that brain development is multisensory and multimodal, meaning that cognitive growth is most powerful when it involves the whole brain and body.

Why do we integrate sensory stimulation, motor skills training, cognitive tasks, and physical activity into our program? Because, as this research confirms, movement drives brain development.

When children move, they aren’t just getting stronger muscles — they’re activating multiple brain systems simultaneously. Running, balancing, and coordinating movement requires the brain to manage attention, regulate emotions, adapt to sensory input, and build executive functioning — all critical for academic success and emotional regulation.

Movement Builds the Foundations of Executive Function

The University of Illinois researchers zeroed in on one of the most important brain skills linked to movement: cognitive control, also known as executive function. This includes working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control — the very things a child needs to sit through a class, manage frustration, solve math problems, and get along with peers.

At Brain Balance, we often talk with parents about how their child’s “behavior” is really brain-based. That child who can’t focus, who melts down over small frustrations, who struggles to remember instructions? These aren’t signs of willful disobedience — they’re signs of underdeveloped executive functioning. And often, the pathway to improvement doesn’t start at a desk — it starts with the body in motion.

Play Is Not Optional

What’s troubling — as Professor Khan points out — is that most preschoolers in the U.S. are not getting the recommended amount of physical activity each day. The guideline? At least three hours of movement spread throughout the day. Yet sedentary behavior and screen time often dominate young children’s routines, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

This is more than a lifestyle issue — it’s a developmental crisis. If the foundation for cognitive growth is built in early childhood through movement, and children aren’t moving, we risk weakening the very structures they need to thrive in school and life.

The Brain Balance Solution: Movement with Purpose

At Brain Balance, we don’t just advocate for more recess. We design structured, purposeful movement experiences that stimulate and strengthen brain connectivity. Through our program, children engage in exercises that integrate primitive reflexes, improve balance and coordination, elevate heart rate, and stimulate both hemispheres of the brain — all while building focus, confidence, and resilience.

We do this because the science is clear: you can’t separate the brain from the body. They develop together. And when we nurture both, children unlock new levels of potential.

We’ve studied outcomes in more than 28,000 Brain Balance participants and found consistent improvements in six key domains:¹

1. Social and communication skills
   
2. Motor coordination
   
3. Reading and writing
   
4. Emotional regulation
   
5. Executive function
   
6. Behavior (impulsivity and hyperactivity)
   

Subsequent studies have quantified these improvements, showing large to very large effect sizes across multiple measures.² Additional findings include:

• Measurable gains in balance, rhythm, fine motor skills, and auditory processing
• Improved inhibition of retained primitive reflexes
• Better classroom performance, fewer errors, and increased work completion

These studies demonstrated measurable gains in the foundational sensory-motor development that supports the maturation of higher-level brain functions including attention, inhibitory control, cognition, and executive functions.³

Moving Toward a Smarter, Stronger Future

As parents, educators, and advocates, we need to rethink how we view activity in a child’s day. Movement isn’t just a break between learning — it is learning. It’s how the brain builds pathways for attention, emotional regulation, language, and social interaction. Whether it’s dancing, climbing, jumping, or balancing — every bit of movement matters.

So, the next time you wonder if playtime is productive or if your child’s energy should be reined in, remember this: that wiggle, that run, that silly cape-clad sprint across the playground? It’s not just play. It’s progress.

Learn More

Want to know how Brain Balance uses movement to improve your child’s focus, behavior, and learning? Learn more about our whole-brain, movement-based approach.

Let’s get our kids moving — and growing — in the right direction.