Young children are currently understudied in the area of physical activity enjoyment. Since young children lack the cognitive skills which motivate many adults to participate in physical activity, they have a unique need for specialized intervention programs. The present study explores how enjoyment of physical activity in young children is related to their actual levels of physical activity. Modified versions of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) were used to discover if such a relationship exists in kindergarten students from a multi-ethnic, suburban elementary school. While no significant correlation was found between self-reported physical activity level and overall enjoyment (r(18)=.012, p=.963), it was discovered that the participants in this study enjoy being physically active. These findings provide a basis to further investigate young children’s enjoyment of physical activity.
","abstract_html":"<p>Young children are currently understudied in the area of physical activity enjoyment. Since young children lack the cognitive skills which motivate many adults to participate in physical activity, they have a unique need for specialized intervention programs. The present study explores how enjoyment of physical activity in young children is related to their actual levels of physical activity. Modified versions of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) were used to discover if such a relationship exists in kindergarten students from a multi-ethnic, suburban elementary school. While no significant correlation was found between self-reported physical activity level and overall enjoyment (r(18)=.012, p=.963), it was discovered that the participants in this study enjoy being physically active. These findings provide a basis to further investigate young children’s enjoyment of physical activity.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hudson, Samantha Renae"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Health Promotion and Human Performance","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Susan McCarthy, Ph.D., Chair","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D.","Michael Paciorek, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-07-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-07-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["children","exercise","physically active","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/578","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Susan McCarthy, Ph.D., Chair","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D.","Michael Paciorek, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hudson, Samantha Renae"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Health Promotion and Human Performance"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["children","exercise","physically active","Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/578"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Young children are currently understudied in the area of physical activity enjoyment. Since young children lack the cognitive skills which motivate many adults to participate in physical activity, they have a unique need for specialized intervention programs. The present study explores how enjoyment of physical activity in young children is related to their actual levels of physical activity. Modified versions of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) were used to discover if such a relationship exists in kindergarten students from a multi-ethnic, suburban elementary school. While no significant correlation was found between self-reported physical activity level and overall enjoyment (r(18)=.012, p=.963), it was discovered that the participants in this study enjoy being physically active. These findings provide a basis to further investigate young children’s enjoyment of physical activity.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Young children's enjoyment of physical activity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Susan McCarthy, Ph.D., Chair","Joan Cowdery, Ph.D.","Michael Paciorek, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Hudson, Samantha Renae"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Young children are currently understudied in the area of physical activity enjoyment. Since young children lack the cognitive skills which motivate many adults to participate in physical activity, they have a unique need for specialized intervention programs. The present study explores how enjoyment of physical activity in young children is related to their actual levels of physical activity. Modified versions of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) were used to discover if such a relationship exists in kindergarten students from a multi-ethnic, suburban elementary school. While no significant correlation was found between self-reported physical activity level and overall enjoyment (r(18)=.012, p=.963), it was discovered that the participants in this study enjoy being physically active. These findings provide a basis to further investigate young children’s enjoyment of physical activity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/578"],"dc:subject":["children","exercise","physically active","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["Young children's enjoyment of physical activity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Health Promotion and Human Performance"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}