Olive, Lisa S.Telford, Rohan M.Westrupp, ElizabethTelford, Richard D.2025-05-302025-05-300009-3920PubMed:37800868ORCID:/0000-0002-1723-2559/work/171154468http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173512719&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733754646This study aimed to determine the effects of the Active Early Learning (AEL) childcare center-based physical activity intervention on early childhood executive function and expressive vocabulary via a randomized controlled trial. Three-hundred-and-fourteen preschool children (134 girls) aged 3–5 years from 15 childcare centers were randomly assigned to the intervention (8 centers; n = 170 children) or control group (7 centers, n = 144 children) in May 2019. Participants were mostly Australian (85%) and from slightly higher areas of socio-economic status than the Australian average. There was an AEL intervention effect on inhibition (β = 0.5, p =.033, d = 0.29) and expressive vocabulary (β = 1.97, p =.001, d = 0.24). Integration of the AEL physical activity intervention into the daily childcare routine was effective in enhancing children's executive function and expressive language development.The research team would like to thank the child‐care center administrative staff, educators, and children who participated in this study. This study was funded by The Australian College of Physical Literacy, which was not involved in the design of the study, the analysis and interpretation of results, or the writing of this publication. Author LO is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship (1158487). Open access publishing facilitated by Deakin University, as part of the Wiley ‐ Deakin University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. The research team would like to thank the child-care center administrative staff, educators, and children who participated in this study. This study was funded by The Australian College of Physical Literacy, which was not involved in the design of the study, the analysis and interpretation of results, or the writing of this publication. Author LO is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship (1158487). Open access publishing facilitated by Deakin University, as part of the Wiley - Deakin University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.15enPublisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.2024-03-0110.1111/cdev.1401485173512719