online homework for toddlers

Online Worksheets For Kids

Online worksheets for kids is one of the biggest online platforms that offer worksheets for kids, adults, parents, and teachers. The online worksheet library comprises more than 1000 worksheets that can be accessed from any corner of the world. As we know, worksheets help kids with creativity and open the doors to be imaginative enough. Free worksheets also assist children of all ages to explore ideas and different concepts. Besides children, these worksheets tend to relax the minds of adults, including that it provides some time off from real world problems for a while. Browse through different categories and pages to find your true calling within online worksheets for kids.

Online Worksheets for kids

Online worksheets for kids is a hub of online printable worksheets for toddlers, preschoolers and even adults. We offer a large variety of online worksheets that come handy, moreover these free worksheets can easily be incorporated in any syllabus and curriculum. More than 100+ worksheets for everyone. These free printable worksheets are easy to access, safe for kids of all ages, and compatible with every device. Try these amazing free printable worksheets for kids and perk up the monotonous learning.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten Coloring

Kindergarten English

Kindergarten Science

Kindergarten Math

Matching Worksheets

1st Grade Worksheets

Social Studies Worksheets for Grade 1

English Worksheets for Grade 1

Engage young learners with our comprehensive selection of English worksheets for grade 1. These free resources cover key areas like nouns, verbs, adjectives, comprehension, and more, all designed by educational professionals for safe, kid-friendly learning. Ditch the monotony and bring the fun back to English fundamentals! Explore conjunctions, composition practice, and more – all available as printable worksheets you can access daily. Let's help your child learn something new every day!

Math Worksheets for Grade 1

Science Worksheets for Grade 1

Tangrams Worksheets For Grade 1

Addition Worksheets For Grade 1

Environment Worksheets For Grade 1

Animal Worksheets for Grade 1

Subtraction Worksheets For Grade 1

Free Tracing Worksheets Preschool

Grammar Worksheets For Grade 1

Kindergarten Grammar Worksheets

Activity Worksheets For Kindergarten

Online worksheets for kids - free worksheets, worksheets for adults, worksheets for kids, worksheets for girls, worksheets for boys, worksheets for parents, worksheets for teachers and much more. Online worksheets for kids is a site that offers a wide range of printable worksheets for children of all ages, moreover these worksheets are free of all charges and available online. These online worksheets serve as a helping aid for parents and teachers who look for new and fun ways to teach kids. These online worksheets work best on any android and iOS device including iPhones, iPads and other gadgets.

Contact Us: [email protected]

© Copyright 2024 Online Worksheets - All Rights Reserved

Joyful learning starts here!

Inspire a lifetime of learning and discovery with our free, fun educational program for children ages two to eight.

100% FREE! No ads, no subscriptions.

Kids will love to learn.

Focused on the whole child

Our program engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math, while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills.

Five whimsical, charming characters—including narrator Kodi Bear—guide kids through activities and stories.

Original interactive activities, books, animated videos, games, and creative lessons captivate children’s attention. 

Developed by experts 

Khan Academy Kids was developed in collaboration with learning experts at Stanford and aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Common Core Standards.

You’ll never see ads. You’ll never need a subscription. 

Adaptive Learning Path

Our personalized learning path dynamically adapts, ensuring each child is presented with activities, books, educational videos, and creative lessons that allow them to learn at their own pace, creating an individualized experience for every learner.

Independent Learning

Kids can also learn independently in the Khan Academy Kids Library—a curated collection of activities, books, videos, and coloring pages. Our book reader allows kids to follow along with recorded audio narration or read on their own across our fiction, non-fiction, and fiction leveled books.

Parents love us.

“Every day I am amazed @khanacademykids is free, and I am so grateful for how much it has contributed to my kid’s development.”

J. Hernandez, via Twitter

“Parents: If you are looking for an educational app for your 2-5 yr old, download @khanacademykids - seriously most research-based, engaging, non-annoying app.  AND IT’S FREE.”

T. Peltier, via Twitter

“ My 4-year old is working on @khanacademy’s app @khanacademykids this morning and loving it. The combo of school facts along with social/emotional content is outstanding. ”

M. Nemerow, via Twitter

Award-winning program.

Download the app!

Our Partners

© 2024  Khan Academy Kids  |   Terms of use   |   Privacy policy  | Cookie preferences

100% FREE! No ads. No subscriptions.

Joyful 

You’ll never see ads. You’ll never need a subscription.

Unique for every learner.

Kids can also learn independently in the Khan Academy Kids Library—a curated collection of activities, books, videos, and coloring pages. Our book reader allows kids to follow along with recorded audio narration or read on their own across our fiction, non-fiction and fiction leveled books.

“ My 4-year old is working on @khanacademykids this morning and loving it. The combo of school facts along with social/emotional content is outstanding. ”

© 2024  Khan Academy Kids   Terms of use   |   Privacy policy  |  Cookie policy

Get free summer learning activities!  Click here to sign up.

Get free summer learning activities!  Sign up.

What's new.

Camp Khan Kids

Fun summer learning program for kids ages 2-8. Learn more

Teacher Tools

Schools and Districts

Powerful new tools for teachers. Learn more  

Get support for your PreK-2nd grade classrooms. Learn more

Studies show Khan Academy Kids boosts pre-literacy skills. Learn more  

Fun, educational off-screen family activities. Learn more

Circle Time

YouTube videos with interactive stories and lessons. Learn more

Reading & Math for K-5

• Kindergarten
• Learning numbers
• Comparing numbers
• Place Value
• Roman numerals
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Order of operations
• Drills & practice
• Measurement
• Factoring & prime factors
• Proportions
• Shape & geometry
• Data & graphing
• Word problems
• Children's stories
• Leveled Stories
• Context clues
• Cause & effect
• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details
• Story elements
• Conclusions & inferences
• Sounds & phonics
• Words & vocabulary
• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
• Numbers & counting
• Simple math
• Social skills
• Other activities
• Dolch sight words
• Fry sight words
• Multiple meaning words
• Prefixes & suffixes
• Vocabulary cards
• Other parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Narrative writing
• Opinion writing
• Informative writing
• Cursive alphabet
• Cursive letters
• Cursive letter joins
• Cursive words
• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
• Grammar & Writing

Free Worksheets

Reading, math and more for kindergarten to grade 5.

Featured Worksheet

Sequencing Events

Grade 3 reading worksheet.  

Featured Workbook

Early Geometry

An introduction to geometry. Only $7.40

Latest from the K5 Blog

• Pictographs are Important for Elementary Math Learning
• Subjects, Objects and Predicates Explained
• Telling Time Worksheets for Grade 1 Students

• Forgot Password?

Worksheets by grade

Worksheets by subject, worksheets by topics.

• Prepositions
• Blends and Digraphs
• Compound Words
• Conjunctions
• Miscellaneous
• Determiners

• Connect the Dots
• Measurements
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Classification
• Place values
• Spatial sense
• Mixed Operations
• Charts and Graphs

• Fruits and vegetables
• Transportation
• Birds and Insects
• Our Neighbours

Weekly Newsletter

CONTENT TYPE

• Lesson Plans
• Number Sense (530)
• Number Recognition (315)
• Number Recognition Within 3 (82)
• Number Recognition Within 5 (71)
• Number Recognition Within 10 (146)
• Number Recognition Within 20 (16)
• Number Sequence (49)
• Number Sequence Within 3 (6)
• Number Sequence Within 5 (9)
• Number Sequence Within 10 (20)
• Number Sequence Within 20 (5)
• Counting (132)
• Counting Objects Within 3 (13)
• Counting Objects Within 5 (37)
• Counting Objects Within 10 (58)
• Writing Numbers (270)
• Writing Numbers Within 3 (70)
• Writing Numbers Within 5 (65)
• Writing Numbers Within 10 (125)
• Writing Numbers Within 20 (10)
• Number Representation (66)
• Place Value (50)
• Read and Write Numbers (50)
• Numbers up to 10 (50)
• Addition (136)
• Addition Sentences (7)
• Addition Sentence within 5 (7)
• Add with Pictures (22)
• Add with Pictures within 5 (22)
• Model Addition (105)
• Add Using Models (6)
• Addition Strategies (63)
• Addition Strategies within 10 (63)
• Compose and Decompose Numbers (63)
• Number Bonds (61)
• Subtraction (44)
• Subtraction Sentences (7)
• Subtraction Sentences within 5 (7)
• Subtract with Pictures (30)
• Subtract with Pictures within 5 (27)
• Subtract with Pictures within 10 (3)
• Model Subtraction (20)
• Geometry (28)
• Positional Words (10)
• Shapes (16)
• 2d Shapes (14)
• Identify triangles (1)
• Flat and Solid Shapes (2)
• Measurement (49)
• Capacity (3)
• Comparing Measurements (33)
• Compare Weights (8)
• Group of Objects (4)
• Compare Lengths (9)
• Compare Heights (12)
• Data Handling (12)
• Organize and Interpret Data (1)
• Sort Objects (11)
• ELA (1,382)
• Reading (958)
• Phonics (958)
• Alphabet (449)
• Letter A (18)
• Letter B (18)
• Letter C (18)
• Letter D (18)
• Letter E (18)
• Letter F (18)
• Letter G (18)
• Letter H (18)
• Letter I (18)
• Letter J (18)
• Letter K (18)
• Letter L (18)
• Letter M (18)
• Letter N (18)
• Letter O (18)
• Letter P (18)
• Letter Q (18)
• Letter R (18)
• Letter S (18)
• Letter T (18)
• Letter U (18)
• Letter V (18)
• Letter W (18)
• Letter X (18)
• Letter Y (18)
• Letter Z (18)
• Letter Sequence (64)
• ABC Song (20)
• Alphabetical Order (34)
• Letter Sounds (104)
• Letter Sound A (4)
• Letter Sound B (4)
• Letter Sound C (4)
• Letter Sound D (4)
• Letter Sound E (4)
• Letter Sound F (4)
• Letter Sound G (4)
• Letter Sound H (4)
• Letter Sound I (4)
• Letter Sound J (4)
• Letter Sound K (4)
• Letter Sound L (4)
• Letter Sound M (4)
• Letter Sound N (4)
• Letter Sound O (4)
• Letter Sound P (4)
• Letter Sound Q (4)
• Letter Sound R (4)
• Letter Sound S (4)
• Letter Sound T (4)
• Letter Sound U (4)
• Letter Sound V (4)
• Letter Sound W (4)
• Letter Sound X (4)
• Letter Sound Y (4)
• Letter Sound Z (4)
• Letter Recognition (353)
• Lowercase Letters (78)
• Uppercase Letters (78)
• Matching Lowercase and Uppercase Letters (197)
• Match Aa - Dd (8)
• Match Ee - Gg (7)
• Match Hh - Kk (9)
• Match Ll - Pp (11)
• Match Qq - Ss (7)
• Match Tt - Vv (7)
• Match Ww - Zz (9)
• Sight Words (155)
• Writing (424)
• Handwriting (424)
• Letter Tracing (294)
• Letter Tracing A (26)
• Letter Tracing B (26)
• Letter Tracing C (26)
• Letter Tracing D (26)
• Letter Tracing E (26)
• Letter Tracing F (26)
• Letter Tracing G (26)
• Letter Tracing H (26)
• Letter Tracing I (26)
• Letter Tracing J (26)
• Letter Tracing K (26)
• Letter Tracing L (26)
• Letter Tracing M (26)
• Letter Tracing N (26)
• Letter Tracing O (26)
• Letter Tracing P (26)
• Letter Tracing Q (26)
• Letter Tracing R (26)
• Letter Tracing S (26)
• Letter Tracing T (26)
• Letter Tracing U (26)
• Letter Tracing V (26)
• Letter Tracing W (26)
• Letter Tracing X (26)
• Letter Tracing Y (26)
• Letter Tracing Z (26)
• Cursive Writing (130)
• General Knowledge (291)
• Vegetables (19)
• Fruits (24)
• Animals (57)
• Seasonal (28)
• Christmas (12)
• Kitchen (11)
• Musical Instruments (30)
• Art & Creativity (235)
• Coloring (181)
• Animals (32)
• Rhymes (25)
• Stories (10)

Number Sense

Count Along with the Stars from 1 to 3 Game

Shine bright in the math world by counting along with the stars from 1 to 3.

Count Along with the Stars from 1 to 5 Game

Count along with the stars from 1 to 5 with this number sense game.

Number Hunt : 2 Worksheet

A fun and engaging worksheet that challenges students to locate and highlight all the number 2s.

Number Hunt : 3 Worksheet

A fun-filled worksheet designed to enhance number recognition by finding and marking all the 3s.

Add Two Numbers (Up to 5) Game

Ask your little one to add two numbers (Up to 5) to play this game.

Finding Sum (Up to 10) Game

Dive deep into the world of addition by finding the sum (up to 10).

Single Digit Addition within 5: Horizontal Addition Worksheet

Use this worksheet to practice single digit addition within 5 to strengthen your math skills.

Single Digit Addition within 5: Vertical Addition Worksheet

Solidify your math skills by practicing single digit addition within 5.

Subtraction

Remove and Match the Number Game

Enjoy the marvel of math-multiverse by exploring how to remove and match the number.

Take Away to Match the Number Game

Apply your knowledge of subtraction to take away to match the number.

Complete Subtraction Sentence Using Pictures Worksheet

Help your child revise subtraction by completing subtraction sentences using pictures.

Represent Subtraction Sentences Worksheet

Make math practice a joyride by solving problems to represent subtraction sentences.

Sort Real-World Shapes Game

Add more arrows to your child’s math quiver by sorting real-world shapes.

Find Shapes All Around Us Game

Ask your little one to find and identify the different shapes around us to play this game.

Identify the Flat Shapes Worksheet

Reinforce math concepts by practicing to identify the flat shapes.

Squares and Circles Worksheet

Practice squares and circles by printing this playful worksheet.

Measurement

Identify Objects by Color Game

Sharpen your skills by identifying objects by their colors.

Sort Objects by Color Game

Dive deep into the world of measurement by sorting objects by color.

How many Objects Worksheet

Pack your math practice time with fun by identifying how many objects.

Read the Table to Compare Length Worksheet

Boost your child's skills in comparing lengths with this engaging, interactive worksheet.

Can You Find the Uppercase Letter A? Game

To play this game, find the uppercase letter A.

Can You Find the Lowercase Letter a? Game

To play this game, find the lowercase letter a.

Find Letter A Worksheet

Discover the letter 'A' in various texts with this fun worksheet!

Spot Letter a Worksheet

This ELA worksheet will fill your child with zest as they spot the letter 'a'.

Tracing Big Letters With Sleeping & Slanting Lines - A, V, W, X, Y & Z Game

Practice tracing big letters with sleeping & slanting lines - A, V, W, X, Y & Z.

Tracing Small Letters With Standing & Curvy Lines - a, d & q Game

Practice tracing small letters with standing and curvy lines - a, d and q.

Trace the Uppercase A Worksheet

Master language arts by tracing the Uppercase 'A'.

Trace the lowercase a Worksheet

Add elements of fun to your ELA practice by tracing the lowercase 'a'.

All Resources

Quickly Tell the Number of Things up to 10 Game

Have your own math-themed party by learning how to quickly tell the number of things up to 10.

Solve 'Take Apart' Scenarios Game

Take the pressure off by simplifying subtraction by solving 'Take Apart' scenarios.

Add and Subtract Numbers within 5: Horizontal Addition and Subtraction Worksheet

In this worksheet, learners will get to add and subtract numbers within 5.

Front and Behind Worksheet

Practice 'Front' and 'Behind' by printing this playful worksheet.

Identify the Object with Shorter Length Game

Use your measurement skills to identify the object with the shorter length.

Animal Tracing Letter A Worksheet

Get the fun going with these animal-themed letter tracing worksheets! Let's practice tracing letter A.

Identify Embedded Numbers Game

Help your child take flight by learning how to identify embedded numbers.

Trace and Learn the Shape Worksheet

Make ELA practice a joyride by tracing and learning shapes.

Find One Less Game

Unearth the wisdom of mathematics by learning how to find one less.

Add and Subtract Numbers within 5: Vertical Addition and Subtraction Worksheet

Use this printable worksheet to add and subtract numbers within 5 to strengthen your math skills.

Identify Which Object is Longer Game

Kids must identify which object is longer to practice measurement.

Observe the Pictures and Identify the Position of the Object Worksheet

Boost spatial understanding with this worksheet on identifying objects' positions in pictures.

Read the Ruler to Compare Length in Inches Worksheet

Enhance your child's length comparison skills with this engaging worksheet on reading rulers in inches.

Animal Tracing Letter J Worksheet

Wild adventures await in our fun animal-themed tracing worksheets! Let's practice tracing letter J.

Trace Along the Lines Worksheet

Enhance your linguistic skills by tracing along the lines with this worksheet.

Solve 'Add To' Scenarios Game

Add more arrows to your child’s math quiver by solving 'Add To' scenarios.

Number Hunt : 1 Worksheet

A fun-filled worksheet designed to help students identify and mark all instances of the number 1.

Add 1 within 5: Horizontal Addition Worksheet

Learn addition at the speed of lightning by practicing to add 1 within 5.

Subtraction with Pictures Game

Shine bright in the math world by learning how to subtract with pictures.

Match Triangles and Squares Game

Enter the madness of math-multiverse by exploring how to match triangles and squares.

One More or One Less within 5: Horizontal Addition and Subtraction Worksheet

Reveal the secrets of math wizardry by practicing to find one more or one less within 5.

Identify the Position of Objects as Top, Bottom, or Middle Worksheet

Enhance your child's understanding of positional words with our interactive worksheet.

Identify the Object with Shorter Height Game

Shine bright in the math world by learning how to identify the object with the shorter height.

Learn the Letters: Big A Game

Put your language skills to the test by learning the letter: Big A.

Compare and Order Objects Based on Their Height Worksheet

Boost your child's math skills with this engaging worksheet on comparing object heights.

Animal Tracing Letter K Worksheet

Time to meet a koala and kangaroo in our animal-themed tracing worksheets! Let's trace the letter K.

Let's Make the Letter A Game

Let's take a look at how to make the letter A with this game.

Trace and Reach the Animal Food Worksheet

Kids must trace and reach the animal food in this printable worksheet.

Number Hunt : 5 Worksheet

A fun-filled worksheet tasking students to hunt down and mark all occurrences of the number 5.

Solve 'Put Together' Scenarios Game

Shine bright in the math world by learning how to solve 'Put Together' scenarios.

Find the Difference Using Models Game

Ask your little one to find the difference using models to play this game.

Add 1 within 5: Vertical Addition Worksheet

Be on your way to become a mathematician by practicing to add 1 within 5.

One More or One Less within 5: Vertical Addition and Subtraction Worksheet

Pack your math practice time with fun by finding one more or one less within 5.

Pre-K Curriculum and Educational Resources

Preschool, a key part of early learning, is a fundamental phase for children aged around 3 to 5 years.  During this crucial period, kids are introduced to basic essential Math and ELA concepts, promoting creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, self-expression, and a lifelong love for learning. 

• Pre-K Math Learning: In the preschool curriculum for math, children start with basic number recognition, number sequences, counting , and simple addition and subtraction . They also learn about shapes and basic measurement concepts, all of which prepare them for advanced math skills in later years. 
• Pre-K ELA Learning: As a part of the Pre-K ELA curriculum, kids learn about letter recognition (both uppercase and lowercase), letter sequences , letter tracing , sight words , and more. 
• General Knowledge: In this section, kids learn about important general topics such as food items, animals and birds, seasons and festivals, kitchen items, musical instruments, etc. 
• Art and Creativity: As a part of the creative curriculum, this section aims to create a love for coloring, music, and stories in children through fun visuals and attractive themes.

Now, let’s take an overview of SplashLearn’s educational resources for Pre-K learning.  

Types of Preschool Learning Resources

SplashLearn’s Pre-K educational resources cover a wide range of preschool learning materials enriching the learning process for young learners. Our expertly designed learning resources help kindle a love for learning in young children by blending learning with enjoyment. Let’s take an overview of preschool resources by SplashLearn and their benefits.

Fun Preschool Learning Games

Preschool learning games are thoughtfully planned and designed by our curriculum experts. They cover the following subjects: Math, ELA, General Knowledge, and Art and Creativity. 

• Pre-K Math Games : This section features around 150+ interactive Pre-K Math games , teaching important math concepts like number sense, addition, subtraction, basic geometrical shapes, and measurements.
• Pre-K ELA Games : The ELA section includes around 450+ fun games designed for Pre-K kids, teaching essential reading and writing skills in an engaging manner. 
• Pre-K General Knowledge Games : There are around 300 games that wonderfully teach essential real-world topics, such as animals, birds, food items, etc. 
• Pre-K Art and Creativity Games : This segment has around 200+ games designed to spark art and creativity in kids through activities like coloring, music, and storytelling. 

These games are aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Each game focuses on a specific concept, providing a bite-sized learning approach. Colorful graphics, fun characters, and attractive themes add to the overall appeal and effectiveness of games.

Interactive Preschool Worksheets

SplashLearn offers printable preschool worksheets designed by keeping all the key topics of Math and ELA in mind.

• Pre-K Math worksheets : The Pre-K Math segment features around 500+ worksheets , which offer structured exercises and fun practice.
• Pre-K ELA worksheets : There are about 900+ printable ELA worksheets designed for helping Pre-K children master reading and writing skills with ease.

Effective Preschool Lessons Plans

• Preschool Math lesson plans : For Pre-K, SplashLearn offers Math lesson plans for important topics, such as number sense, addition, subtraction, etc. 
• Preschool ELA lesson plans: Similarly, there are Pre-K ELA lesson plans designed for essential topics and subtopics.

Hands-on Preschool Activities

Engaging kids in fun educational activities is the key to effective, hands-on, and practical learning. Find 25 Easy Activities for Preschoolers that are age-appropriate, educational, and perfect for home or classroom learning. For each activity, there’s an attached tutorial to guide parents and teachers.

Preschool Live Classes

• SplashLearn also offers Live Classes for pre-kindergarten kids for both math and reading. These classes are conducted by experienced, qualified, and certified teachers. 
• Parents have the freedom to choose a time slot that fits their child's routine. 
• Parents with an active subscription/trial can easily find the "Live Class" page on the top of the dashboard. 
• Our grade-specific apps don't include the Live class feature at the moment. However, you can join these classes through our website using laptops, desktops, iPads, Macbooks, and Chromebooks.

What Are the Best Tips for Teaching Preschoolers?

Teaching pre-kindergarten kids can sometimes be challenging due to their age and short attention spans. However, the right teaching tools and strategies can make learning fun and enjoyable for them. Here are links to our informative blogs that can be very helpful:

• Explore our “ 5 Best Tips for Teaching Preschoolers ” blog for insightful ideas and tips that can be used as effective teaching strategies. 
• Plus, if you wish to learn more about core Pre-K subjects and their objectives, don’t miss our article “ 7 Things Kids Learn in Preschool .”

What Are the Best 5 Preschool Learning Resources?

Here are 5 engaging Pre-K learning resources offered by SplashLearn:

• Number Sequence from 1 to 20 Game
• Complete the Counting Worksheet
• Subtract Using Counters Game
• Addition Sentence Worksheet
• Math Lesson Plan — Magic of Making 5 & 10

Your one stop solution for all grade learning needs.

• Skills by Standard
• Skills by Grade
• Skills by Category

Go to profile

• Assignments
• Assessments
• Report Cards
• Our Teachers

Get Started Learning With MathGames!

• Math Slither
• Launch The Llama
• Viking Queen Defense
• Math and Snacks
• Math vs Monsters
• Number Worms
• Math Invasion
• Candy Stacker
• King of Math
• Toon Balloonz
• Math Missile
• P Pre-Kindergarten 34 skills
• K Kindergarten 70 skills
• 1 Grade 1 83 skills
• 2 Grade 2 128 skills
• 3 Grade 3 91 skills
• 4 Grade 4 126 skills
• 5 Grade 5 120 skills
• 6 Grade 6 151 skills
• 7 Grade 7 184 skills
• 8 Grade 8 113 skills
• Measurement
• Mixed Equations
• Multiplication
• More Skills

Evaluate Exponents

Counting and number patterns: Writing numbers in words

Count Groups of Tens and Ones Up to 100

Match Clocks And Time

• Instant setup using Google Classrooms, Remind or Office 355
• Create printable worksheets for offline practice
• Create detailed assignments, lesson plans and exit tickets
• Scratch pads to help students solve problems
• Detailed Reporting for Teachers and School Admins
• Skills Aligned to the Common Core Standards
• Tablet, Chromebooks, iPads and mobile phone ready -no downloads needed
• Trusted and used by over 5 million students in homes and classrooms

Math Games offers online games and printable worksheets to make learning math fun. Kids from pre-K to 8th grade can practice math skills recommended by the Common Core State Standards in exciting game formats. Never associated learning algebra with rescuing animals or destroying zombies? Time to think again!

Kids learn better when they're having fun . They also learn better when they get to practice new skills repeatedly . Math Games lets them do both - in school or at home .

Teachers and parents can create custom assignments that assess or review particular math skills. Activities are tailored so pupils work at appropriate grade levels . Worksheets can be downloaded and printed for classroom use , or activities can be completed and automatically graded online .

Best of all? It's completely free! Click on any of our games above to get started.

Get updates on what we do by following us on Twitter at @mathgames . Send us your comments, queries or suggestions here .

Toy Theater | Educational Games for Kids

Toy Theater is your source for free educational games specially designed for elementary-aged students. It's available on all desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices, ensuring learning is never out of reach. If you are a fan of our site, we encourage you to share Toy Theater on your social media or website.

A Toy Theater comic

Explore Toy Theater

Here's a sneak peek into what Toy Theater has in store:

• Math Games : Ranging from counting and numeral recognition to division and telling time, there's a vast assortment of interactive math games.
• Language Arts : Students can work on spelling, letter recognition, and even practice reading with online books.
• Art and Music : From teaching students to play simple songs on a keyboard to exploring symmetry via art games, the platform fosters creativity alongside learning.
• Puzzles and Games : Ideal for early finishers or indoor recess, their online educational puzzles and games promise fun-filled learning.
• Teacher Tools : Need a fun timer or a spinner? Or perhaps a simple way to evaluate basic math skills? Their virtual teacher tools have got you covered.

Whether you project Toy Theater games and interactive tools on your smartboard for the whole class to see or use them during small group work, you’re sure to love them!

Class Playground offers an array of worksheets, activities, and knowledge on various subjects. It's the perfect spot for teachers seeking classroom resources.

If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

For every student, every classroom. Real results.

We’re a nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

Learners, teachers, and parents:

Why Khan Academy works

Personalized learning

Trusted content

Tools to empower teachers

Differentiate your classroom and engage every student.

We empower teachers to support their entire classroom. 90% of US teachers who have used Khan Academy have found us effective.

You can learn anything.

Build a deep, solid understanding in math, science, and more.

Every child deserves the chance to learn.

Across the globe, 617 million children are missing basic math and reading skills. We’re a nonprofit delivering the education they need, and we need your help. You can change the course of a child’s life.

Join Khan Academy today

Key supporters.

100+ Free Toddler Printables

ST PATRICK'S DAY FOR TODDLERS

• Recognizing letter names and sounds
• Recognizing lowercase and uppercase letters
• Identifying vowels and consonants
• Tracing letters and numbers
• Understanding that written words are separated by spaces
• Putting the letters of the alphabet in order
• Matching letter sounds to beginning word sounds
• Counting syllables
• Reading common high-frequency sight words
• Recognizing rhyming words
• Recognizing consonant digraphs and blends
• Spelling common words
• Engaging in wordplay
• Understanding and contributing to a short narrative
• Identifying the basic parts of a storybook (front cover, title page, title, author, illustrator, back cover)
• Identifying the main character and basic plot of a story
• Answering questions about the key details of a story
• Talking about likes, dislikes, and favorites
• Creating and illustrating a story
• Counting to 10
• Counting to 100
• Adding up to 10
• Subtracting up to 10
• Counting by base-10 blocks
• Skip-counting by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s up to 100
• Recognizing written numbers from one to ten
• Answering the question "How many?"
• Sorting by number
• Ordering by number
• Tracing numbers
• Sorting and organizing coins and bills
• Recognizing shapes and patterns
• Recognizing number bonds
• Solving "more" and "less" word problems
• Comparing numbers using greater than, less than, and equal to symbols
• Comparing the length of two objects
• Comparing the size of two objects
• Completing a pattern
• Estimating numbers
• Completing a number grid
• Recognizing the numbers on a set of dice
• Recognizing shapes
• Identifying shapes
• Counting the number of sides and corners a shape hass
• Painting and coloring
• Illustrating a story
• Identifying musical instruments
• Expressing themselves through art and design
• Recognizing and naming colors
• Identifying the five senses
• Naming and ordering the seasons
• Naming and ordering the months of the year
• Identifying food groups
• Sorting money
• Picking the right clothes for the weather
• Identifying technological tools
• Using a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen
• Using a keyboard

For a full list of aligned Common Core standards, visit our Common Core page:

Free Printable Toddler Worksheets

Looking for engaging free printable toddler worksheets to ignite creativity and learning excitement in your little ones? These sheets are a treasure trove of fun and educational activities perfectly tailored for tiny learners.

Within this collection, you’ll also find a variety of free preschool printables that promise to keep your toddlers engaged while helping them develop essential skills. From learning the alphabet to counting, coloring, and beyond, our worksheets cater to every interest.

We understand the importance of early education and aim to make learning as enjoyable as possible. Therefore, our interactive and brightly illustrated worksheets are not just educational tools but gateways to adventures in learning.

Whether you’re a teacher looking for classroom resources or a parent aiming to enhance your child’s learning at home, you’ll find these printable treasures both helpful and inspiring.

Toddlers are at a delightful stage of their lives where curiosity and the desire to explore the world around them are at their peak. This natural tendency towards discovery makes it the perfect time to introduce them to the fundamentals of learning in a fun and engaging way.

Education at this early stage is not just about learning letters and numbers; it’s about sparking imagination, encouraging creativity, and fostering a love for learning that will last a lifetime. Our printable worksheets are designed with this philosophy in mind, offering a variety of activities that cater to the different ways toddlers learn.

Whether your child is a visual learner, hands-on explorer, or a little of both, our resources are here to support their educational journey in the most enjoyable way.

Is it appropriate to use worksheets with toddlers?

Absolutely! While the traditional idea of worksheets may seem daunting or tedious, our collection is specifically created with early learners in mind. Our goal is to provide a balance of fun and educational activities that will engage toddlers while also helping them develop important skills.

Plus, using worksheets can also help toddlers learn crucial concepts such as following directions and completing tasks independently – both important skills for their future academic success.

With no cost, simple printing instructions, and endless learning opportunities, they are the perfect addition to any home or classroom setting. Let’s make learning exciting and accessible for our little ones!

Spring Shapes Matching Worksheet

Teach toddlers about shapes with this free flower shape matching printable from  School Time Snippets.

Printable Lowercase Alphabet Crafts

If you do the cutting, toddlers can do the coloring and gluing on these free printable lowercase letter crafts from  Kindergarten Worksheets and Games

Why Teach Shapes? 

Toddlers will learn all about shapes, and get free printable playdough mats from  Team Cartwright  to help with the fun and learning!

Fingerprint Counting Printables

Toddlers can practice counting with these fingerprint counting activity mats from  123 Homeschool 4 Me. 

Free Printable Activity Placemats

This color sorting placemat from  Play Party Plan  is super fun when you combine it with a bowl of colorful cereal like Fruity Pebbles or Trix cereal.

Robots Shape Matching Puzzle for Toddlers

Toddlers will love building robots with this fun robots shape matching game from  Totschooling .

Free Dot Numbers 1-10 Printables

Toddlers can fill in these free dot numbers 1-10 printables from  Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.  Fill the dots with crayons, markers, playdough balls, counters, or circle stickers.

Shapes Activities for Preschool Learning Printable

This shape matching printable from  Active Littles  is a great way to help toddlers work on shape and color recognition.

Tracing Shapes Practice Pages for Preschool

This shape tracing activity pack from  Walking by the Way  is perfect for introducing toddlers to shapes.

Counting & Number Tracing Worksheets

Toddlers will love these  cowboy counting mats  from  Happiness is Homemade.

Apple Play Dough Mats Perfect for Preschoolers

Apple playdough mats from  Natural Beach Living  are a great way to help toddlers start working on number recognition and counting.

A Brood of Chicks Learning Game

Begin teaching toddlers about emotions with this cute brood of chicks emotions matching game from  Mosswood Connections.

Free Uppercase DO A DOT Letter Printables

These free uppercase letters do a dot pages from  School Time Snippets  are a great fine motor activity for little ones. They can use dot daubers or q-tips with paint to fill in each letter.

FREE Goldfish Counting Printable

Print these fish bowls from  Preschool Play and Learn,  and toddlers can practice counting the fish with goldfish crackers.

Fruit Color Matching for Toddlers

Color matching is tons of funs with this  fruit color matching activity  from  Totschooling.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of toddler printable worksheets offers a vibrant mix of fun and education, designed to align with the natural curiosity and developmental needs of toddlers.

By turning learning into an adventure, we not only lay the groundwork for academic success but also instill a lifelong love for discovery and learning. Remember, the goal is to make educational activities an enjoyable part of your toddler’s daily routine, fostering an environment where learning and fun go hand in hand.

We hope these printables serve as valuable tools for parents and educators alike, helping to create memorable learning experiences for the little learners in your life.

Tara is the brains behind Homeschool Preschool, where her journey from preschool and public school teacher to homeschooling mom of three fuels her passion for early childhood education. With a blend of expertise and firsthand experience, Tara’s writings offer practical tips and engaging resources to support families in creating meaningful learning adventures at home.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Thank you so much for making these available. I am a new Nanny and wan incorporate learning skills as their brains are sill developing, So much appreciated!

Thank you so much for all your ideas and printable.

Hello. Great way to keep your kids busy. Your ideas will interest any child, I’m sure. My son is now 5 years old and he really likes to make crafts on different topics. Now I will try to offer him worksheets, I think that my wunderkiddy.

This is a fantastic resource for parents looking for free printable toddler worksheets to help their little ones learn and grow. The article offers a variety of worksheets that cover different subjects, including letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. The worksheets are easy to download and print, making them a convenient and cost-effective learning tool for busy parents. These activities are not only fun but also help toddlers develop important skills and knowledge. Homeschoolpreschool.net is a great website for any parent who wants to support their child’s learning at home.

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!

Student Dictionary for Kids

Search an online dictionary written specifically for young students. Kid-friendly meanings from the reference experts at Merriam-Webster help students build and master vocabulary.

Browse the Student Dictionary

Featured vocabulary resources for kids.

Weekly Vocabulary Words for Kids

Test your child's vocabulary with these weekly buzzwords

Outer Space Vocabulary

Practice your vocabulary with these outer space words.

Types of Superpowers

From Batman to Spider-Man, test your vocabulary with this awesome superpowers list.

Baby Animal Vocabulary

Practice your vocabulary with these words for young animals!

Spring Vocabulary List

Words about the spring season

Word of the Day

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Games & Quizzes

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Best Overall Learning Tower for Toddlers

Little partners kids learning tower step stool.

Best Value Learning Tower

Sdadi kids kitchen step stool with safety rail.

Best Foldable Learning Tower

Guidecraft classic kitchen helper stool.

Best Learning Tower for Twins

Little partners limited edition learning tower step stool.

Best Learning Tower for Small Spaces

Sprout kids sous-chef toddler tower.

Below, you'll find more on the best learning towers for toddlers , plus additional information on the safety aspects and purpose of learning towers, how we test, what to consider while shopping and more. For even more top-tested parenting products, be sure to check out our favorites from our annual Parenting Awards .

Believed to be the original learning tower , this model by Little Partners is a classic you can't go wrong with. It may just be the prototype all others have built off of (and for good reason). Not only did it earn a 2020 Good Housekeeping Parenting Award for its ability to grow with your kid and its sturdy materials that stood the test of time, but our pros also gave it high marks for easy assembly and solid construction. "I like that it can be attached to other Montessori-inspired functional learning objects (like the brand's playhouse kits or climbing ladder ) and that it has an adjustable height and fun attachments," says Rachel Rothman , Chief Technologist and Executive Technical Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

Under careful supervision, this learning tower's four adjustable heights mean toddlers of different ages and sizes can express their creativity and independence while in the kitchen. Plus, if you're looking for something a little different, this brand now carries a bunch of other models, including the Limited Edition Learning Tower Step Stool that we've included further down on this list. It also comes in a number of finishes to suit your decor. Natural wood and white are classics, but red lends a fun pop of color to a kitchen. Just keep in mind that it has a large footprint and it can't be folded down, so be sure you have the space to accommodate it.

SDADI's step stool tower is a pick that won't break the bank but is still a bit sturdier than a plastic option. While testing, our experts found that the overall construction was fairly good and that the tower wiped down easily for a quick clean. We also noted that it was relatively easy to put this tower together, so even if you aren't exceptionally handy, you'll still be able to do it without too much fanfare.

While the top opening can be a bit small for larger kids, its more affordable price and classic, no-frills step-stool design is great for parents and kids who are eager to exercise their independence while under careful supervision. While testing, we did find the tower to be a bit wobbly, but this is a problem that's easily solved by adding a felt furniture pad to one leg to even it out. It also helps to place the learning tower against the counter for extra stability while in use.

Live in an apartment with a small kitchen and little storage space? This foldable kitchen tower gives you all the benefits of a learning tower without having to sacrifice precious real estate. Rothman says this hardwood-and-hard plywood unit folded like a dream during testing and easily squeezed into small nooks for out-of-the-way storage , like the narrow gap between a fridge and cabinets or even a cramped pantry. And this feature isn't just ideal for small spaces — it's also great for those who simply prefer a more streamlined look in their kitchen.

The learning tower has other enviable features too, like three adjustable heights so it can grow with your child. It's also available in an array of colors and style options from the classic wooden look to pretty teal or yellow. One tester particularly appreciated how sturdy this unit was, how it helped kids join in on the fun in the kitchen and that it could easily be stored when not in use. The included non-slip mat and two Kitchen Helper Keepers (a.k.a. safety nets) are designed for additional security and are nice add-ons that you don't get with other learning towers. The one downside is that kids may need assistance climbing into it.

Little Partner's Limited Edition Learning Tower was designed by a Montessori educator and hails from a trusted brand that manufacturers an assortment of children's products, including our top overall learning tower for toddlers.

What separates this unit from others, including its sister product, is that it fe atures removable panels, so parents have more control over the enclosure levels around their child. It also boasts four adjustable heights and a built-in activity center for kids to draw, scribble and practice their letters and numbers. Our experts love that this addition means this tower can stick around as an activity center even after your little one outgrows the tower part. Also unique to this learning tower for toddlers? The brand notes that with the high weight limit and wide platform, there's even enough room for two kids to stand on this tower at the same time — perfect for twins. Of course, its larger size means that it's heavier than others at nearly 32 pounds.

The little one in your life will absolutely adore this step stool toddler tower that helps bring them up to your level and grants them access to the kitchen counter. But what our Lab experts appreciated the most about this learning tower was its relatively small footprint. They also loved the integrated steps, which make it easier for toddlers to climb into the kitchen helper on their own .

For maximum security, it includes a guard plate for children under 32 inches. (Word of caution: A curious toddler would be able to remove the guard plate.) No tools are required to assemble or break down the tower either, so almost anyone can build it on their own without too much struggle. We also appreciate the three adjustable heights that make it easy to customize the tower to your counter, and the grip tape on the steps that help limit any possible accidents.

How we test the best learning towers

The Good Housekeeping Institute tests everything parents need, including toy storage , crib mattresses and even more niche categories like toys for kids with autism . To select our favorite learning towers, we lean on our experts' collective expertise and spend hours reading through five-star reviews, looking at top-rated products and brands to decide on the best learning towers to consider.

Next, we query new moms on our consumer testing panel about their personal experiences. We then do rigorous testing on top models in our Lab and in testers' homes to gather both controlled and real-life data. We consider factors like ease of assembly, construction quality, stability and how simple it was to clean the unit. We also look at additional features and assess overall safety to ensure that each product we recommend is a high-quality option across the board.

What to look for when shopping for the best learning tower

✔️ Adjustable height capabilities allow learning towers to grow with your child, plus lets multiple children of various heights use it.

✔️ Foldability makes for easy storage in smaller spaces. It's also a great feature for those who prefer a more minimalist kitchen.

✔️ Footprint matters when you live in an apartment or smaller home, but bigger models usually mean extra features like a chalkboard or accessories to keep your child engaged.

✔️ Steps are nice to have to help the child get in and reach the appropriate height. Any grips on the treads are a bonus to help prevent mishaps.

✔️ Sturdiness is a very important safety consideration, say our Lab pros. Wooden learning towers tend to be more stable than plastic ones.

Are learning towers worth it?

Also known as a kitchen helper tower or Montessori tower, a learning tower is a unit with typically four sides and a step stool. "Inspired by the Montessori methods of teaching, the learning tower is designed to help kids learn and explore," says Rothman. That's because they allow your child to reach tabletop height alongside you while under your close watch. This way, you can encourage them to exercise their own independence and creativity without giving them too much independence for their age.

"In a busy kitchen, a learning tower can help children safely access the work surfaces and feel more on the level with adults, which is good for confidence," says Amanda Gummer , the founder of The Good Toy Guide and a Ph.D. in neuropsychology. "I love that learning towers allow my kids to more carefully watch as my husband cooks," Rothman says. "We use them for science experiments and hand-washing too."

What age are learning towers best for?

Always adhere to the age and weight specifications provided by the manufacturer, but many have a starting age minimum of 18 months and up , Rothman says. "Every child is different, and parents know best whether or not a learning tower is intellectually and physically developmentally appropriate for their child," she notes. "I made sure to use one with a safety net with my 18-month-old and turn the open side against the wall or counter so he can't crawl or accidentally fall out." With her older toddlers, she lets them crawl in and out freely since they have the motor skills to execute this safely. "This helps foster a sense of independence and allows them to experiment, of course, under careful supervision," Rothman says.

Are learning towers safe?

It bears repeating: It's vital to adhere to age and weight specifications. Learning towers should also be used with close supervision at all times. These products may provide a false sense of security, says Rothman. Never leave your little one alone in the tower for even a few minutes, as it can be dangerous. In essence, they are not the equivalent of a car seat, which is tethered and includes a multi-point harness, nor a highchair, which restricts movement with a belt. With a learning tower, like other kid products, a curious child can do imaginative things. Be vigilant of potential falls or your child trying to maneuver out without you realizing.

How to keep kids safe in a learning tower

To maximize security when using a learning tower, Rothman recommends the following:

• Regularly inspect the unit to make sure all parts are appropriately fastened and screwed tightly and that there are no splinters or visible damage.
• Sign up for recall notifications and be mindful of what is near or within reach (i.e. Can they hoist themselves onto the table? Are dangerous objects like knives or the stove too close?).
• Remember that parental supervision is essential. "We remind our children they can’t move the learning tower," says Rothman, "but alas, they do still try!" Learning towers are not designed for a child to use alone, so always keep an eye on them while in one.
• Follow all maximum weight and height specifications. If your child's knee is above the frame of the learning tower, they could more easily fall out. Discontinue use and opt for a product more suited for their current height/weight.
• Be careful when it comes to DIY. "In general, we recommend purchasing juvenile-specific products, notably ones that are designed to keep your kids safe, from a reliable brand that has been tested appropriately," says Rothman. Some very popular models we tested were unstable and had issues with safety nets. For those that are going to venture into the world of DIY anyway and make their own product (or try their hand at the IKEA Learning Tower), ensure you take into account all the safety measures mentioned above. Make sure no parts appear wobbly or loose, and that there are no noticeable cracks or splits in the wood or plastic frame.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

The Good Housekeeping Institute provides expert reviews and advice on everything a parent needs, including learning towers.

This article was written by former Products & Reviews Editor Shanon Maglente with expert advice from Rachel Rothman , the former Chief Technologist and Head Engineer at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Rothman has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics with a mathematics minor from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been evaluating juvenile products (kids products like highchairs, strollers and car seats) for 15 years. She has been a judge for the Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards since its inception as well as other industry awards, including the Best of Parenting at CES and JPMA Parenting Awards. Plus, as a mom to three kids under six, she's personally tested many of the products we recommend in real life. She has vetted and tested most of the products in this guide.

Parenting & Pets Reviews Analyst Jamie Spain most recently updated this guide to reflect our latest learning tower testing information. She brings years of experience to the Institute, having reviewed products for Good Housekeeping like the best new toys and humidifiers for your baby's nursery .

Shanon is a writer and editor who specializes in best-of product roundups and deals. She has over six years of experience, including almost three years as a Good Housekeeping product and reviews editor, covering the best sales and products across home, appliances, health, beauty, parenting and more.

Jamie (she/her) is a parenting and pets reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute , where she spends her time testing, researching and writing about pet and family products. Prior to starting at GH in 2021, she worked at BuzzFeed and People , covering a combination of product reviews and lifestyle content. She's a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and psychology and a master’s degree in journalism.

@media(max-width: 64rem){.css-o9j0dn:before{margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-right:0.625rem;color:#ffffff;width:1.25rem;bottom:-0.2rem;height:1.25rem;content:'_';display:inline-block;position:relative;line-height:1;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}} Product Reviews

The Best Bath Towels on Amazon

The Best Toys and Gifts for 11-Year-Olds

The Best Steam Mops

The Best Mother's Day Flower Delivery Services

The Best No-Pull Dog Harnesses

The Best Online Flower Delivery Services

Clothes Steamer vs. Iron: Which is Better?

The Best Odor Eliminators

The Best Cooling Sheets

The Best Recovery Shoes and Sandals

The Best Pillow Cloud Slides on Amazon

• Open access
• Published: 13 May 2024

The impact of the world’s first regulatory, multi-setting intervention on sedentary behaviour among children and adolescents (ENERGISE): a natural experiment evaluation

• Bai Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2706-9799 1 ,
• Selene Valerino-Perea 2 ,
• Weiwen Zhou 3 ,
• Yihong Xie 4 ,
• Keith Syrett 5 ,
• Remco Peters 1 ,
• Zouyan He 4 ,
• Yunfeng Zou 4 ,
• Frank de Vocht 6 , 7 &
• Charlie Foster 1  

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity volume  21 , Article number:  53 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

59 Altmetric

Metrics details

Regulatory actions are increasingly used to tackle issues such as excessive alcohol or sugar intake, but such actions to reduce sedentary behaviour remain scarce. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on sedentary behaviour call for system-wide policies. The Chinese government introduced the world’s first nation-wide multi-setting regulation on multiple types of sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents in July 2021. This regulation restricts when (and for how long) online gaming businesses can provide access to pupils; the amount of homework teachers can assign to pupils according to their year groups; and when tutoring businesses can provide lessons to pupils. We evaluated the effect of this regulation on sedentary behaviour safeguarding pupils.

With a natural experiment evaluation design, we used representative surveillance data from 9- to 18-year-old pupils before and after the introduction of the regulation, for longitudinal ( n  = 7,054, matched individuals, primary analysis) and repeated cross-sectional ( n  = 99,947, exploratory analysis) analyses. We analysed pre-post differences for self-reported sedentary behaviour outcomes (total sedentary behaviour time, screen viewing time, electronic device use time, homework time, and out-of-campus learning time) using multilevel models, and explored differences by sex, education stage, residency, and baseline weight status.

Longitudinal analyses indicated that pupils had reduced their mean total daily sedentary behaviour time by 13.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -15.9 to -11.7%, approximately 46 min) and were 1.20 times as likely to meet international daily screen time recommendations (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.32) one month after the introduction of the regulation compared to the reference group (before its introduction). They were on average 2.79 times as likely to meet the regulatory requirement on homework time (95% CI: 2.47 to 3.14) than the reference group and reduced their daily total screen-viewing time by 6.4% (95% CI: -9.6 to -3.3%, approximately 10 min). The positive effects were more pronounced among high-risk groups (secondary school and urban pupils who generally spend more time in sedentary behaviour) than in low-risk groups (primary school and rural pupils who generally spend less time in sedentary behaviour). The exploratory analyses showed comparable findings.

Conclusions

This regulatory intervention has been effective in reducing total and specific types of sedentary behaviour among Chinese children and adolescents, with the potential to reduce health inequalities. International researchers and policy makers may explore the feasibility and acceptability of implementing regulatory interventions on sedentary behaviour elsewhere.

The growing prevalence of sedentary behaviour in school-aged children and adolescents bears significant social, economic and health burdens in China and globally [ 1 ]–[ 3 ]. Sedentary behaviour refers to any waking behaviour characterised by an energy expenditure equal or lower than 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) while sitting, reclining, or lying [ 3 ]. Evidence from systematic reviews, meta-analyses and longitudinal studies have shown that excessive sedentary behaviour, in particular recreational screen-based sedentary behaviour, affect multiple dimensions of children and adolescents’ wellbeing, spanning across mental health [ 4 ], cognitive functions/developmental health/academic performance [ 5 ], [ 6 ], quality of life [ 7 ], and physical health [ 8 ]. In China, over 60% of school pupils use part of their sleep time to play mobile phones/digital games and watch TV programmes, and 27% use their sleep time to do homework or other learning activities [ 9 ]. Screen-based, sedentary entertainment has become the leading cause for going to bed late, which is linked to detrimental consequences for children’s physical and mental health [ 10 ]. Notably, academic-related activities such as post-school homework and off campus tutoring also contribute to the increasing amounts of sedentary behaviour. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, China is the leading country in time spent on homework by adolescents (14 h/week on average) [ 11 ].

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this global challenge, with children and adolescents reported to have been the most affected group [ 12 ]. Schools are a frequently targeted setting for interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour [ 13 ]. However, school-based interventions have had limited success when delivered under real-world conditions or at scale [ 14 ]. School-based interventions alone have also been unsuccessful in mitigating the trend of increasing sedentary behaviour that is driven by a complex system of interdependent factors across multiple sectors [ 13 ]. Even for parents and carers who intend to restrict screen-based sedentary behaviour and for children who wish to reduce screen-based sedentary behaviour, social factors including peer pressure often form barriers to changing behaviour [ 15 ]. In multiple public health fields such as tobacco control and healthy eating promotion, there has been a notable shift away from downstream (e.g., health education) towards an upstream intervention approach (e.g., sugar taxation). However, regulatory actions for sedentary behaviour are scarce [ 16 ]. World Health Organization (WHO) 2020 guidelines on sedentary behaviour encourage sustainable and scalable approaches for limiting sedentary behaviour and call for more system-wide policies to improve this global challenge [ 8 ]. Up-stream interventions can act on sedentary behaviour more holistically and have the potential to maximise reach and health impact [ 13 ]. In response to this pressing issue, and to widespread demands from many parents/carers, the Chinese government introduced nationwide regulations in 2021 to restrict (i) the amount of homework that teachers can assign, (ii) when (and for how long) online gaming businesses can provide access to young people, and (iii) when tutoring businesses can provide lessons [ 17 ], [ 18 ]. Consultations with WHO officials and reviewers of international health policy interventions confirmed that this is currently the only government-led, multi-setting regulatory intervention on multiple types of sedentary behaviour among school-aged children and adolescents. A detailed description of this programme is available in the Additional File 1 .

We evaluated the impact of this regulatory intervention on sedentary behaviour in Chinese school-aged children and adolescents. We also investigated whether and how intervention effects differed by sex, education stage, geographical area, and baseline weight status.

Study design

The introduction of the nationwide regulation provided a unique opportunity for a natural experiment evaluation where the pre-regulation comparator group data (Wave 1) was compared to the post-regulation group data (Wave 2). Multiple components of the intervention (see Additional File 1 ) were introduced in phases from July 2021 with all components being fully in place by September 2021 [ 17 ], [ 18 ]. This paper follows the STROBE reporting guidance [ 19 ], [ 20 ].

Data source, study population and sampling

We obtained regionally representative data on 99,947 pupils who are resident in the Chinese province of Guangxi as part of Guangxi Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) routine surveillance. The data, available from participants in grade 4 (aged between 9 and 10 years) and higher, were collected using a multi-stage random sampling design (Fig.  1 ) through school visits by trained health professionals following standardised protocols (see Supplementary Fig.  1 , Additional File 1 ). In Wave 1 (data collected from September to November 2020), pupils were randomly selected from schools in 31 urban/rural counties from 14 cities in Guangxi. At least eight schools, including primary, secondary, high schools, and ‘vocational high schools’, were selected from urban counties. Five schools were selected from rural counties. Approximately 80 students were randomly selected from each grade at the schools selected. The same schools were invited to participate in Wave 2 (data collected from September to November 2021), and new schools were invited to replace Wave 1 schools that no longer participated. Children with available data at both Wave 1 and Wave 2 represented approximately 10% of the sample ( n  = 7,587). Paper-based questionnaires were administrated to students by trained personnel or teachers. The questionnaires were designed and validated by China National Health Commission, and have been utilised in routine surveillance throughout the country.

Flow diagram of participants included in the ENERGISE study

We used data from the age groups 7–18 years for most analyses. For specific analyses of homework and out-of-campus tutoring, we excluded high school pupils (16–18 years) because the homework and out-of-campus tutoring regulations apply to primary (7–12 years) and middle (13–15 years) school pupils only. Furthermore, participants without socio-demographic data or those who reported medical history of disease, or a physical disability were excluded. This gave us a total sample of 7,054 eligible school-aged children and adolescents with matching data (longitudinal sample).

Outcomes and subgroups

Guangxi CDC used purposively designed questions for surveillance purposes to assess sedentary behaviour outcomes (Table  1 ).

The primary outcomes of interest included: (1) total sedentary behaviour time, (2) homework time, (3) out-of-campus learning (private tutoring) time, and (4) electronic device use time (Table  1 ). We considered electronic device use time, including mobile phones, handheld game consoles, and tablets, the most suitable estimator of online game time (estimand) in the surveillance programme since these are the main devices used for online gaming in China [ 23 ]. Secondary outcomes were: (1) total screen-viewing time, (2) internet-use time, (3) likelihood of meeting international screen-viewing time recommendations, and (4) likelihood of meeting the regulation on homework time (Table  1 ).

We calculated total sedentary behaviour time as the sum of total screen-viewing time (secondary outcome), homework time, and out-of-campus learning time (Table  1 ). Total screen-viewing time represents the sum of electronic device use time per day, TV/video game use time per day, and computer use time per day (Table  1 ). Total screen-viewing time was considered as an alternative estimator of online game time (estimand) since TV/videogame console use time and computer time could also capture the small proportion of children who use these devices for online gaming (Table  1 ). The international screen-viewing time recommendations were based on the American Academy of Paediatrics guidelines [ 21 ]. We did not include internet use time (secondary outcome) in total screen-viewing time, and total sedentary behaviour time, because this measure likely overlaps with other variables.

We defined subgroups by demographic characteristics, including the child’s sex (at birth: girls or boys), date of birth, education stage [primary school or secondary school [including middle school, high school, and ‘occupational schools’]), children’s residency (urban versus rural) and children’s baseline weight status (non-overweight versus overweight/obesity). Each sampling site selected for the survey was classified by the surveillance personnel as urban/rural and as lower-, medium-, or higher-economic level based on the area’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The area’s GDP per capita was measured by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Trained personnel also measured height, and weight using calibrated stadiometers and scales. Children’s weight/height were measured with light clothing and no shoes. Measurements during both waves were undertaken when students lived a normal life (no lockdowns, school were opened normally). We classified weight status (normal weight vs. overweight/obesity) according to the Chinese national reference charts [ 24 ].

Statistical analyses

We treated sedentary behaviour values that exceeded 24-hours per day as missing. We did not exclude extreme values for body mass index from the analyses 25 . Additional information, justifications, and results of implausible and missing values can be found in the Supplementary Table 1 , Additional File 1 .

The assumptions for normality and heteroscedasticity were assessed visually by inspecting residuals. We assessed multicollinearity via variance inflation factors. The outcome variables for linear regression outcomes were transformed using square roots to meet assumptions. We reported descriptive demographic characteristics (age, sex, area of residence, socioeconomic status), weight status, and outcome variables using means (or medians for non-normally distributed data) and proportions [ 26 ]

We ran multilevel models with random effects nested at the school and child levels to compare the outcomes in Wave 1 against Wave 2. We developed separate models for each sedentary behaviour outcome variable. We treated the introduction of the nationwide regulation as the independent binary variable (0 for Wave 1 and 1 for Wave 2). We ran linear models for continuous outcomes, logistic models for binary outcomes, and ordered logistic models for ordinal outcomes in a complete case analysis estimating population average treatment effects [ 27 ]. For the main analysis, in which participants had measurements in both Waves (longitudinal sample), only those with non-missing data at both time points were included.

We estimated marginal effects for each sedentary behaviour outcome. With a self-developed directed acyclic graph (DAG) we identified age (continuous), sex (male/female), area of residence (urban/rural), and socioeconomic status (high/medium/low) as confounders (see Supplementary Figs. 2–4, Additional File 1 ).

We evaluated subgroup effects defined by child’s sex at birth (boys versus girls), child’s stage of education (primary school versus secondary school [including middle school, high school, and ‘occupational schools’]), children’s residency (rural versus urban), and children’s baseline weight status (non-overweight versus overweight/obesity). We also repeated the covariate-adjusted model with interaction terms (between Wave and sex; Wave and child stage of education; Wave and residency; and Wave and weight status). We adjusted for multiple testing using Bonferroni correction ( p 0.05 divided by the number of performed tests for an outcome). The resulting cut-off point of p  < 0.005 was used to determine the presence of any interaction effects.

We also conducted exploratory analyses (including subgroup analyses) by evaluating the same models with a representative, cross-sectional sample of 99,947 pupils. This cross-sectional sample included different schools and children at Wave 1 and Wave 2. We therefore used propensity score (PS) weighting to account for sample imbalances in the socio-demographic characteristics. Propensity scores were calculated by conducting a logistic regression, which calculated the likelihood of each individual to be in Wave 2 (dependent variable). Individual’s age, sex, area of residence and the GDP per area were treated as independent variables. Subsequently, inverse probability of treatment weighting was applied to balance the demographic characteristics in the sample in Wave 1 (unexposed to the regulatory intervention) and Wave 2 (exposed to the regulatory intervention). The sample weight for individuals in Wave 1 were calculated using the Eq. 1/ (1-propensity score). The sample weight for individuals in Wave 2 were calculated using the Eq. 1/propensity score [ 28 ].

We only ran linear models for continuous outcomes since it was not possible to run PS-weighted multilevel models with this sample size in Stata. We conducted all statistical analyses in Stata version 16.0.

Participant sample

In our primary, longitudinal analyses, we analysed data from 7,054 children and adolescents. The mean age was 12.3 years (SD, 2.4) and 3,477 (49.3%) were girls (Table  2 ). More detailed information on characteristics of subgroups in the longitudinal sample are presented in the Supplementary Tables 2–5, Additional File 2 .

Primary outcomes

Children and adolescents reported a reduction in their daily mean total sedentary behaviour time by 13.8% (95% CI: -15.9 to -11.7), or 46 min, on average between Waves 1 and 2. Participants were also less likely to report having increased their time spent on homework (adjusted odd ratio/AOR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.35–0.43) and in out-of-campus learning (AOR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.59) in Wave 2 in comparison to Wave 1, respectively (Tables  3 and 4 ). We did not find any changes in electronic device use time.

Secondary outcomes

Participants reported reducing their mean daily screen-viewing time by 6.4% (95% CI: -9.6 to -3.3%), or 10 min, on average (Tables  3 and 4 ). Participants were also 20% as likely to meet international screen time recommendations (AOR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.32) and were 2.79 times as likely to meet the regulatory requirement on homework time (95% CI: 2.47 to 3.14) compared to the reference group (before the introduction of the regulation).

Subgroup analyses

Most screen- and study-related sedentary behaviour outcomes differed by education stage ( p  < 0.005) (see Supplementary Tables 6–13, Additional File 2 ), with the reductions being larger in secondary school pupils than in primary school pupils (Tables  3 and 4 , and Table  5 ). Only secondary school pupils reduced their total screen-viewing time (-8.4%; 95% CI: -12.4 to -4.3) and were also 1.41 times as likely to meet screen-viewing recommendations (AOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.23 to 1.61) at Wave 2 compared to Wave 1.

Conversely, at Wave 2, primary school pupils reported a lower likelihood of spending more time doing homework (AOR: 0.30; 95%: 0.26 to 0.34) than secondary school pupils (AOR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.50 to 0.67) compared to their counterparts at Wave 1. At Wave 2, primary school pupils also had a higher likelihood of reporting meeting homework time recommendations (AOR: 3.61; 95% CI: 3.09 to 4.22) than secondary school pupils (middle- and high school) (AOR: 2.11; 95% CI: 1.74 to 2.56) compared to their counterparts at Wave 1 (Table  5 ). There was also a residence interaction effect ( p  < 0.001) in total sedentary behaviour time, with participants in urban areas reporting larger reductions (-15.3%; 95% CI: -17.8 to -12.7) than those in rural areas (-11.2%; 95% CI: -15.0 to -7.4). There was no evidence of modifying effects by children’s sex or baseline weight status (Tables  4 and 5 ).

Findings from the exploratory repeated cross-sectional analyses were similar to the findings of the main longitudinal analyses including total sedentary behaviour time, electronic device use time, total screen-viewing time and internet use time (see Supplementary Tables 14–23, Additional File 2 ).

Principal findings

Our study evaluated the impact of the world’s first regulatory, multi-setting intervention on multiple types of sedentary behaviour among school-aged children and adolescents in China. We found that children and adolescents reduced their total sedentary behaviour time, screen-viewing time, homework time and out-of-campus learning time following its implementation. The positive intervention effects on total screen-viewing time (-8.4 vs. -2.3%), and the likelihood of meeting recommendations on screen-viewing time (1.41 vs. 1.02 AOR) were more pronounced in secondary school pupils compared with primary school pupils. Intervention effects on total sedentary behaviour time (-15.3 vs. -11.2%) were more pronounced among pupils living in the urban area (compared to pupils living in the rural area). These subgroup differences imply that the regulatory intervention benefit more the groups known to have a higher rate of sedentary behaviour [ 29 ].

Interestingly, the observed reduction in electronic device use itself did not reach statistical significance following implementation of regulation. This could be viewed as a positive outcome if this is correctly inferred and not the result of reporting bias or measurement error. International data indicated that average sedentary and total screen time have increased among children due to the COVID-19 pandemic [ 12 ]. However, such interesting finding might be explained by the absence of lockdowns in Guangxi during both surveillance waves when most school-aged students outside China were affected by pandemic mitigation measures such as online learning.

Strengths and weaknesses

Our study has several notable strengths. This is the first study to evaluate the impact of multi-setting nationwide regulations on multiple types of sedentary behaviour in a large and regionally representative sample of children and adolescents. Still, to gain a more comprehensive view of the regulatory intervention on sedentary behaviour across China, similar evaluation research should be conducted in other regions of China. Furthermore, access to a rich longitudinal dataset allowed for more robust claims of causality. The available data also allowed us to measure the effect of the intervention on multiple sedentary behaviours including recreational screen-time and academic-related behaviours. Lastly, the large data set allowed us to explore whether the effect of the regulatory intervention varied across important subgroups, suggesting areas for further research and development.

Some limitations need to be taken into consideration when interpreting our findings. First, a common limitation in non-controlled/non-randomised intervention studies is residual confounding. We aimed to limit this by adjusting our analysis for confounders known to impact the variables of interest, but it is impossible to know whether important confounding may still have been present. With maturation bias, it is possible that secular trends are the cause for any observed effects. However, this seems unlikely in our study as older children may spend more time doing homework [ 23 ] and engage more in screen-viewing activities [ 30 ]. In this study, we observed reductions in these outcomes. The use of self-reported outcomes (social desirability bias) was a limitation and might have led to the intervention effects being over-estimated [ 13 ]. However, since our data were collected as part of a routine surveillance programme, pupils were unaware of the evaluation. This might mitigate reporting bias. In addition, the data were collected in Guangxi which might not representative of the whole population in China. Another limitation is using electronic device use time as a proxy measure of online gaming time. It is possible that electronic devices can be used for other purposes. However, mobile phones, handheld game consoles and tablets are the main devices used for online gaming. In this study, electronic device use time provided a practical means of assessing the broad effects of regulatory measures on screen time behaviours, including online gaming, in a large (province level) surveillance programme. In the future, instruments specifically designed to capture online gaming behaviour should be used in surveillance and research work.

Comparisons with other studies

Neither China nor other countries globally have previously implemented and evaluated multi-setting regulatory interventions on multiple types of sedentary behaviour, which makes comparative discussions challenging. In general, results of health behaviour research over the past decades have shown that interventions that address structural and environmental determinants of multiple behaviours to be more effective in comparison with individual-focussed interventions [ 31 ]. Furthermore, the continuous and universal elements of regulatory interventions may be particularly important explanations for the observed reductions in sedentary behaviour. Standalone school and other institution-led interventions may struggle with financial and logistic costs which threaten long-term implementation [ 13 ]. In contrast, the universality element of regulatory intervention can reduce or remove peer pressures and potential stigmatisation among children and teachers that are often associated with more selective/targeted interventions [ 24 ]. Our findings support WHO guidelines for physical activity and sedentary behaviour that encourage sustainable and scalable approaches for limiting sedentary behaviour and call for more system-wide policies to improve this global challenge[ 8 ].

Implications for future policy and research

Our study has important implications for future research and practice both nationally and internationally. Within China, future research should focus on optimising the implementation of the regulatory intervention through implementation research and assess long-term effects of the regulation on both behavioral and health outcomes. Internationally, our findings also provide a promising policy avenue for other countries and communities outside of China to explore the opportunities and barriers to implement such programmes on sedentary behaviour. This exploratory process could start with assessing how key stakeholders (including school-aged children, parents/carers, schoolteachers, health professionals, and policy makers) within different country contexts perceive regulatory actions as an intervention approach for improving health and wellbeing in young people, and how they can be tailored to fit their own contexts. Within public health domains, including healthy eating promotion, tobacco and alcohol control, regulatory intervention approaches (e.g., smoking bans and sugar taxation) have been adopted. However, regulatory actions for sedentary behaviour are scarce [ 19 ]. Within the education sector, some countries recently banned mobile phone use in schools for academic purpose [ 25 ]. While this implies potential feasibility and desirability of such interventions internationally, there is little research on the demand for, and acceptability of, multi-faceted sedentary behaviour regulatory interventions for the purpose of improving health and wellbeing. It will be particularly important to identify and understand any differences in perceptions and feasibility both within (e.g., public versus policy makers) and across countries of differing socio-cultural-political environments.

This natural experiment evaluation indicates that a multi-setting, regulatory intervention on sedentary behaviour has been effective in reducing total sedentary behaviour, and multiple types of sedentary behaviour among Chinese school-aged children and adolescents. Contextually appropriate, regulatory interventions on sedentary behaviour could be explored and considered by researchers and policy makers in other countries.

Data availability

Access to anonymised data used in this study can be requested through the corresponding author BL, subject to approval by the Guangxi CDC. WZ and SVP have full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Abbreviations

Centre for disease control and prevention

Directed acyclic graph

Gross domestic product

Metabolic equivalents

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Bao R, Chen S-T, Wang Y, Xu J, Wang L, Zou L, Cai Y. Sedentary Behavior Research in the Chinese Population: a systematic scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020, 17(10).

Nguyen P, Le LK-D, Ananthapavan J, Gao L, Dunstan DW, Moodie M. Economics of sedentary behaviour: a systematic review of cost of illness, cost-effectiveness, and return on investment studies. Prev Med. 2022;156:106964.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.

Zhang J, Yang SX, Wang L, Han LH, Wu XY. The influence of sedentary behaviour on mental health among children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. J Affect Disord. 2022;306:90–114.

Madigan S, Browne D, Racine N, Mori C, Tough S. Association between Screen Time and children’s performance on a Developmental Screening Test. JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(3):244–50.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Pagani LS, Fitzpatrick C, Barnett TA, Dubow E. Prospective Associations between Early Childhood Television Exposure and academic, psychosocial, and Physical Well-being by Middle Childhood. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(5):425–31.

Boberska M, Szczuka Z, Kruk M, Knoll N, Keller J, Hohl DH, Luszczynska A. Sedentary behaviours and health-related quality of life. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychol Rev. 2018;12(2):195–210.

Fiona CB, Salih SA-A, Stuart B, Katja B, Matthew PB, Greet C, Catherine C, Jean-Philippe C, Sebastien C, Roger C et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2020, 54(24):1451.

China Sleep Research Association. Sleep White Paper of Chine People’s Health. In. Beijing, China; 2022.

Chaput J-P, Gray CE, Poitras VJ, Carson V, Gruber R, Olds T, Weiss SK, Gorber SC, Kho ME, Sampson M, et al. Systematic review of the relationships between sleep duration and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016;41(6):S266–82. (Suppl. 3)).

OECD. Does Homework Perpetuate inequities in Education? OECD Publishing 2014(46):4.

Trott M, Driscoll R, Iraldo E, Pardhan S. Changes and correlates of screen time in adults and children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. eClinicalMedicine 2022, 48.

van Sluijs EMF, Ekelund U, Crochemore-Silva I, Guthold R, Ha A, Lubans D, Oyeyemi AL, Ding D, Katzmarzyk PT. Physical activity behaviours in adolescence: current evidence and opportunities for intervention. Lancet. 2021;398(10298):429–42.

Cassar S, Salmon J, Timperio A, Naylor P-J, van Nassau F, Contardo Ayala AM, Koorts H. Adoption, implementation and sustainability of school-based physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions in real-world settings: a systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activity. 2019;16(1):120.

Article   Google Scholar  

Martins J, Costa J, Sarmento H, Marques A, Farias C, Onofre M, Valeiro MG. Adolescents’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of physical activity: an updated systematic review of qualitative studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021, 18(9).

Gelius P, Messing S, Tcymbal A, Whiting S, Breda J, Abu-Omar K. Policy Instruments for Health Promotion: a comparison of WHO Policy Guidance for Tobacco, Alcohol, Nutrition and Physical Activity. Int J Health Policy Manage. 2022;11(9):1863–73.

Google Scholar  

The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State. Council issued the opinions on further reducing the Burden of Homework and off-campus training for students in the stage of Compulsory Education. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-07/24/content_5627132.htm .

Notice of the State Press and Publication Administration on Further Strict. Management to Effectively Prevent Minors from Being Addicted to Online Games. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-09/01/content_5634661.htm .

Craig P, Cooper C, Gunnell D, Haw S, Lawson K, Macintyre S, Ogilvie D, Petticrew M, Reeves B, Sutton M, et al. Using natural experiments to evaluate population health interventions: new Medical Research Council guidance. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2012;66(12):1182–6.

Craig P, Campbell M, Bauman A, Deidda M, Dundas R, Fitzgerald N, Green J, Katikireddi SV, Lewsey J, Ogilvie D, et al. Making better use of natural experimental evaluation in population health. BMJ. 2022;379:e070872.

American Academy of Pediatrics. Children, adolescents, and television. Pediatrics. 2001;107(2):423–6.

Bauer CP. Applied Causal Analysis (with R). In. Bookdown; 2020.

Matthay EC, Hagan E, Gottlieb LM, Tan ML, Vlahov D, Adler NE, Glymour MM. Alternative causal inference methods in population health research: evaluating tradeoffs and triangulating evidence. SSM - Popul Health. 2020;10:100526.

Greenberg MT, Abenavoli R. Universal interventions: fully exploring their impacts and potential to produce Population-Level impacts. J Res Educational Eff. 2017;10(1):40–67.

Selwyn N, Aagaard J. Banning mobile phones from classrooms—An opportunity to advance understandings of technology addiction, distraction and cyberbullying. Br J Edu Technol. 2021;52(1):8–19.

Boushey CJ, Harris J, Bruemmer B, Archer SL. Publishing nutrition research: A review of sampling, sample size, statistical analysis, and other key elements of manuscript preparation, Part 2. J Acad Nutr Dietet. 2008;108(4):679–688.

Matthay EC, Hagan E, Gottlieb LM, Tan ML, Vlahov D, Adler NE, Glymour MM. Alternative causal inference methds in population health research:Evaluating tradeoffs nd triangulating evidence. SSM - Population Health. 2020;10:100526.

Chesnaye NC, Stel VS, Tripepi G, Dekker FW, Fu EL, Zoccali C, Jager KJ. An introduction to inverse probability of treatment weighting in observation research. Clin Kid J. 2021;15(1):14–20.

Song C, Gong W, Ding C, Yuan F, Zhang Y, Feng G, Chen Z, Liu A. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour among Chinese children agd 6-17 years: a cross-sectional analysis of 2010-2012 China National Nutrition and Health Survey. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):936.

Zhu X, Haegele JA, Tang Y, Wu X. Physical activity and sedentary behaviors of urban chinese children: grade level prevalence and academic burden associations. BioMed Res Int. 2017;2017:7540147.

Rutter H, Bes-Rastrollo M, de Henauw S, Lathi-Koski M, Lehtinen-Jacks S, Mullerova D, Rasmussen F, Rissanen A, Visscher TLS, Lissner L. Balancing upstream and downstream measures to tackle the obesity epidemic: a position statement from the european association for the study of obesity. Obesity Facts. 2017;10(11):61–63.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Dr Peter Green and Dr Ruth Salway for providing feedback on the initial data analysis plan, and Dr Hugo Pedder and Lauren Scott who provided feedback on the statistical analyses.

This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust through the Global Public Health Research Strand, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research. The funder of our study had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Bai Li, Remco Peters & Charlie Foster

Public Health Wales, Cardiff, UK

Selene Valerino-Perea

Department of Nutrition and School Health, Guangxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, Guangxi, China

Weiwen Zhou

School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China

Yihong Xie, Zouyan He & Yunfeng Zou

Centre for Health, Law, and Society, School of Law, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Keith Syrett

Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Frank de Vocht

NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West (ARC West), Bristol, UK

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

BL conceived the study idea and obtained the funding with support from WZ, CF, KS, YX, YZ, ZH and RP. BL, CF, FdV and KS designed the study. WZ led data collection and provided access to the data. YX, SVP and ZH cleaned the data. SVP analysed the data with guidance from BL, FdV and CF. BL, SVP and RP drafted the paper which was revised by other authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bai Li .

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval and consent to participate.

Ethics approvals were granted by the School for Policy Studies Research Ethics Committee at the University of Bristol (reference number SPSREC/20–21/168) and the Research Ethics Committee at Guangxi Medical University (reference number 0136). Written informed consent was obtained from each participant, and a parent or guardian for participants aged < 20 years.

Consent for publication

The co-authors gave consent for publication.

Competing interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential competing interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Supplementary material 2, supplementary material 3, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Li, B., Valerino-Perea, S., Zhou, W. et al. The impact of the world’s first regulatory, multi-setting intervention on sedentary behaviour among children and adolescents (ENERGISE): a natural experiment evaluation. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 21 , 53 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01591-w

Download citation

Received : 20 December 2023

Accepted : 04 April 2024

Published : 13 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-024-01591-w

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Sedentary behaviour
• Physical activity
• Regulatory intervention
• Health policy
• Screen time
• Natural experiment
• Mental health
• Health promotion
• Child health

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

ISSN: 1479-5868

• Submission enquiries: Access here and click Contact Us
• General enquiries: [email protected]