Extracurricular activities are an important source of children’s development outside of kindergarten (Allen et al., 2022). Extracurricular activities refer to structured and regular trainings with a schedule in clubs and sections under the guidance of a suitable adult (Polivanova et al., 2016; Weininger et al., 2015). Extracurricular activities include sports, music, dance, art, language learning and other (Weininger et al., 2015). According to data from the US Census Bureau, in the USA, 57% of children aged 6 to 17 were involved in one or more extracurricular activities. Among these participants, 35% engaged in sports, 29% took lessons such as music, dance, or language, another 29% joined clubs, such as religious youth groups and Scouts (A Child's Day: Historical Tables and Figures, 2022). In Europe, around 95% of preschoolers take part in some form of early childhood education, and also engage in extracurricular activities such as sports, music, arts, and other types of enrichment programmes (Early childhood education statistics, 2025). Sports training is one of the most popular extracurricular activities among children throughout the world (Felfe et al., 2016). Moreover, the number of children between 3 and 12 years old who systematically participate in sports is increasing every year (Sabo and Veliz, 2008). This is a positive trend, as sports training can have a positive impact on both the physical and mental development of children (Liersch et al., 2025; Yakushina et al., 2024; Ríos-Garit et al., 2024).

The positive effects of sports training on mental development can be explained by several reasons. Firstly, physical activity induces functional changes in the brain which positively affects neuroplasticity, leading to improved cognitive performance (Chaddock-Heyman et al., 2016; Vasilopoulos et al., 2023; Tan et al., 2025). Secondly, sports training is a structured activity that requires interaction with others, self-control, and cognitive load (Diamond and Ling, 2016). Thus, sports training may have great potential for executive function skills (EF skills) development, which are crucial for successful school adjustment and determine academic and social achievements (Kim and Tsethlikai, 2025; Sasser et al., 2015).

EF skills are one of the most important developmental indicators in early childhood (Panfilova et al., 2024; Sadozai et al., 2024; Zelazo et al., 2017). EF skills are a group of cognitive abilities that ensure purposeful behavior, helping to predict future academic and social achievements (Oshchepkova and Shatskaya, 2023; Robson et al., 2020; Diamond, 2013). According to Miyake’s model, the following EF skills are distinguished: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility (Miyake et al., 2000). Preschool age is the most sensitive age for the development of EF skills (Klopotova and Yaglovskaya, 2024; Bukhalenkova et al., 2023). Therefore, their development in preschool and elementary school years through sports training is promising (Contreras-Osorio et al., 2021). A large number of studies confirm that sports activities contribute to the development of EF skills (Hu et al., 2025; Giordano et al., 2021). However, it has not been established which sports trainings are most effective in developing EF skills.

Improving EF skills through sports training depends on which skills are involved in sport (Rahimi et al., 2022). Depending on the extent to which external conditions influence the execution of movements, sports can be divided into open-skilled and closed-skilled (Hu et al., 2025). Open-skilled sports (e.g., game sports, martial arts) involve rapid and constant change of actions depending on the opponent’s actions and the environment (Lai et al., 2024). In contrast, closed-skilled sports (running, cycling, swimming) require less cognitive input and are performed in a much more predictable environment (Heilmann et al., 2022). Recent studies show that engaging in open-skilled sports may enhance EF skills (Hu et al., 2025; Lai et al., 2024; Mohring et al., 2022). So, open-skilled sports require quick decision-making, anticipation, planning and adapting to rapidly changing conditions, which particularly favors the development of EF skills (Lai et al., 2024; Heilmann et al., 2022; De Waelle et al., 2021).

Despite the research findings mentioned earlier, little is known about the impact of specific open-skilled sports on children’s EF skills. In particular, a number of studies have suggested positive effects of team sports such as football, basketball, volleyball and ice hockey (Wu et al., 2025; Glavaš et al., 2023; De Waelle et al., 2021). Other studies, however, emphasize the benefits of martial arts training (Pinto-Escalona et al., 2024; Giordano et al., 2021). This is because martial arts develop not only physical attributes but are also associated with the development of will and self-control (Ortiz-Franco et al., 2024; Diamond, 2012). Based on the review of studies, it remains unclear what benefits various open-skilled sports have for the development of EF skills in preschoolers.

Studying which sports training is most favorable for the development of preschoolers’ and elementary school children’s EF skills opens up the prospect of successful adaptation to school. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to compare the EF skills in 5–6-year-old children who participated in football training and martial arts training. Martial arts and football are some of the most popular open-skilled sports trainings among 5–6-year-old children (Felfe et al., 2016). The 2025 survey results indicated that in Russia 23% of respondents’ children participated in martial arts, while 19% were involved in football (Forbes Sport, 2024). At the same time, these sports are predominantly practiced by boys, which is why only boys were included in the sample. The effect of sports training on EF skills depends not only on the type of sport, but also on the duration and period of training attendance (Diamond and Ling, 2016). Therefore, we included boys who have been attending sports training for at least six months in the study. The specifics of attendance at sports training, such as number of sessions per week, the duration of one session in minutes, and the time the child has been attending training in months, were controlled in the study. Potential individual and family characteristics that could also influence EF skills development in 5–6-year-old children, including maternal education, child’s age, and family income, were also controlled in the study. In order to achieve the aim of the pilot study, we posed the following research question: How do EF skills differ between 5 and 6-year-old boys attending football training and boys attending martial arts training?

Table 1 reports the comparison of the football group and the martial arts group by EF skills. All components of visuospatial working memory (content score, spatial score, bonus score, total score) were significantly higher in the football group than in the martial arts group. The effect size was large for the ability to be able to remember the spatial location of stimuli (r_rb = 0.51). The effect was moderate for the ability to remember content (r_rb = 0.34), the ability to remember both location and content (r_rb = 0.36), and the overall visuospatial working memory score (r_rb = 0.45). Following the Bonferroni correction, with an adjusted significance p-level of 0.004, only the comparisons between the groups by spatial component of visuospatial working memory (p < 0.001) and by visuospatial working memory total score (p = 0.003) remained statistically significant. No statistically significant differences were noted between the two groups of children on verbal working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility.

Table 1 also reports the comparison of the football group and the martial arts group on characteristics of sports training attendance and socio-demographic characteristics. In both groups, boys attended sports training on average 2 times a week; each session lasted approximately 60 min and at the time of the collection of data the average period of attendance was 18 months in the football group and 12 months in the martial arts group. The average age of children in the groups was between 68 and 69 months. Most of the boys in both groups came from families with a middle socioeconomic status. In both groups, boys had mothers with 16 years of education on average. In both groups, 90% or more of the children came from families with an average or above-average income level. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of children in all these variables.

Table 2 reports the series of generalized linear models with the sports training group (football training or martial arts training), the specifics of attendance at sports training, the socio-demographic characteristics as predictors, and visuospatial working memory scores as outcome variables. The only model with sports training group as a significant predictor (p = 0.004) was the model with spatial component of visuospatial working memory score as outcome variable (Model info: R² = 0.312, p = 0.010). In this model, the specifics of attendance at sports training, and the socio-demographic characteristics as predictors except for the child’s age were not significant predictors.

This pilot study addressed the following research question: how do EF skills differ between 5 and 6-year-old boys attending football training and boys attending martial arts training? It was revealed that 5–6-year-old boys who took football training for at least 6 months had higher spatial component of visuospatial working memory and visuospatial working memory total score than their peers who took martial arts training for at least 6 months. Moreover, generalized linear model only for spatial component of visuospatial working memory as outcome variable was significant. In this generalized linear model, the specifics of attendance at sports training, and the socio-demographic characteristics except for child’s age were not significant predictors of spatial component of visuospatial working memory. Therefore, the differences between the groups will be considered only by this variable.

Boys involved in football training have been shown to have higher scores in spatial components of visuospatial working memory compared to those involved in martial arts training. This difference can be explained by the fact that in football a child has to take into account many visual stimuli (e.g., ball movement, field markings, movements and actions of team members and opponents) from the beginning of football education, which actively engages the visuospatial working memory. These findings are consistent with the results of a meta-analysis by Wu et al. (2025). The meta-analyses of 21 studies showed that children who played football and basketball had higher visuospatial working memory scores than those children who did not play sports (Wu et al., 2025). During football sessions children need to follow the position and movement of the ball in space, that is, react quickly to spatial information and operate it in visuospatial working memory. Thus, football training fosters spatial component of visuospatial working memory.

The higher level of spatial components of visuospatial working memory in boys from the football group may also be related to the different specifics of the process of teaching football and martial arts. From the beginning of learning football, young children learn to handle the ball and have to react to unexpected trajectories of the ball’s flight. From the first sessions, children practice dribbling around obstacles, passing the ball in pairs, and playing football in groups of 3 or 4 children (Bangsbo, 2000; Ivanov and Kuznetsov, 2021). At the beginning of martial arts learning, children are more likely to practice fighting techniques on their own and engage in general physical training (Stamenković et al., 2022). In preschoolers, martial arts training is non-contact without punches (Borisova and Gubzhokov, 2013). Children do exercises one by one and train exercises during classes (Gotay, 2013). That is to say, when learning football, the educational process from the beginning corresponds to an open-skilled sport. In the case of martial arts training, at the preliminary stage of the educational process, the activities correspond to a closed-skilled sport. Thus, it can be assumed that football training for 5–6-year-old boys may be more favorable in supporting the development of EF skills than martial arts training. On the basis of the pilot study, we suppose that in 5–6-year-old boys, football training, compared to martial arts training, may have greater potential for the development of visuospatial working memory. It is important to note that, as this is not a longitudinal study, the findings may be explained by baseline group differences in the development of EF skills. Perhaps the boys who chose to participate in football did so because they already possess superior visuospatial working memory skills.

Martial arts training may also have potential for the development of visuospatial working memory. In martial arts, athletes have to process a substantial degree of visual information simultaneously, such as the opponent’s position, the position of the body parts, the color of the floor, and the color of equipment (Romanenko et al., 2025). Thus, martial arts training may positively influence the development of visuospatial abilities. Several studies have reported higher visuospatial abilities, specifically object perception, in children involved in martial arts training compared to sedentary children (Alesi et al., 2014). However, this effect has been reported in those who have trained in martial arts for 3 years or more (Alesi et al., 2014; Muiños and Ballesteros, 2013). We assume that the effect of martial arts training on a child’s visuospatial abilities may be observed after a longer training period and may be predominantly for visuospatial perception but not for visuospatial working memory.

In this pilot study, there were no differences between groups in EF skills other than visuospatial working memory. We assume that at 5–6 years of age, sports training, (which boys attended on average twice a week), did not have a significant effect on EF skills. The development of EF skills at 5–6 years of age is more strongly influenced by other factors, such as communication with the child’s caregivers and peers, dramatic play, as well as the educational environment (Madanipour et al., 2025; Xu et al., 2024; Doebel and Lillard, 2023). We believe that both forms of training – football training and martial arts training – can equally influence the development of all EF skills except visuospatial working memory. Thus, at the initial stage of learning, in both forms of sports training, children need to listen equally to the instructions and explanations of the coach. This requires verbal working memory. Regarding the child’s inhibition, this is equally necessary for the two groups of 5–6-year-old children because they learn new movements and new rules and terms when undergoing training for football and martial arts. This requires them to follow instructions, be able to restrain inappropriate impulses and be disciplined. Cognitive flexibility in both football training and martial arts training is likely to be required to a small extent in the early stages of educational process. Because the coach gives enough time to practice each skill and the skills are learnt sequentially. The child is not required to switch between alternative strategies, frequent instructions and contexts. It can be assumed that the effect of football training and martial arts training on different EF skills becomes more pronounced at an older age, when the football or martial arts training process becomes more cognitively demanding.

The strength of this pilot study is that the boys who were studied were not involved in any other extracurricular activities other than football or martial arts training. It is also a strength of the study that the period of sports training attendance, the duration of a session, or the number of sessions per week were not predictors of spatial component of visuospatial working memory. Nor were maternal education level, or family income level. That is, neither socioeconomic status nor the characteristics of the sports training they attended influenced the difference obtained between groups in spatial component of visuospatial working memory. In addition, a strength of the study is that the boys attended sports training for a longer period of time, more than 6 months.

Limitations of this study include the small sample size, the sample consisting of boys only, and the correlational design. To understand how football training and martial arts training affect the EF skills development, longitudinal study is needed. The information about the training type and attendance was obtained entirely from caregiver questionnaires. In our research, there is a lack of data regarding non-extracurricular sports participation (for example, playing football or practice martial casually with friends or family). Also, the limitation of this study is that the martial arts group consisted of boys practicing various forms of martial arts (karate, sambo, judo, boxing, etc.), which likely differ in structure, intensity, and cognitive demands. Grouping different forms of martial arts together reduced internal consistency and limited the validity of comparisons between groups. However, we believe that at the initial stage of the educational process, all forms of martial arts do not differ much, as they all include general physical training. Additionally, the limitation of the study is that most of the boys who participated in the study came from families with average socioeconomic status and lived in large cities.

This pilot study showed that 5–6-year-old boys attending football training have higher spatial component of visuospatial working memory than their martial arts peers. Although this was a pilot study, the findings suggest that football training at preschool age may better develop visuospatial working memory, especially its spatial component. Further research aimed at clarifying this assumption may be useful in practical work with children with low spatial component of visuospatial working memory. These findings are relevant for early childhood education, as visuospatial working memory is a crucial cognitive skill for school readiness, notably influencing abilities such as mathematical reasoning, reading comprehension, and the ability to follow complex instructions.

Based on this pilot study, it is possible to outline prospects for future research in this area. Firstly, an increase in sample size is required. Secondly, longitudinal study is needed. It will allow tracking changes over time, assessing the long-term impacts of the studied variables, and establishing causal relationships more effectively. Thirdly, future research should include girls to examine whether the findings are consistent across genders or if there are significant variations that need to be addressed. Fourthly, future research should explore EF skills at each martial arts training separately. Finally, to ensure broader applicability of the results, future studies should include children from different socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds.