Naps Help Learning in Preschool Children

A recent study reveals that classroom naps for young children can be an essential part of their daily development.

Researchers found that children who napped during the day-time performed slightly better during visual-spatial task in the afternoon after a nap and the next day than those who didn't.

In fact, these findings suggest that naps are very important for memory consolidation and early learning.

The study involved 40 participants from six preschools across western Massachusetts. The children were taught a visual-spatial game that involved a grid picture in which different pictures were located. Each child participated in two conditions.

The first condition encouraged the children to nap during their regular classroom nap times, which was on average, 77 minutes long. The second conditions involved the children being kept awake without a nap for the same amount of time.

Afterwards, the children were instructed to play the visual-spatial game.

Findings showed that they forgot significantly more item locations regarding the memory test when they had not taken a nap compared to when they did at 75 percent accuracy. After taking a nap, children recalled 10 percent more of the test locations when they had been kept awake.

The effects of various sleep stages show how memories are actively processed during the nap stages. Researchers recruited another 14 preschoolers who came to a sleep lab and had polysomnography, a record of biophysiological changes over a 73-minute nap period.

Study findings showed a correlation between sleep spindle density and the memory benefit of sleep during the nap.

"Until now, there was nothing to support teachers who feel that naps can really help young children. There had been no concrete science behind that," Research psychologist Rebecca Spencer, according to a press release. "We hope these results will be by policy makers and center directors to make educated decisions regarding the nap opportunities in the classrooms. Children should not only be given the opportunity, they should be encouraged to sleep by creating an environment which supports sleep."

More information regarding a press release via the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.