Recruitment
The study and associated protocols were approved by the Dalhousie University Research Ethics Board (REB #2016–3924) and registered as a randomized controlled trial with Biomed Central (ISRCTN14058106; 20/10/2017). Informed consent forms were received from parents/ legal guardians of participating children, and from all participating educators. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations, including with the REB approved protocols. All Nova Scotia licenced childcare centres with an enrolment of greater than 20 children aged 3–5 years were sent a general inquiry of interest by email. All interested sites then received an in-person site visit to further discuss participation in the project from a member of our project team who had work experience as an early childhood educator and significant knowledge of and familiarity with the childcare sector. Twenty-one sites expressed interest; however, 2 were excluded as they were already advanced in their implementation of loose parts. The study included 19 childcare sites (parallel design; intervention: 