Midday naps help preschoolers learn, study says

NEW YORK — Any parent knows that a daytime nap can help keep preschoolers from getting cranky. Now a small study suggests that it helps them learn, too.

The lesson for grown-ups: Don’t cut out the naps if you try to cram more learning activities into a preschooler’s day, say researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

They studied 40 children, ages 3 to 5. In the mornings of test days, the children were shown a grid with pictures of nine or 12 items like a cat or an umbrella. That afternoon and the next morning, the children were tested on how well they remembered the location of each image.

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All the children were tested under two conditions, one in which they were encouraged to nap before the afternoon test, and another in which they were kept awake. Without a nap, they were about 65 percent accurate. With a nap, their accuracy reached about 75 percent.

The research shows that “naps are important for preschool children,” Rebecca Spencer, senior author of the study, said in a statement.

The study was published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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