Preschool attendance as a factor in the motor skill development of children

• Authors: Magdalena Rokicka-Hebel
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the motor skills of children who had already attended one year of preschool or had just begun their education. Methods. A total of 286 five- and six-year-old children were recruited from different preschools (eight preschools and three primary school preschool programs) in Gdańsk, Poland. A test battery was designed based on the children’s preschool physical education curriculum and the motor skills that should be acquired at this age. The analyzed motor tasks included: 1) walking on a balance bench, 2) crawling on an inclined balance bench, 3) running then jumping over an obstacle with one leg, 4) catching and throwing a ball over an obstacle, 5) throwing a ball against the wall and catching it, 6) climbing on a gymnastic ladder, 7) jumproping. The children were tested twice in test-retest conditions, at the beginning and end of the school year. Results. The children showed the lowest level of skills in throwing, catching, and bouncing a ball against the wall and jumproping. Conclusions. No significant differences were identified as to children’s physical abilities or between the 5-year-olds and 6-year-olds either beginning or continuing preschool.

Keywords

EN

infancy age; motor skills; physical activity

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Human Movement
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 310-321

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2013

online

14 - 02 - 2014

Contributors

author

Magdalena Rokicka-Hebel

• University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/humo-2013-0037