Improving motor skills in early childhood through goal-oriented play activity
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2021
Abstract
Goal-oriented play activity encourages children to exercise and triggers the movement of body muscles. Active muscles are stronger, more agile, faster, and more powerful. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine that goal-oriented play activity in early childhood improves motor skills. Methods: Forty children aged 4.5-6 years old were recruited and took part in a set of training activities divided into Posts 1-5. To pass each post, a child had to run, walk on a balance beam, move sticks, throw and catch the ball, and arrange blocks. Training was given three times every week for 12 weeks. Data collected consisted of running 25 m, walking on the balance beam, throwing the ball as far as possible, locomotor movement, arranging cans, and bouncing the ball. Paired t and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for analysis. Results: The results showed that there were significant differences in the motor skills evaluated pre- and post-training with p < 0.05. Conclusion: All six training activities conducted for 12 weeks provided significant improvements in the motor skills areas in children aged 4.5-6 years old.
Keywords
Motor skills, Childhood, Goal-oriented play activity
Divisions
Education,fac_med
Funders
Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia,Universiti Malaya
Publication Title
Children-Basel
Volume
8
Issue
11
Publisher
MDPI
Publisher Location
ST ALBAN-ANLAGE 66, CH-4052 BASEL, SWITZERLAND