Authors
Nafsika Karachle, Aspasia Dania, Fotini Venetsanou
Publication date
2017
Journal
Science of Gymnastics Journal
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
17-25
Description
A high level of Motor Proficiency (MP) in early years is associated with successful functioning within daily life and participation in physical activity both in short and long term. Therefore, the investment in movement programs that can boost the MP of young children is of great importance. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a 6-month Recreational Gymnastics (RG) program on the MP of young children. Thirty-four children from Athens, Greece, aged 3-7 years (4.7+ 1.2 years) volunteered to participate in the research. Among them, 21 constituted the experimental group (EG) and attended the RG program, while 13 were allocated to the control group (CG) and did not participate in any organized form of physical activity. Pre and post measurements were conducted in both groups with the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency–Second Edition (Bruininks & Bruininks, 2005). The ANOVA with repeated measures that was applied revealed that although both groups improved significantly their MP between the two measurements (p<. 001), the EG significantly surpassed the CG in the post-measurement (p<. 05). According to the above, it can be concluded that RG can be an effective means for the MP enhancement in early childhood.
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