A Study on Gross Motor Skills of Preschool Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a creative movement program on gross motor skills of preschool children. Sixty children between the ages of 3 to 5 were drawn from the population of a preschool in Taichung, Taiwan. An experimental pretest-posttest control-group design was utilized. The children enrolled in the experimental group participated in a creative movement program twice a week for 30 minutes each time. Meanwhile, the children enrolled in the control group participated in unstructured free play. Data were collected from the administration of a pretest and posttest to both groups to investigate the effects of a creative movement program on the scores of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2). Analysis of covariance was utilized to test four questions to investigate the effects of the creative movement program on gross motor skills. Results of this study showed that students participating in the creative movement program in gross motor skills (p < .05) scored significantly higher than those in the control group. There also was a higher significant difference in locomotion score (p < .05) on the PDMS-2 test in the experimental group than those in the control group. In addition, there was no significant difference in object manipulation (p > .05) and stationary (p > .05) scores on the PDMS-2 test between the two groups.