Modern Technologies in Physical Education for Improving the Motor Skills of Children

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the research conducted with the aim of examining the effects of a three-month special programme for improving the motor skills of children. The research was based on the assumption that contemporary physical exercises will result in positive transformational effects of motor abilities of the preschool children. The research was conducted on a sample of 100 children (42 girls and 58 boys) from two older preschool groups. A battery of 6 motor tests was applied in the research. A three-month programme of physical health activities was realised five days a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes. The programme consisted of fitball gymnastics and aerobics with music. A pre-experimental draft of the pretest-posttest research, the draft with repeated measurement, was used in the research. The obtained results confirmed the results of the earlier research showing that children’s motor skills improved after the implementation of specific programmes. A statistically significant difference in the results of the initial and final measurements was observed in all tests, except in the “bent arm hang” test. The children showed improvement in doing the exercises after the programme had been implemented. As their basic motor skills improved as well (static strength of the upper limbs, explosive strength of the lower limbs, flexibility in the hip joint, and reaction speed), the initial hypothesis was accepted for the above mentioned variables. Given that longitudinal fitball programmes and aerobics with music proved to work well in the research, the authors of the paper recommend these exercises for all preschool age groups.

Keywords

• motor skills
• test battery
• fitball gymnastics
• preschool children
• aerobics with music