Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards?
Strategies to early develop and implement motor skill promotion in preschoolers are lacking. Thus, we examined the effects of a card-based exercise promotion program in a kindergarten setting. 214 preschool children (5.5 ± 0.6 y, range 4.2–6.7 y) were examined in the present intervention study. Body...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Sports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/2/4/140 |
| _version_ | 1798005751645470720 |
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| author | Lars Donath Katharina Imhof Ralf Roth Lukas Zahner |
| author_facet | Lars Donath Katharina Imhof Ralf Roth Lukas Zahner |
| author_sort | Lars Donath |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Strategies to early develop and implement motor skill promotion in preschoolers are lacking. Thus, we examined the effects of a card-based exercise promotion program in a kindergarten setting. 214 preschool children (5.5 ± 0.6 y, range 4.2–6.7 y) were examined in the present intervention study. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were measured. Children were randomly assigned to the KIDZ-Box® physical activity intervention program (INT: n = 107) or the control group (CON: n = 107). Children were trained daily for 15 min over 7 month at the preschool for agility, balance, endurance and jump performance, employing the card-based KIDZ-Box® media package. At pre- and post-testing, dynamic balance, jump and agility performance were tested. Cross-sectionally, agility testing differed between sexes (p = 0.01) and BMI (p = 0.02). Trends towards a significant association were found between BMI and side-to-side jumping (p = 0.1) and beam balancing (p = 0.05). Relevant interventional effects favoring the intervention group were slightly found for agility (p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.02) and moderately for side-to-side jumping (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.08). Balance performance did not relevantly improve. As jumping cards have been used frequently by the teachers, jumping improvements are plausible. The activity cards are feasibly applicable but should be employed with more structure during longer training sessions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:44:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3f4fdeb504cb42cc894e40f38683aa73 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4663 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:44:04Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sports |
| spelling | doaj.art-3f4fdeb504cb42cc894e40f38683aa732022-12-22T04:23:25ZengMDPI AGSports2075-46632014-12-012414015110.3390/sports2040140sports2040140Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards?Lars Donath0Katharina Imhof1Ralf Roth2Lukas Zahner3Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, CH-4052 Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, CH-4052 Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, CH-4052 Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Birsstrasse 320B, CH-4052 Basel, SwitzerlandStrategies to early develop and implement motor skill promotion in preschoolers are lacking. Thus, we examined the effects of a card-based exercise promotion program in a kindergarten setting. 214 preschool children (5.5 ± 0.6 y, range 4.2–6.7 y) were examined in the present intervention study. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were measured. Children were randomly assigned to the KIDZ-Box® physical activity intervention program (INT: n = 107) or the control group (CON: n = 107). Children were trained daily for 15 min over 7 month at the preschool for agility, balance, endurance and jump performance, employing the card-based KIDZ-Box® media package. At pre- and post-testing, dynamic balance, jump and agility performance were tested. Cross-sectionally, agility testing differed between sexes (p = 0.01) and BMI (p = 0.02). Trends towards a significant association were found between BMI and side-to-side jumping (p = 0.1) and beam balancing (p = 0.05). Relevant interventional effects favoring the intervention group were slightly found for agility (p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.02) and moderately for side-to-side jumping (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.08). Balance performance did not relevantly improve. As jumping cards have been used frequently by the teachers, jumping improvements are plausible. The activity cards are feasibly applicable but should be employed with more structure during longer training sessions.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/2/4/140kindergartenmotor skillinterventionpreschool childrenexercise |
| spellingShingle | Lars Donath Katharina Imhof Ralf Roth Lukas Zahner Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? Sports kindergarten motor skill intervention preschool children exercise |
| title | Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? |
| title_full | Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? |
| title_fullStr | Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? |
| title_short | Motor Skill Improvement in Preschoolers: How Effective Are Activity Cards? |
| title_sort | motor skill improvement in preschoolers how effective are activity cards |
| topic | kindergarten motor skill intervention preschool children exercise |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/2/4/140 |
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