| Summary: | A child’s play is critical to whole child development. However, literature
related to how traditional games and unstructured free play is limited. This study
investigated if traditional games and free play could influence the motor skills of
preschool children. One hundred and ninety-two children (Traditional Group: n
= 114, M age = 4.5 & Play Group: n = 78, M age: 4.7) were recruited. Traditional
Group played five types of traditional games while Play Group had free play over
20 sessions in 5 weeks. The MABC-2 was used to assess their motor skills. Data
were analysed in three groups: All, performing 30 and Underperforming 30. The
results showed that all participants made significant improvements in balance and
overall motor skills with either traditional games or free play. Within the
Performing 30 category, the Traditional Group performed significantly better in
manual dexterity and overall motor skills as compared with the Play Group.
However, both groups improved significantly in manual dexterity, balance
abilities and overall motor skills within the Underperforming 30 category. This
suggested that irrespective of structured traditional games or unstructured free play, child’s play has positive benefits on the development of motor skills especially for children with poorer motor skills.
|
|---|