The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children
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...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82374 |
| _version_ | 1848764495780904960 |
|---|---|
| author | Tan, Jernice SY Nonis, Karen Chan, L.Y. |
| author_facet | Tan, Jernice SY Nonis, Karen Chan, L.Y. |
| author_sort | Tan, Jernice SY |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:20:16Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-82374 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:20:16Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-823742021-02-25T03:31:51Z The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children Tan, Jernice SY Nonis, Karen Chan, L.Y. 1303 - Specialist Studies in Education 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. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82374 10.31559/CCSE2020.1.2.6 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | 1303 - Specialist Studies in Education Tan, Jernice SY Nonis, Karen Chan, L.Y. The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title | The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title_full | The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title_fullStr | The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title_short | The Effect of Traditional Games and Free play on Motor Skills of Preschool Children |
| title_sort | effect of traditional games and free play on motor skills of preschool children |
| topic | 1303 - Specialist Studies in Education |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82374 |