MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT
in PRESCHOOL EDUCATION

"Play is the foundation for children's healthy development."
(Rogers & Sawyers, 1988; Rubin, Fein & Vandenburg, 1983)

 

In preschool, children are taught motor skills through play. Play, movement and physical activity are extremely important elements in the social development of children. Without movement and opportunities to play and explore the environment, the child will not thrive. Preschool education is a perfect opportunity for children to enhance their motor skills through physical activity.

Play shows us how well children are developing and is also a means for further development. Play helps children develop knowledge, social skills, and motor skills. It also helps them express their feelings appropriately.

Children have a need for both indoor and outdoor play every day in order to enhance their motor skills.

Children learn motor skills through a variety of methods. It is important for educators to select the most effective and appropriate means for a given situation. Whether the goal is to teach an individual to read, throw a ball or dance, there is interaction between the student and teacher.

 

 PHYSICAL EDUCATION and MOTOR SKILLS
  

Physical education programs for preschool children aged between three and five should focus on providing opportunities for children to master motor skills and learn about physical movements. These programs are important since the skills learned at a young age provide the foundation for a person's attitudes toward physical activity later in life. Preschool physical education programs should therefore be designed to promote both fitness and child development.

Physical educators need to understand the importance of providing programs which help young children develop motor skills because:

 When children participate in a variety of movements, they have a foundation of motor skills that they can build and refine throughout their school years.

 Children who don't develop their physical skills tend to become adults who don't participate in regular physical activity.

 Children may not receive the daily physical activity needed to maintain healthy hearts, lungs, and muscles.

 

THE TEACHING of MOTOR SKILLS

"It is practice, the results of which are known, that makes perfect" - F.C. Bartlett

 

The improved teaching of motor skills saves time and allows the teaching of more content in school programs. A responsibility when teaching motor skills is to provide information to the child concerning his or her performance. The child needs to know if improvement is taking place. They are frequently unable to detect it by observing their own performance.

How much information should a teacher give the learner? It depends on the developmental level of the child. Meaningful and specific information is needed for the less experienced child when correcting motor skills.

 

The Learning Environment

How an interaction between a student and teacher takes place is partially dependent on how the learning environment is structured. Here are different types of environments and the skills learned within them.

 Changing Environment

Unchanging Environment

 Examples: skiing, hitting a tennis ball, intercepting a basketball

 Examples: Bowling, a basketball free throw, archery

 "Open Skills"

 "Closed skills"

Here are a few implications for teaching young children motor skills:

1. Do not compare children's movement skills based on chronological age. Remember that many performer factors contribute to the development of each child's skills.

2. Sports and game equipment should be proportionately scaled to children's body sizes.

 

Sources:

Peddie, Barbara K. "What Underlies the Teaching of Motor Skills." Physical Educator, Fall 1995, Vol. 52 Issue 3, p119, 6p.

Sanders, Steve. "Preschool physical education: challenges for the profession." The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, August 1994 v65 n6 p26(2).

Wade, Michael G. "Motor Skills, Play and Child Development." Early Report 1992.

 

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