Recreational Sports Activities and Early Childhood Motor Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31851/hon.v9i1.21230Abstract
Early childhood is a golden period for fundamental development that is the foundation for the next growth of children, one of which is motor development. The decrease in physical activity levels and increased sedentary behavior due to the onslaught of digital technology are a serious threat to the optimization of children's motor development. Recreational sports, with their fun, non-competitive, and participation-focused characteristics, emerged as a potential intervention to stimulate gross motor development. This study aims to analyze the influence of structured recreational sports programs on improving early childhood motor development. The research used quasi-experiments with pre-test and post-test control group designs. The study sample consisted of 60 children aged 5-6 years who were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (n=30) that followed a recreational exercise program for 12 weeks, and the control group (n=30) that did free physical activity without structure. The instrument used to measure motor development is the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) which includes aspects of locomotor (running, jumping, pole running) and object control (throwing, catching, kicking). Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test for the normality test, the Levene test for the homogeneity test, and ANCOVA to test for differences between groups by controlling for pre-test scores. The results showed that after 12 weeks of intervention, there was a significant improvement in the total motor score of the experimental group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Further analysis showed a significant improvement occurred in both sub-variables, namely locomotor skills and object control. These findings indicate that a systematically structured recreational exercise program is more effective in improving early childhood motor development compared to free physical activity. The implications of this study support the integration of recreational sports programs into the early childhood education curriculum as a preventive and promotive effort to achieve optimal motor development, which ultimately contributes to an active and healthy lifestyle later in life.
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