Effects of Free Play and Partly Structured Playground Activity on Motor Competence in Preschool Children: A Pragmatic Comparison Trial
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Procedures
2.3. The Primo Sport 0246 Playground
2.4. Organization of Activities at the Playground
2.4.1. The Group of Partly Structured Activity
2.4.2. The Group of Free Play
2.4.3. The Control Group
2.5. Assessment of Motor Competence
2.5.1. Test of Motor Competence (TMC)
2.5.2. Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2)
2.5.3. Playground-Specific Tests
2.5.4. Balance on Elastic Platforms Task
2.5.5. Balance on Beam Task
2.6. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Test of Motor Competence (TMC)
Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2)
3.2. Playground-Specific Assessments
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Study Group | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Control | Structured Activity | Free Play | ||||
Variable | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest |
Placing bricks (s) | 83.54 (12.17) | 92.91 (12.93) | 93.94 (18.86) | 98.93 (21.77) | 88.51 (15.15) | 87.84 (17.65) |
Building bricks (s) | 23.32 (5.27) | 28.70 (9.54) | 25.42 (7.94) | 29.31 (9.28) | 24.07 (5.77) | 27 (6.72) |
Heel-to-Toe walking (s) | 34.61 (12.67) | 38.27 (9.55) | 39.45 (15.94) | 38.85 (9.18) | 41.09 (11.77) | 40.93 (11.64) |
Walking/running in slopes (s) | 8.59 (2.08) | 9.07 (2.51) | 11.41 (3.64) | 9.08 (2.73) | 12.47 (3.71) | 8.33 (1.71) |
Sumscore (s) | 125.11 (46.51) | 154.33 (36.11) | 149.66 (44.94) | 152.72 (44.68) | 149.88 (40.42) | 153.01 (27.32) |
Study Group | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Control | Structured Activity | Free Play | ||||
Variable | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest |
Posting Coins (s) | 50.30 (7.34) | 46.81 (5.73) | 54.06 (9.47) | 48.35 (10.70) | 51.70 (11.45) | 46.34 (7.16) |
Threading beads (s) | 70.15 (15.27) | 66.07 (14.51) | 80.98 (28.29) | 72.37 (31.86) | 74.56 (27.00) | 68.58 (26.45) |
Drawing Trail errors (n) | 1.45 (1.30) | 1.97 (1.59) | 2.02 (2.82) | 2.27 (2.71) | 1.92 (1.92) | 1.82 (2.22) |
Catching beanbags (n) | 5.54 (2.73) | 8.06 (1.53) | 5.86 (2.77) | 7.66 (2.15) | 5.78 (3.16) | 7.49 (1.98) |
Throwing beanbags (n) | 4.00 (4.58) | 4.57 (1.84) | 2.68 (2.02) | 4.02 (2.18) | 2.90 (1.77) | 2.81 (1.93) |
One leg balance (s) | 23.85 (14.94) | 30.27 (15.50) | 27.00 (22.88) | 17.54 (8.77) | 29.13 (19.34) | 18.11 (16.68) |
Walking heels raised (n) | 10.72 (5.77) | 11.83 (4.21) | 8.54 (6.00) | 6.79 (5.57) | 9.10 (5.92) | 8.71 (5.80) |
Jumping on mats (n) | 2.59 (1.81) | 2.00 (1.72) | 1.52 (1.57) | 1.93 (1.82) | 1.56 (1.53) | 2.15 (1.95) |
Sumscore | 45.42 (14.67) | 55.95 (7.35) | 45.24 (15.21) | 46.73 (15.07) | 47.81 (15.49) | 49.73 (14.26) |
Study Group | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Control | Structured Activity | Free Play | ||||
Variable | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest | Pretest | Posttest |
Elastic (s) | 27.26 (12.70) | 20.28 (11.72) | 21.79 (11.11) | 12.41 (5.93) | 28.64 (17.92) | 14.42 (11.00) |
Elastic (n errors) | 1.16 (1.65) | 1.55 (2.06) | 0.98 (1.75) | 0.11 (0.49) | 1.79 (2.14) | 0.55 (1.39) |
Beams (s) | 22.79 (14.14) | 14.18 (7.84) | 24.97 (18.86) | 13.03 (11.20) | 23.30 (15.79) | 10.44 (5.28) |
Beams (n errors) | 3.91 (3.58) | 2.17 (2.14) | 3.25 (3.06) | 1.84 (2.92) | 4.45 (3.87) | 1.47 (1.75) |
Sumscore | 46.48 (14.23) | 48.21 (10.05) | 47.40 (13.05) | 53.90 (1.93) | 44.39 (13.68) | 47.39 (12.02) |
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Tortella, P.; Haga, M.; Lorås, H.; Fumagalli, G.F.; Sigmundsson, H. Effects of Free Play and Partly Structured Playground Activity on Motor Competence in Preschool Children: A Pragmatic Comparison Trial. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 7652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137652
Tortella P, Haga M, Lorås H, Fumagalli GF, Sigmundsson H. Effects of Free Play and Partly Structured Playground Activity on Motor Competence in Preschool Children: A Pragmatic Comparison Trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(13):7652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137652
Chicago/Turabian StyleTortella, Patrizia, Monika Haga, Håvard Lorås, Guido Francesco Fumagalli, and Hermundur Sigmundsson. 2022. "Effects of Free Play and Partly Structured Playground Activity on Motor Competence in Preschool Children: A Pragmatic Comparison Trial" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 13: 7652. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137652