REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMNTARY EDUCATION Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 189-200, September 2018 FEI Evaluation of an Integrated Programme of Physical Exercise with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievements Potrjeno / Accepted 5. 9. 2018 Objavljeno / Published 29. 9. 2018 Keywords: children of an early age; integrated programme of physical exercise; comprehensive motor development Vilko Petric1, Lucija Kostadin2 & Mirela Peic3 1 University of Rijeka, Faculty of Teacher Education, Rijeka, Croatia 2 University of Rijeka, Faculty of Teacher Education, Rijeka, Croatia 3 Kindergarten Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia Corresponding author/Korespondencni avtor vilko.petric@uniri.hr Abstract/Povzetek The aim was to determine if there is a possibility of conducting an integrated programme of physical exercise with nursery-aged children, as well as to evaluate its impact on their motor achievement. The sample consisted of nursery-aged children. The sample of variables comprises four tests for evaluating motor achievement based on the various movement structures that allow mastery of space, obstacles and resistance, as well as the manipulation of objects. The differences between the experimental and control groups were tested with Student's t-test. The results show that these programmes yielded exceptional results with regard to motor achievement. Ključne besede: Mlajši predšolski otroci; integirani program telesne vadbe; celosten gibalni razvoj. UDK/UDC 796.012-053.4 Vrednotenje integriranega programa telesna vadbe s predšolskimi otroki: vpliv na gibalne dosežke Cilj je bil ugotoviti, ali obstaja možnost izvedbe integriranega programa telesne vadbe z otroki v predšolski starosti, in ovrednotiti vpliv na njihove motorične dosežke. V raziskavo so bili vključeni predšolski otroci. Vzorec spremenljivk obsega štiri teste za vrednotenje motoričnih dosežkov na osnovi različnih gibalnih struktur, ki omogočajo obvladovanje prostora, ovir, vzdržljivosti in ravnanja s predmeti. Razlike med eksperimentalno in kontrolno skupino smo preizkusili s Studentovim t-testom. Rezultati so pokazali, da so otroci v evalviranih programih dosegli izjemne rezultate glede gibalnih dosežkov. DOI https://doi.org/10.18690/rei.11.3.189 -200.2018 Besedilo / Text © 2018 Avtor(ji) / The Author(s) To delo je objavljeno pod licenco Creative Commons CC BY Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna. Uporabnikom je dovoljeno tako nekomercialno kot tudi komercialno reproduciranje, distribuiranje, dajanje v najem, javna priobčitev in predelava avtorskega dela, pod pogojem, da navedejo avtorja izvirnega dela. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ■Il University of Maribor Press 190 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts Introduction Early childhood is extremely important for perfecting motor knowledge and abilities among children (Nikolic, Mrakovic and Kunjesic, 2016), i.e. for the development of motor achievement. Nursery school represents the period when physical exercise is both a joy and a challenge for children, and where they quickly adopt new and varied motor skills, which are stored as motor data. Rapid acquisition of new and varied content and forms enables the nervous system to be ready for learning (Alic, Petric, Badric, 2016). In terms of content, great significance is given to the acquisition of natural forms of movement, such as walking, jumping, carrying, crawling, rolling, hopping, catching, throwing and crawling through a space. This is knowledge that enables the child to master space, obstacles and resistance, while manipulating objects, and it is important to conduct these by means of games. Games are primary media for the development of children's divergent abilities by activating their intellectual, physical, social and emotional resources (Sagud, 2000). The implementation of games in the physical activities conducted with very young children and preschoolers ensures the creation of positive emotions (satisfaction, happiness, laughter and joy), and it also makes possible the acquisition of many kinds of knowledge, skills and habits used by children in their everyday lives (Alic et al., 2016). Integrated programmes of physical exercise in educational institutions have proven to be very successful for advancing children's levels of physical activity (Ahmed, McDonald, Reed, Naylor, Liu-Ambrose, McKay, 2007; Murtagh, Mulvihill, Markey, 2013; Domika, Armano, Petric, 2018). It is known that intervention programmes conducted in the classroom or some other space and lasting from 5 to 20 minutes can significantly influence children's physiological changes and anthropological characteristics (Holt, McHugh, Tink, Kingsley, Coppola, Neely, McDonald, 2013; Knox, Baker, Davies, Rees, Morgan, Cooper, Brophy, Thomas, 2012; Gasparovic, Petric, Stemberger, Rakovac, Blazevic, 2017). Although it is obvious that children should begin physical exercise as early as possible, the official situation is that there is no organised physical exercise in educational institutions for children of nursery-school age. Previous research directed at evaluating sports programmes in educational institutions attended by nursery-aged children have regularly confirmed significant differences in measured anthropological characteristics in favour of experimental groups (Domika et al., 2018). In contrast to those already evaluated programmes, which fostered REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts 191 exclusively one sport, this programme has a broad orientation and includes biotic motor knowledge that enables the child to master space, obstacles and resistance, along with the manipulation of objects. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine whether it is possible to conduct an integrated programme of physical exercise with nursery-aged children, as well as to evaluate its impact on their motor achievement in the domain of mastering movements, obstacles, resistance and the manipulation of objects. Methods The sample consisted of 63 nursery-aged children, from 1.5 to 3.5 years old. The total number of children was divided into an experimental group consisting of 33 children, and a control group consisting of 30 children. These were children attending Rijeka kindergartens which are at the same time training schools for the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka, and also a kindergarten in Srdoci. The sample of variables consists of four tests for estimating motor achievement created after instructions given by Findak (2003) and based on various movement structures that enable mastery of space, obstacles, resistance and the manipulation of objects. 9m FINISH Figure 1: Sketch of the suggested test for estimating motor achievements in the domain of mastering space The first test aims at estimating motor achievements in the domain of mastering space (Figure 1). Children have to go from the start to the finish line as fast as possible, at the same time avoiding the set cones. The distance between the two lines is 9 m, the first cone being at 3 m, the second at 5 m, and the last at 7 m. The test result represents the time needed by the child to perform the task correctly, i.e. the time necessary for the child to go from the start to the finish line in a slalom run around 192 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts the cones. As far as equipment is concerned, it is necessary to have three cones, a stopwatch and coloured tape to mark the start and finish lines. 9 m START FINISH Figure 2: Sketch of the suggested test for estimating motor achievement in the domain of mastering obstacles The second test aims at estimating motor achievement in the domain of mastering obstacles (Figure 2). The child runs from the start line, reaches the Swedish box, climbs it and descends from it, and then runs to the finish line. The distance between the start and finish line is 9 m, while the beginning of the 40 cm-high Swedish box comes at 3 m. The test result represents the time needed by the child to perform the task correctly, i.e. the time necessary for the child to go from the start to the finish line. As far as equipment is concerned, it is necessary to have a Swedish box, a stopwatch and coloured tape to mark the start and finish lines. START 9m FINISH Figure 3: Sketch of the suggested test for estimating motor achievement in the domain of object manipulation Thefourth test aims at estimating motor achievement in the domain of mastering the manipulation of objects (Figure 4). Children advance while rolling a ball with both arms around the set cones from the start to the finish line. The distance between the two lines is 9 m, the first cone being at 3 m, the second at 5 m, and the last at 7 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts 193 m. The test result represents the time needed by the child to perform the task correctly, i.e. the time necessary for the child to go from the start to the finish line. As far as equipment is concerned, it is necessary to have three cones, a ball, a stopwatch and coloured tape to mark the start and finish lines. To make possible the realisation of the syllabus, attention was paid to the spatial-material conditions of the kindergarten where the program was to be conducted with the experimental group. Taking into consideration the conditions offered by the given space, i.e. the gym, and the variety and quantity of equipment, a syllabus was created containing 28 motor items belonging to all domains (Table 1), which means that there were seven items for each domain. The programme was carried out in the gym, with 70 activities arranged over 35 weeks, that is two per week, each lasting 30 minutes. 194 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts Table 1: Depiction of motor content per domain NO. DOMAIN MOTOR CONTENT Crawling in different ways Walking to music Mastering Running on various surfaces space Rolling on a mat in different directions Running to music Crawling through various sports equipment _Walking between various sports equipment Crawling through the frame of the Swedish box Jumping in different ways Skipping rope on the floor Crawling through a tunnel Crawling through a ring Drop jumps, depth jumps and hop jumps on or from varied surfaces Surmounting obstacles in different ways_ Mastering obstacles Mastering resistance Lifting and carrying various objects Pushing a ball with the arms Pushing a ball with the legs Pushing a plastic pole with the arm Pulling a plastic pole Moving in a push-up position with arms to the front Pulling a rope on the floor_ Manipulation of objects Throwing a ball at the wall Throwing a ball upward with two arms Throwing a ball into a marked space Catching a ball with two arms Throwing a ball to the ground with one arm Throwing a ball through a ring Directing a ball with a leg 1 2 3 4 Before conducting the research, the research coordinators in the Rijeka kindergarten were contacted. After a meeting about the planned course of research, an agreement with the coordinators was reached, and collection of data from the Srdoci kindergarten was allowed. Two mixed nursery groups were chosen from this kindergarten. Their preschool teachers were informed about the details of the study and participated in the creation and implementation of the experimental programme. Later, the preschool teachers informed parents about it during the parent-teacher meeting. Data collection was conducted in the gym of the Srdoci kindergarten, with parental cooperation and consent. The programme was conducted from November 2017 to May 2018. REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts 195 All the measured data were processed and analysed by the STATISTICA 12.5 program (StatSoft, Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). The differences between the experimental and control groups were tested with Student's t-test for independent samples, while Student's t-test for dependent samples was used to test differences in the same group between the initial and final measurements. The statistical level of significance was tested with an error of p = 0.05 %. Results Table 2 shows the differences in motor achievement between the experimental and control groups. In the initial measurement, before the start of the integrated programme of physical exercise with the experimental group, there were no significant differences in any of the variables. The children had almost equal motor achievements in all domains. Table 2: Results of differences in motor achievement between the experimental and control groups. Measurement Variables M ex. M con. t-value p Space 7.19 7.80 -0.73 0.47 Initial Obstacles 13.64 13.37 0.18 0.86 Resistance 15.15 15.36 -0.20 0.84 Manipulation 28.47 30.86 -0.61 0.55 Space 4.40 6.58 -4.32 0.00 Final Obstacles 7.59 11.44 -3.86 0.00 Resistance 11.67 14.29 -2.45 0.02 Manipulation 11.04 24.11 -3.85 0.00 With regard to the final measurement, after completion of the research, and in terms of statistics, those in the experimental group achieved significantly better results on all variables. They showed significant improvement in their motor achievement, allowing them to master space, obstacles, resistance and the manipulation of objects. The Table 3 shows the differences between groups in initial and final measurements. In terms of statistics, the experimental group made significant improvement on all variables of motor achievement, while the control group improved only in the variable of motor achievements in the domain of mastering resistance. 196 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE/ JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION V. Petric, L. Kostadin & M. Peic: Evaluation of Integrated Programme of Physical Exercising with Nursey-Aged Children: Impact on Motor Achievemnts Table 3: Results of differences in motor achievement between the control and experimental group Group Variables Measurement M SD t p Space Initial 6.72 2.28 Final 4.13 0.75 4.61 0.00 a