Fundamental motor and social skills of children: the role of Brain Gym exercise

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study aims to examine the effects of Brain Gym exercise on development of fundamental motor and social skills. Eighty-four children (Mage: 9.55±1.09 years) were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of 42: the Brain Gym and the control group. Participants in the Brain Gym group attended sixteen training sessions. The gross motor skills were measured using the test of gross motor development – 3rd edition (Ulrich, Test of gross motor development (3rd ed.). Austin: Pro-Ed.http://www.kines.umich.edu/tgmd3, 2016; TGMD-3) while social skills were assessed through the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY; Matson, J. L., Rotatori, A. F., & Helsel, W. J., Development of a rating scale to measure social skills in children: The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21(4),335–340,1983). The results showed that the Brain Gym group outperformed the control group in posttest and follow-up stages in terms of all variables.