Increasing Early Childhood Creativity and Fine Motor Abilities Using Traditional Games (Bermain Lempung) in The Digital Age

Abstract

Early childhood is a golden age. It is a time when the basic physical, motor, language, cognitive, independence, socializing, and creative abilities are developing rapidly. The potential for rapid early childhood development is not in line with the stimulus obtained by the child. This digital era cannot be separated from the use of gadgets for adults and children. One of the setbacks or not optimal development of children, one of which is the development of fine motor skills and creativity. This study aims to measure the effect of traditional games (Bermain Lempung) on increasing creativity and fine motor skills in early childhood. This study uses a quantitative approach with nonequivalent experimental methods (pretest and posttest) control group design. This research was conducted on students of grade B Kindergarten at RA Al Ittihad Jogoroto Jombang (n=27). The results of the pretest showed that there were 22 children in the category of medium and low creativity. And fine motor abilities showed that most of the children’s fine motor abilities were still below the average of children at their age. Subjects who had medium and low categories were divided into two control (n=11) and experimental (n=11) groups, which would be treated with Bermain Lempung activities. Collecting data using creative observation instruments and the bender gestalt for fine motor skills. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 with the statistical technique independent sample T-test. The results showed that the influence of traditional games, namely Bermain Lempung with increased creativity and fine motor skills, had no effect because of the limited time intensity.
 Keywords: traditional game, childhood, motor skill