Abstract
Physical environmental factors affect the developmental process of children. Thus, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the two intervention models of affordances on the motor proficiency and social maturity of children. A semi-experimental research design with a pretest–posttest design and two groups were used, adopting the convenience method. Two groups of 15 children (aged 5.5–6.5 years) engaged in 12 weeks of nature school or kindergarten. The Bruininks–Oseretsky test of motor proficiency and the Vineland social maturity scale were used. The results of a mixed ANOVA showed that natural outdoor activity has a greater positive effect on motor proficiency and social maturity than kindergarten activities. Intra-group analysis also showed that both groups had progressed, but the nature school group made more progress. These results were discussed and interpreted based on the types of environmental affordances, Gibson’s theory, Bronfenbrenner theory, and child-friendly environment. It was suggested that natural environmental stimulations play a critical role in optimal child motor and social development during the early stages of life.
Highlights
Motor development refers to the motor behavior changes influenced by biological and environmental factors, and related research focuses on changes in these contexts, which manifest as observations of evolution over time [4]
Our findings highlighted that natural outdoor activity has positive and significant effects on motor proficiency, running speed and agility, balance, bilateral coordination, strength, gross motor skills, upper-limb coordination, response speed, visual–motor control, and fine motor skills
The results showed that the activity of children in indoor spaces has a positive and significant effect on their visual–motor control skills
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The first years of life play an important role in the growth and development domains [1]. Researchers are trying to identify the biological [2] and environmental factors that can enrich this period of life [3]. In this regard, motor development refers to the motor behavior changes influenced by biological and environmental factors, and related research focuses on changes in these contexts, which manifest as observations of evolution over time [4]
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