The examination of the differences in the motor proficiency skills of children practising gymnastics vs. non-sportive children

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate whether or not gymnastics is effective to develop 60–72-month-old children’s motor skills. The participants were selected from two different preschools in the same district of Ankara, Turkey. While half of the children participated in regular gymnastic activities in their schools, the remaining part of them did not participate in any kind of sportive activities. As a data gathering instrument, the Bruininks-Oseretsky motor proficiency test was used to measure the participants’ motor skills. The test consists of eight sub-tests in original, which are running speed and agility, balance, bilateral coordination, strength, upper-limb coordination, response speed, visual-motor control, upper-limb speed, and dexterity. The results revealed that children participating in gymnastic programme achieved higher scores on speed and agility, balance, bilateral coordination, strength, upper-limb coordination, response speed, and visual-motor control than the non-sportive group of children.