Opportunities For Developing Preschoolers’ Motor Skills through Play Activities

Abstract

Physical activity begins to develop in an early childhood (from birth to age 8) and is considered an important way of learning about the world, which has a positive effect on a child’s physical, mental, and emotional health and promotes the development of new skills. Appropriate physical activity not only strengthens the overall physical condition, but also contributes to the development of self-regulation skills. Conversely, a lack of physical activity can lead not only to poorer physical health, but also to greater emotional challenges as children are more likely to exhibit behavioral problems, which can develop into more serious disorders over time.
The article highlights the importance of paying adequate attention to play-based activities in the education process in order to form habits of physical activity and enable children to experience the joy of movement. However, pre-school educational institutions often fail to sufficiently develop the basic movement skills of pre-school-aged children (specifically, gross and fine motor skills, movement control, spatial orientation), while giving priority to the development of language and mathematical skills. Therefore, in addressing these issues, we reveal which play-based activities are most appropriate in terms of strengthening the movement skills of pre-school-aged children and how play-based activities allow them to develop.
When teachers use play-based activities to promote physical activity, aspects related to the child’s overall development, physical and mental health become apparent. Play-based activities are also associated with purposefully selected playful games, effectively satisfying children’s natural need for movement, which leads to a greater physical activity, increased physical fitness, and intensive development of motor skills. Pre-school teachers, by virtue of being aware of the importance of movement and the positive impact of play-based activities on the physical development of children, try to include active games as often as possible to develop their movement skills, which significantly enhances children’s movement abilities and the skills they lack.