engleski

Influence of home environment size on motor proficiency of preschool children

Environmental influence is important to child motor development. It is well documented how early motor stimulation or deprivation affects motor and cognitive development of a child (Santrock, 2009). Recently, great number of research shows also that different environmental settings have impact to physical activity of children and adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to determine how home physical environment size is associated with children’s motor proficiency. Sample of subjects consisted of 259 preschool children and their parents from three kindergarten institutions in Croatia’s capital city. Testing was conducted in two parts. In first part parents filled out a socio-demographic questionnaire and in the second motor skills and abilities of children were tested. Main results of this research show that living area size (Mean value 92, 11m2) is significantly correlated to child’s motor proficiency (r = 0.16), while yard area size (Mean value 343, 58m2) was not significantly correlated (r = 0.12). Values of both coefficients indicate, although for house area size significant, that the correlation is poor. The explanation for results in our study can be that most children are physically active and developing motor skills away from the home environment (parks, playgrounds, etc.). More studies of environment correlates of physical activity and motor skills in children and youth are needed.

play, yard, motor skill

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