Effect of Soccer Games on Gross Motor Development in Preschoolers

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of playing soccer on the quality of gross motor skills in preschoolers. A 2-group, pretest-posttest design was adopted, comprising both an experimental and a control group. The participants were recruited from 2 public kindergartens located in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The approval of the legal representatives of the 101 preschoolers enrolled in these kindergartens and aged between 4 years and 6 years and 11 months was obtained, and purposive grouping was subsequently conducted. The experimental group comprised 44 participants from the first kindergarten, whereas the control group comprised 43 participants from the second kindergarten. After the recruitment, the experimental group received a soccer program intervention: a 10-week soccer program with two 40-minute sessions per week. Before and after the experiment, the gross motor quality of both groups was measured using the Preschooler Gross Motor Quality Scale, which covers tests for locomotion, object manipulation, and balance. The results of the 10-week intervention showed significantly higher scores for locomotion, object manipulation, balance, and overall gross motor quality in the experimental group than in the control group. This study confirmed that a 10-week soccer program is beneficial for gross motor development in preschoolers. The research results can serve as a reference for gross motor development in preschool education.