In this study, researchers from Institute Islam Kuningan, Indonesia, examined the effect of traditional Indonesian games on gross motor development among 79 children between 5 and 6 years old. The researchers argued that traditional games, unlike exercise drills, combine movement learning with cultural experience including social interaction, rules, competition or cooperation, rhythm and varied motor demands. The researchers designed an experiment to test if structured traditional games would have an effect on gross motor improvement compared to typical movement-learning activities after controlling for baseline performance.
The study was comprised of 24 structured sessions, lasting approximately 35 minutes each, during an 8 week period. While a control group continued routine physical and play activities normally provided by the school, the experimental group played traditional Indonesian games that included running, hopping, jumping, balancing, directional changes, coordinated stepping, throwing, catching, and rapid whole-body responses. Students’ gross motor skills were assessed before and after the 8 week period using the Test of Gross Motor Development - Third Edition (TGMD-3). The researchers found that students who participated in the structured traditional games showed greater improvement in gross motor performance than those who continued with their usual school movement activities. They conclude that while free play is an important part of early education, structured exposure to traditional games may provide more reliable movement practice for young learners.
StepUp Note
This study shows how structured movement activities in traditional games (running, jumping, ball skills, stepping and more) measurably improved gross motor skills more than typical movement activities during a school day. StepUp to Learn provides children with similar opportunities for coordinated whole-body stepping and gross-motor learning, with the added benefit of basic academic skill practice for handwriting, math fact retrieval and reading decoding. Additionally, both traditional games and StepUp exercises develop sustained, self-directed attention, which is a requirement for independent learning!
Note by Nancy W. Rowe, MS, CCC/A