Getting the fundamentals of movement: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of motor skill interventions in children
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Published on: September 18, 2017
S W Logan1, L E Robinson, A E Wilson
1Department of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. swl0003@tigermail.auburn.edu
Insights
Planned motor skill interventions significantly improve fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children. These programs are more effective than unstructured free play for enhancing both object control and locomotor skills. Early childhood centers should adopt these strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Motor Development
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are crucial for positive health outcomes.
- FMS are not acquired naturally and require explicit learning and practice.
- Interventions are necessary to foster motor skill development in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of motor skill interventions on children's FMS.
- To compare the impact of structured interventions versus free play.
- To analyze factors influencing intervention outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across multiple databases (Academic Search Premier, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, SportDiscus, ERIC).
- Inclusion criteria: motor skill interventions, pre/post FMS assessment, and availability of performance data.
- Meta-analysis of effect sizes for interventions and control groups.
Main Results:
- Motor skill interventions demonstrated a significant positive effect on FMS improvement (d=0.39, P < 0.001).
- Both object control (d=0.41) and locomotor skills (d=0.45) showed significant gains.
- Control groups (free play) showed no significant improvement (d=0.06, P=0.33).
Conclusions:
- Motor skill interventions are effective in enhancing children's FMS.
- Structured movement programs are superior to free play for skill development.
- Early childhood education should integrate planned movement programs to promote motor skills.
Unlabelled:
The development of fundamental movement skills (FMS) is associated with positive health-related outcomes. Children do not develop FMS naturally through maturational processes. These skills need to be learned, practised and reinforced. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of motor skill interventions in children. The following databases were searched for relevant articles: Academic Search Premier, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, SportDiscus and ERIC. No date range was specified and each search was conducted to include all possible years of publication specific to each database. Key terms for the search included motor, skill, movement, intervention, programme or children. Searches were conducted using single and combined terms. Pertinent journals and article reference lists were also manually searched.
Inclusion Criteria:
(1) implementation of any type of motor skill intervention; (2) pre- and post-qualitative assessment of FMS; and (3) availability of means and standard deviations of motor performance. A significant positive effect of motor skill interventions on the improvement of FMS in children was found (d= 0.39, P < 0.001). Results indicate that object control (d= 0.41, P < 0.001) and locomotor skills (d= 0.45, P < 0.001) improved similarly from pre- to post-intervention. The overall effect size for control groups (i.e. free play) was not significant (d= 0.06, P= 0.33). A Pearson correlation indicated a non-significant (P= 0.296), negative correlation (r=-0.18) between effect size of pre- to post-improvement of FMS and the duration of the intervention (in minutes). Motor skill interventions are effective in improving FMS in children. Early childhood education centres should implement 'planned' movement programmes as a strategy to promote motor skill development in children.
