The Relationship between Fundamental Motor Skills and Outside-School Physical Activity of Elementary School Children

The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between fundamental motor skill development and various types of outside-school physical activity. Outside-school physical activity of 133 elementary schoolchildren was measured using a modified observational method validated by O'Hara et al. (18) and Caltrac accelerometers (Hemokinetics, Madison, Wisconsin). Developmental level of overhand throwing and jumping was assessed using total-body developmental sequences. The results revealed that developmental levels of both overhand throwing and jumping were significantly correlated with the skill-specific physical activity (r = .44 and .55 for overhand throwing and jumping, respectively). Caltrac score was not significantly related to jumping and overhand throwing skills. Skill-specific physical activities accounted for 20% of the variance (adjusted R²) in overhand throwing and 17% of the variance in jumping performance. Findings supported the hypothesis that developmental level of fundamental motor skills would be related with skill-specific outside-school physical activity but not with general level of physical activity of elementary schoolchildren.