Impact of teacher implemented activities and free play on preschool children’s physical activity at indoor playground markings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/saecj.vol11.1.2.2022Keywords:
children, physical activity, indoor markings, playground markingsAbstract
The paper contains two different studies on preschool children’s physical activity at indoor playground markings. Both of these studies are designed as two-factor experiments. Participants were children (N=87, 41 females, 46 males; Mage= 66.4 months) from an urban public preschool. Two main hallways of the school were painted with playground markings. Data were gathered for two consecutive weeks (Week 1 = free play, Week 2 = teacher implemented activities). This forms the instruction type in these studies with two levels (‘no’ = free play time in Week 1, ‘yes’ = teacher implemented activities in Week 2). Physical activity level was assessed using the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time for Preschoolers (SOFIT-P) with five levels (1 = lying down, 2 = sitting, 3 = standing, 4 = walking, and 5 = fast/highly active). Moreover, seven activity types were considered in the study (S = lie down/sit/stand/squat, C = climb/crawl, W = walk/ride, P = push/pull/throw, K = rock/swing, D = dance/jump/skip, and R = run/roll/rough/tumble). R (version 3.6.1) was used for the data analysis in both studies using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The goal of the first study was to evaluate the effects of instruction type and activity levels on the time spent by children during physical activities. The second study aimed to investigate the same outcome in the first study with respect to the instruction type and the activity type. The findings revealed that children spent more time doing high levels of activities at the playground markings when performing teacher implemented activities. The instruction type impacted physical activity levels more than the activity type. Increasing time spent in teacher implemented activities is a key element to encourage children to be more active at indoor playground markings.
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