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The effects of a developmentally appropriate music and movement program on motor performance
Early Childhood Research Quarterly 19 (2004) 631–642
The effects of a developmentally appropriate music and movement program on motor performance Evridiki Zachopouloua,∗ , Aggeliki Tsapakidoub , Vassiliki Derric a
Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Department of Early Childhood Care and Education, P.O. Box 14561, Sindos 54101, Thessaloniki, Greece b Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Sindos 54101, Thessaloniki, Greece c Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, Greece
Abstract Basic motor skills development is achieved through the implementation of different types of physical education programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate and to compare the effect of a developmentally appropriate music and movement program and of a developmentally appropriate physical education program on the development of jumping and dynamic balance in children ages 4–6 years. Ninety children, 42 girls and 48 boys, participated. Fifty of them were in an experimental group and followed the music and movement program, which lasted 2 months. The rest served as the control group and followed the physical education program, for the same period of time. Children’s level in jumping and dynamic balance was assessed with the MOT 4–6 [Zimmer, R. & Volkamer, M. (1987). Motoriktest fuer vier-bis sechsjaehrige kinder. Manual, Belz: Weinheim]. Data were analyzed with the multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures. The results showed that the experimental group improved significantly in both jumping and dynamic balance. It can be concluded that a developmentally appropriate music and movement program can positively affect jumping and dynamic balance of preschool children. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Music and movement program; Developmentally appropriate practices; Dynamic balance; Jumping; Preschool children
The preschool and the early elementary school years are critical for the development of fundamental motor skills (Gallahue, 1996). According to Graham (1991), fundamental motor skills are significant because (a) they form the basis for success in sport skills during adolescence and adulthood, (b) young ∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2310 791528; fax: +30 2310 791524. E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Zachopoulou).
0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.10.005
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children enjoy learning them, and (c) once learned, are retained for a lifetime. If children fail to develop these skills during this period of their life, they often experience failure in the motor domain during childhood and adolescence (Gallahue, 1996; Poest, Williams, Witt, & Atwood, 1990). The most significant consequence of basic motor skills development and movement concepts is that they enhance psychological, social, cognitive, and affective development as well (Payne & Rink, 1997). When children take part in motor activities, their social development progresses, as they become capable of successful interactions with others, such as helping and cooperating and learn to control aggression (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Through participation in games, they learn to express their emotions in socially acceptable ways and to become capable of understanding how others feel and develop a sense of right and wrong. Besides the effects on affective development, motor and game activities provide the ideal environment for cognitive development, when the children are asked to respond to teacher’s instructions, to find many different and effective ways to solve a problem or to execute an exercise (Bee, 1999). These are factors that affect children’s thinking and reasoning. The quality in motor skills performance is related to the level of certain motor abilities (Schmidt, 1987). Some of these abilities, as for example dynamic balance and coordination abilities, are crucial for motor skills performance while others are less important for this developmental stage, such as endurance and flexibility. Dynamic balance refers to the maintenance of equilibrium in rapid changes of the individual’s kinetic condition. DeOreo and Keogh (1980) and Espenschade and Eckert (1980) argue that dynamic balance is the essential component of almost every fundamental motor skill. So, balance activities are commonly included in programs designed to facilitate the acquisition of gross motor tasks in young children. Ulrich and Ulrich (1985) found that for preschoolers, balance plays a significant role in the performance of several fundamental motor skills. These fundamental motor skills are used in a variety of recreational and daily living experiences. Running and jumping are the most common and useful motor skills for the everyday activities of young children. When children move around during free-play times, they usually run or jump. Running is the simplest motor skill and begins developing early in childhood, while jumping is a more complex motor skill because a jump involves phases of taking off and landing on. It is important for preschool-aged children to practice jumping in various ways in order to achieve the mature stage of this skill. Research on the effect of physical education programs on preschool children’s motor development is still at a rudimentary level. Music or various forms of accompaniment have enriched the above programs, in order to make them more attractive and amusing for young children. Music carries all the rhythms for locomotor skills. Walking, running, hopping, and jumping can all be expressed in sound (Kenney, 1997). The teacher might play any of these rhythms on a drum and invite children to match their movements to the drum. Or the teacher might ask a child to move and then match the drum to the movement. In addition, many song games include locomotor movements as part of the game. Song games also explore small motor coordination, body parts, movement with partners, and movement in free space (Kenney, 1997). Rhythmic motor activities and game-type activities are usually the most important components in kindergarten programs because they satisfy children’s innate desires to move, to develop body and space awareness, and help them to progress through initial, elementary, and mature stages of acquiring skills, such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing, and catching (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Orff (cited by Keetman (1974)) developed a music and movement method based on the notion that music, movement, and verbal speech are interrelated by having rhythm as a common element. He saw music, movement, and language as congenerative, related forms of expression belonging together and
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originating from the same wellspring (Cole & Nash, 2000). Dalcroze (cited by Bachmann (1991)) supported the notion that any musical idea may be transformed into movement and that any body movement may be transformed into its musical counterpart. He developed a method, known as ‘eurhythmics’, where children and teachers should improvise rhythmic motives. Children are instructed to use body movements to respond to these motives. This method was based on the following components: engaging in exercises for muscular contraction, relaxation and breathing, studying different positions of the body, walking variations, and performing exercises in the use of space and in the expression of feelings. Weikart (1989) suggested a progression in the content of rhythmic education programs, meaning that children should initially practice rhythmical verbal speech, then non-locomotor skills and, later, locomotor skills in synchronization with sound stimuli. A study by Brown, Sherrill, and Gench (1981) focused upon the application of Dalcroze’s method to early childhood education. They studied the effects of an integrated physical education/music program on perceptual-motor performance of children aged 4–6 years. This program was based on repeated rhythmic exercises designed to develop the natural rhythms of the body while training for economy and precision of movement. The experimental group received 24 rhythmic training sessions during a 10-week period. They were compared to a control group, who received a movement exploration program. This program was presented using self-testing activities and a game-like creative context. The results of this study showed that the integrated physical education/music program was more effective in improving the motor performance than was the exploration of movement. These findings agree with the results of a study conducted by Painter (1966), which showed that rhythmic accompaniment during the execution of fundamental motor skills enhanced the learning of these skills. It is known that a music and movement program based on movement concepts (body awareness, space awareness, effort concepts and relationship concepts), on elements of rhythm, and on improvised motor responses, provides variety to the physical education program (Pica, 2000). But there is no research, which studied the implementation of a more structure intervention based on movement concepts and elements of rhythm. The first parameter of movement concepts is body awareness, which involves being able to identify body parts, balancing from different bases of support, and creating body shapes and positions in a limited area. The concept of space can be broken down into several factors: general and personal space, direction of body movement (right, left, up, down, etc.), level of movement (high, low, medium body position), and path of movement (curved, zigzag, etc.). The concepts concerning effort include the flow, force, and speed of a movement, while relationship concepts refer to relationships of body parts, with objects and with people (Kirchner & Fishburne, 1995). The above-mentioned movement concepts are used to express the elements of rhythm. The elements of rhythm can be found in every measure, which indicates the rhythmical and musical structure of every auditory stimulus. These elements are tempo, intensity, and accent. Tempo is the speed of the movement or music. It can be slow, moderate, or fast, or it may gradually increase from slow to fast or vice versa. It is important for each child to sense different tempos and learn to adjust his movements to these fluctuations. Children may improve their understanding of tempo by (1) responding to tempo changes in the beat of a percussion instrument with various locomotor and balance movements, (2) performing animal-like walks at various speeds, or (3) jumping rope to different tempos. The intensity of music can be expressed in movement by changing the movement force. Intensity is recognized as the feeling of heaviness or lightness of movement. Children can develop an understanding of intensity by (1) altering their movements to various intensities of music, (2) changing the level of their
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movements to different intensities, (3) changing the amount of force they use to move, or (4) bouncing a ball with appropriate amounts of force. The third element of rhythm is the accent. Accent is the extra force, or stress, given to certain beats in a measure. Children may become aware of accent by (1) listening to music and clapping on the accented beat, (2) moving around the room according to the appropriate rhythmic pattern and changing direction on each accented beat, or (3) varying the response to the accented beat with specific locomotor, stability, or manipulative fundamental motor skills. A program is based on rhythm elements develops a child’s rhythmic ability (Weikart, Schweihart, & Larner, 1987; Zachopoulou, Derri, Chatzopoulos, & Ellinoudis, 2003). This ability is a coordinated ability and determines the level of motor skills acquisition (Frey, 1977; Hirtz, 1985; Martin, 1988). High (1987) found that a 14-week rhythmic movement program improved kindergarten children’s rhythmic ability more than a program of free-play activities. In a study with second and third graders, Moore (1984) found that the group who received rhythmic training for a 10-week period scored significantly higher on post-test measures of rhythmic ability than the control group. The development of rhythmic ability and other abilities, especially during childhood, relies on the maturation of basic functions of the central nervous system and their stimulation through practice.In music and movement programs and in other types of physical education programs, emphasis should be placed on the child, their personalities, ways of learning, needs, interests, and levels of maturation (Curtis, 1998). The programs that address the above emphases are organized based on developmentally appropriate practices (Hart, Burts, Durland, Charlesworth, De Wolf, & Fleege, 1998). According to Bredekamp (1987), developmentally appropriate programs adapt physical education content to meet the different needs of children. Burts, Hart, Charlesworth, De Wolf, & Ray (1993) stressed that this adaptation must be based on: (1) strongly interrelated domains of development (social, cognitive, motor, affective), (2) a child’s knowledge actively built through experiences in the physical and social environment, (3) motor development is accomplished when the children have opportunities to act according to their abilities, guided by more efficient children or adults, and (4) children develop various ways of learning and representing what they learned. This will create a child-centered teaching approach in which the child and their unique characteristics determine the content of the program (Charlesworth, 1998). Payne and Rink (1997) believe that most frameworks should include the following areas as critical dimensions of a developmentally appropriate physical education program for young children: (a) development of body awareness (exploring what the body and its parts can do); (b) development of fundamental locomotor patterns (e.g., walk, jump, run, hop); (c) development of opportunities to manage the weight of the body (e.g., balance, swing, climb, roll); and (d) development of fundamental manipulative patterns (e.g., catch, throw, strike, kick). When implementing such programs, physical educators or early childhood educators should consider that (a) children perform motor skills according to their chronological age; (b) the development of each motor skill follows certain stages for all children; and (c) despite the fact that children learn and develop motor skills following a successive process, the rhythm of this process differs from childto-child (Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, Mosley, & Fleege, 1993). Lubeck (1998) reported that for the effective organization of a developmentally physical education program, the active participation of the child in the teaching process is necessary. This means that children do not copy or imitate movements during the lesson but introduce their own ideas. They can ask questions and find solutions to the “problems” presented by the teacher, emphasizing the process rather than the result of the movement (Grineski, 1992).
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Although it is known that physical education programs based on developmentally appropriate practices should be an integral part of early childhood education, little research has been done to identify the effectiveness of such programs on the development of basic motor skills. The purpose of the present study was to identify the effect a developmentally appropriate music and movement program would have on the development of jumping and dynamic balance in preschool children, and compare this program with a developmentally appropriate physical education program. It was hypothesized that the children who participated in the developmentally appropriate music and movement program would have better scores on jumping and dynamic balance compared to the control group, who attended a developmentally appropriate physical education program.
1. Method 1.1. Participants The initial sample of this study was comprised of 100 children of the same ethnicity who attended a preschool center. The total number of children who were enrolled at the center was 150. They were divided into six classes of 25 children each, three classes for children ages 4–5 and three classes for children ages 5–6. From these six classes, four were randomly selected, two from each age group. From these four classes, two groups were selected at random, one for each age category, which comprised the experimental group. The other two groups were the control group. The two groups had the following final synthesis: (␣) experimental group → 1st age group (11 girls and 14 boys) and 2nd age group (13 girls and 12 boys) () control group → 1st age group (11 girls and 14 boys) and 2nd age group (12 girls and 13 boys). The experimental group participated in a 2-month music and movement program while the control group participated in a physical education program during the same period. The experimental group was therefore composed of 50 children (24 girls and 26 boys) with a mean age M = 5.3 ± 0.5 years. Since the results of study involved only the children who participated in all lessons included in the program, only 40 children in the end were used as the control group (18 girls and 22 boys with mean age M = 5.1 ± 0.7 years). All children participated with parental permission. 1.2. Measures The level of development on jumping and dynamic balance was assessed with the MOT 4–6 (Zimmer & Volkamer, 1987). 1.2.1. Dynamic balance Walking forward was used to assess dynamic balance. Children walked on a floor mat 2 m (6.56 ft) long and 10 cm (3.93 in.) wide without shoes. The length of footsteps was not pre-determined but children were not allowed to walk on the edges of the floor mat. Children performed two trials. A trial was considered successful when all steps were on the floor mat and none of them touched the ground around the floor mat. Walking backward was also used to assess dynamic balance. The same procedure as in forward walking was followed but this time children had to walk backward. Children performed two trials. Trials were considered successful when none of the steps touched the ground.
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1.2.2. Hopping The children were asked to hop on one foot into a rhythmic gymnastics hoop from a 15 cm (5.9 in.) distance. They then performed the same task with the other foot. One trial was allowed with each foot and was considered successful if the child could retain its balance on this position for 5 s.
1.2.3. Jumping The children were asked to jump over a rope placed 35 cm (13.77 in.) and 45 cm (17.71 in.) above the ground, using both feet. One trial was given for each height and was recorded as successful when the child did not touch the rope while jumping. Children also performed side jumps over a rope, from one side to the other. A 2 m (6.56 ft) rope was placed on the ground. The children, initially standing on the left side of the rope, tried to jump with both feet as many times as possible on both sides within 10 s. The children performed one trial. The number of correct jumps (without touching the rope) was recorded. More than 11 correct jumps received a ‘2’ rating, 8–11 correct jumps received a ‘1’ and less than 8 jumps received a ‘0’. 1.2.4. Jumping with 180◦ rotation The children performed a standing jump with 180◦ rotation to the vertical axis of its body, landing in a hoop in front of them. They then performed a second jump returning to their initial position. Each jump was considered correct when the rotation was 180◦ . Performance on the above tasks was assessed as following: ‘0’ when the trials were unsuccessful, ‘1’ when one trial was successful and ‘2’ when both trials were successful. Therefore, the maximum possible score for jumping and dynamic balance was 6. The total scores on the three jumping and three balance tasks were used for their final assessment. These jumping and balance tasks have reliability coefficients .85 and .80, respectively, and the validity coefficients are .79 and .76 (Zimmer & Volkamer, 1987).
1.3. Procedure Children were tested individually in the multipurpose room of the preschool center. The investigator and an assistant were present during all testing and they were ‘blind’ to children’s group membership. Prior to the test, the investigator demonstrated each task once and gave standardized verbal instructions to each subject. Children’s performance was videotaped and independently scored twice by two trained raters. A 87% intraobserver and 82% interobserver agreement level was obtained. When the raters disagreed, the final score was the average of the two initial scores. The two subgroups of the experimental group then followed the 2-month music and movement program, which was conducted twice each week for 35–40 min. The program for these two subgroups was conducted the same days every week, Monday and Wednesday, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. The same procedure was followed for the two subgroups of the control group, who participated in the physical education program every Tuesday and Thursday. A physical educator, who specialized in teaching early young children and had experience in rhythmic instruction, implemented the two programs in the multipurpose room of the preschool center. During the experimental procedure, the children did not participate in other physical activities.
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1.4. Description of the programs 1.4.1. Music and movement program The music and movement program was based on rhythmic education principles of the Orff approach (cited by Keetman (1974)). Thus, a large part of the program consisted of three types of movement: (a) percussion movements (e.g., clapping, patting knees with both hands, tapping floor with foot, etc.); (b) readiness and reaction movements; and (c) improvisation and creative movements. Creative movements allowed children to express their own ideas, emotions, feelings, and moods, through body and rhythm exploration accompanied by various forms of music. These movements were executed in a variety of ways, using the elements of movement, in order to express simple and more complex rhythmic motives. The percussion instruments used were tambourines, woodblocks, maracas, and triangles. The temporal rhythmic symbols, which were taught, were eighth notes (two movements in one beat), quarter notes (one movement in one beat), and half notes (one movement in two beats). The three elements of rhythm practiced were tempo, intensity, and accent. Each of these elements was taught using the method suggested by Weikart (1989). The goals of the first phase (2 weeks) of the intervention program were (a) to develop body awareness with different types of body support; (b) to develop space awareness, such as personal and general space, levels, and pathways; and (c) to help children explore and express their own personal rhythm. With few exceptions, children with no previous training can do such things as clap, march, walk, jump, and run (Pica, 2000). According to Dalcroze (cited by Bachmann (1991)), teachers should make an effort to determine each child’s personal rhythm and encourage the child to make up its own accompaniment with their voice, percussion movements, or percussion instruments. Only after the children have given evidence of moving in time to their own accompaniment should teachers introduce the next stage of the program, which is the synchronization of children’s movements to externally imposed rhythm. In the second phase (3 weeks) of the program, children learned to define space using their bodies and different materials, such as paper, textiles, rubbers, balloons, and hoops. Children were requested to walk forward, backward or above objects, using different types of movement. To recognize temporal symbols, simple locomotor, and non-locomotor movements were used as responses to intensity and accent of rhythm. Different space levels were also used for the expression of different accents. The understanding of simple rhythmic motives was achieved through children’s motor responses to auditory stimuli presented by the physical educator, using voice and percussion instruments. Children’s motor responses combined jumping with simple fundamental locomotor skills, such as walking and running. During the third phase (3 weeks) of the program, the complexity of the activities increased. Children had to find relations between rhythm and movement concepts. For example, they were asked to express the different intensities of sounds through the different levels of space, or to show the accented beat by changing the direction of the movement or the body shape for each accented beat. The recognition and production of elements of rhythm and the understanding of complex rhythmic motives were expressed mainly through the execution of jumping and balancing. This phase also included traditional Greek dances, such as sirtos, kastorianos, and tsakonikos, which were taught through creative activities. Moreover, traditional Greek games, such as “One-two-three-red light”, “Bee”, and “Chasing”, modified to fit in the children’s needs, were applied.
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1.5. Physical education program During the same period, the two control subgroups were taking part in the physical education program, which concentrated on the jumping and balancing tasks. The activities of this program were based on movement concepts used in the music and movement program. Children were instructed to follow and react to the physical educator’s instructions. Children were trying to execute the activities through an exploratory teaching style. This means that they had time to create their own ways to execute a movement or an exercise. The main difference between the two programs was that there wasn’t any rhythmic accompaniment during the physical education program. The content of the exercises which focused on jumping tasks included activities for jumping and landing, jumping for distance, jumping for height, jumping over a rope or obstacles, and jumping with a partner to mirror actions or to match actions. Exercises to develop balance were based on activities for balancing on different bases of support; balancing on different body parts; moving in space and stopping in balanced positions; balancing in different body shapes; balancing with partners; moving while balanced; performing sequences that combine stationary balances and moving on mats; transferring weight to different feet positions; balancing while walking in various body positions; moving while using different parts of the feet to touch the floor; and balancing while walking or running between or over cones or other forms of equipment. The activities of both programs were applied according to the principles of developmentally appropriate physical education programs (Barnett, Williams, & Whitall, 1992). In each lesson there were activities promoting social development (performing activities in groups), cognitive development (understanding relations between the rhythmic symbols, space elements), and affective development (expressing feelings according to the changes of rhythm elements). Based on the principle of active learning, exploration and improvisation activities were implemented, allowing the children to select the movements. While scheduling the activities of the intervention programs, the following attributes were taken into account (Bredekamp, 1992): • the children’s age and the different domains of development; • reinforcement of cooperation in order to promote practice in pairs or in large teams; • activities which were scheduled to provide children with learning experiences and to reinforce the acquisition of new space concepts; • use of various equipment (new or modified useless objects) respective to the children’s ability; • proper organization of the exercise environment in order to help children solve cognitive and motor problems; and • different types of music to provide opportunities for creative movement.
2. Results Mean and standard deviations for pre-test and post-test measures of both groups are depicted in Table 1. To identify possible differences between the experimental and the control group in the pre-test measures, one-way analysis of variance was used. In the absence of significant differences between the two groups both on jumping (F1,89 = .93, p > .05) and on balance (F1,89 = .40, p > .05), the multivariate analysis of variance [2 (groups) × 2 (sexes) × 2 (ages) × 2 (measures)] with repeated measures on the last factor
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Table 1 Mean and standard deviations of pre-test and post-test measures, for both groups Measures
M (S.D.) Pre-test
Jump Dynamic balance
Post-test
Experimental group
Control group
Experimental group
Control group
2.76 (.41) 2.41 (.60)
2.28 (.52) 1.93 (.35)
5.22 (.75) 4.82 (.93)
3.24 (.82) 2.54 (.49)
was used. The results showed that the multivariate effect of measure (F2,82 = 95.93, p < .001) and the multivariate effect of group (F2,82 = 12.95, p < .001) were significant. On the contrary, the multivariate effect of sex (F2,82 = 2.64, p = .072) and the multivariate effect of age (F2,82 = 2.15, p = .123) were not significant. The only significant interaction founded was the measure × group interaction (F2,81 = 27.31, p < .001). The group × sex interaction (F2,81 = 2.57, p = .084) and the group × age interaction (F2,81 = .437, p = .648) were not significant. Follow-up univariate tests showed that the measure × group interaction was significant for scores on jumping (F1,82 = 39.23, p < .001) and on balance (F1,82 = 32.63, p < .001) as well. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 this interaction is attributed to the significantly greater improvement of the experimental group in the posttest measure.
Fig. 1. Mean and standard deviations of the pre- and post-measures for both groups on jumping.
Fig. 2. Mean and standard deviations of the pre- and post-measures for both groups on dynamic balance.
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3. Discussion In the present study, it was found that the preschool’s movement program followed by the control group did not significantly affect the development of jumping and dynamic balance. This program included motor skills performed individually and games scheduled and modified for this age. All these activities focused on the jumping and balancing tasks. The experimental group improved its performance on the post-test measure compared to the control group. This means that the developmentally appropriate music and movement program positively affects the level of performance for the above measures. According to Gallahue (1996), using movement as a way to develop the elements of rhythm reinforces fundamental movement skill development and fosters an understanding and feels for rhythm. Through practice with certain fundamental movements, children begin to understand the structural elements of rhythm and are able to express this understanding through coordinated movements because moving to rhythm is an essential element of all coordinated movements. Music and movement education emphasizes the significance of rhythmic ability in motor skills execution. Rhythmic ability refers to the understanding, memorization and movement presentation of the data from the temporal–dynamical structure and modulates the execution of the movement (Martin, 1988). It is considered an important factor in the development, execution and learning of motor skills (Thomas & Moon, 1976). Martin (1988) mentioned that rhythmic ability is the ability to observe, control, and differentiate the rhythm of a movement according to the environmental demands for the given time. This enables the quick motor adjustments of the performer in an unpredictable environment, assuring success in performance (Martin, 1988). Since music and movement activities improve children’s rhythmic ability (Weikart et al., 1987; Zachopoulou et al., 2003), they may have contributed to the development of the fundamental locomotor skills in the present study. According to Martin (1988), ages 4–7 are the best to develop rhythmic ability because during this period the basic functions of the central nervous system, on which coordination abilities depend, are more developed. The success of such a program can also be attributed to the quality of its content. Painter (1966) and Brown et al. (1981) also implemented a music and movement program and examined its effect on perceptual-motor development in young children. This program was based on repeated rhythmic exercises designed to develop the natural rhythms of the body while training for economy and precision of movement. On the other hand, the content of the music and movement program in the current research had a more clear structure, based on movement concepts and rhythm elements. In addition, it was taken into account the changes of the different elements of rhythm (tempo, intensity, and accent) suggested by Sherill (1976). Concurrently, children were able to explore space and its elements (levels, pathways), which, as Fait (1978) stressed, led to a more accurate and complete body and space awareness. High (1987) studied the effect of a music and movement program on the rhythmic accuracy of preschool children and found that the experimental group improved its rhythmic accuracy more than the control group. The same conclusion was drawn by Moore (1984) and Burnett (1983), who implemented a music and movement program for preschool children with delayed development and found that they improved their motor skills and their rhythmic ability as well. It is interesting to notice that the intervention program in the present study had a greater effect on dynamic balance than it did on jumping. According to Clark and Phillips (1985), the basic patterns of coordination for the motor skill of jumping are established by about age 7. In an earlier age, the development of jumping follows slower steps. On the other hand, the developmental movement patterns
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of dynamic balance appear at age 4 (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). A 4-year-old child can walk on a line or on a beam maintaining his/her balance for short periods of time. In addition to the type of activities included in the music and movement program of the present study, the way they were organized was also taken into account. Hochmann and Weikart (1995) stated that learning depends on experiences, which are meaningful to the children and support their development through exploration, guided discovery, and problem solving. More specifically, the activities of the intervention program implemented in the present study were organized: (a) to enable both the physical educator and the children to participate actively and interact with each other (e.g., children could add their own rhythmic motives to those of the physical educator); (b) to build children’s knowledge not only through the physical educator but through themselves as well (achieved by allowing them to decide and perform skills which represented specific rhythmic motives); (c) to enable children participate in the organization of the program (suggesting, for example, the percussion instruments to produce different sounds); and (d) to reinforce children participate in the activities in pairs, in small or large groups, according to their level and way of learning. The positive effect of the developmentally appropriate music and movement program on jumping and dynamic balance could be generally implemented in preschool children programs. Taking into account that the developmentally appropriate practices do not form a specific teaching model or method but a way of thinking and acting to educate children physically, it seems important for the early childhood educators to organize or modify lesson content according to the children’s needs. The rhythmic activities seem to play an important role on motor performance of preschool children. Future studies should examine if the developmentally appropriate organization of the above activities can also positively affect the other domains of children’s development, including cognitive, affective, or social development.
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Cole, J., & Nash, G. (2000). Carl Orff and his child-centered music education. Early Childhood Connections-Journal of Music and Movement Based Learning, 6(3), 7–14. Curtis, A. (1998). A curriculum for the preschool child: Learning to learn. London: Routledge. DeOreo, K., & Keogh, J. (1980). Performance of fundamental motor tasks. In C. Corbin (Ed.), A textbook of motor development (pp. 76–91). Dubuque, IA: Brown. Espenschade, A., & Eckert, H. (1980). Motor development (2nd ed.). Colombus, OH: Merrill. Fait, H. (1978). Special physical education adapted, corrective, developmental. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. Frey, G. (1977). Zur terminologie und struktur physischer Leistungsfaktoren und motorischer Fahigkeiten. Leistungssport, 7(5), 339–362. Gallahue, D. (1996). Developmental physical education for today’s children. Dubuque, IA: Brown & Benchmark. Gallahue, D., & Ozmun, J. (1998). Understanding motor development. Infants, children, adolescents, adults. NY: McGraw-Hill. Graham, G. (1991). Results of motor skill testing. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 10, 353–374. Grineski, S. (1992). What is truly developmentally appropriate physical education program for children? Journal of Physical, Education Recreation & Dance, 63(6), 33–35. Hart, C., Burts, D., Durland, M., Charlesworth, R., DeWolf, M., & Fleege, P. (1998). Stress behaviors and activity type participation of preschoolers in more and less developmentally appropriate classrooms. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 12(2), 176–196. High, L. (1987). Effects of selected rhythmic teaching strategies on beat performance skills of kindergarten children. Dissertation Abstracts International, 48, 3067. Hirtz, P. (1985). Koordinative Fahigkeiten im Schulsport. Berlin-Ost. Hochmann, M., & Weikart, D. (1995). Educating young children. Ypsilanti, MI: High Scope Press. Keetman, G. (1974). Elementaria–first acquaintance with Orff-Schulwerk. London: Schott & Co. Ltd. Kenney, S. (1997). Music in the developmentally appropriate integrated curriculum. In C. Hart, D. Burts, & R. Charlesworth (Eds.), Integrated curriculum and developmentally appropriate practice–birth to age eight (pp. 103–144). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Kirchner, G., & Fishburne, G. (1995). Physical Education for elementary school children. Iowa: Brown–Benchmark Publishers. Lubeck, S. (1998). Is developmentally appropriate practice for everyone? Childhood Education, 74(5), 283–292. Martin, D. (1988). Training im Kindes-und Jugendalter. Schorndorf: Karl Holfmann. Moore, J. (1984). Rhythm and movement: An objective analysis of their association with music aptitude. Dissertation Abstracts International: 45, 1328 A. Painter, G. (1966). The effects of a rhythmic and sensory motor activity program on perceptual motor spatial abilities of kindergarten children. Exceptional Children, 33, 113–116. Payne, G., & Rink, J. (1997). Physical education in the developmentally appropriate integrated curriculum. In C. Hart, D. Burts, & R. Charlesworth (Eds.), Integrated curriculum and developmentally appropriate practice–birth to age eight (pp. 145–170). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Pica, R. (2000). Experiences in movement with music, activities and theory. Delmar, NY: Thomson Learning. Poest, C., Williams, J., Witt, D., & Atwood, M. (1990). Challenge me to move: Large muscle development in young children. Young Children, 45, 4–10. Schmidt, R. (1987). The acquisition of skill: Some modifications to the perception-action relationship through practice. In H. Heuer & A. Sanders (Eds.), Perspectives on perception and action (pp. 77–103). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Sherill, C. (1976). Adapted physical education and recreation. Dubuque, LA: Wm. C. Brown. Thomas, J., & Moon, D. (1976). Measuring motor rhythmic ability in children. Research Quarterly, 47(1), 20–32. Ulrich, B., & Ulrich, D. (1985). The role of balancing ability in performance of fundamental motor skills in 3-, 4-, and 5-yearold children. In J. Clark & J. Humphrey (Eds.), Motor development–current selected research (pp. 87–97). Princeton Book Company Publishers. Weikart, P., Schweihart, L., & Larner, M. (1987). Movement curriculum improves children’s rhythmic competence. High/Scope Resource, 6(1), 8–10. Weikart, P. (1989). Teaching movement and dance. Ypsilanti, MI: High Scope Press. Zachopoulou, E., Derri, V., Chatzopoulos, D., & Ellinoudis, T. (2003). Application of Orff and Dalcroze activities in preschool children: Do they affect the level of rhythmic ability? Physical Educator, 60(2), 50–56. Zimmer, R., & Volkamer, M. (1987). Motoriktest fuer vier-bis sechsjaehrige kinder. Manual, Belz: Weinheim.
The effects of a developmentally appropriate music and movement program on motor performance Evridiki Zachopouloua,∗ , Aggeliki Tsapakidoub , Vassiliki Derric a
Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Department of Early Childhood Care and Education, P.O. Box 14561, Sindos 54101, Thessaloniki, Greece b Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Sindos 54101, Thessaloniki, Greece c Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, Greece
Abstract Basic motor skills development is achieved through the implementation of different types of physical education programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate and to compare the effect of a developmentally appropriate music and movement program and of a developmentally appropriate physical education program on the development of jumping and dynamic balance in children ages 4–6 years. Ninety children, 42 girls and 48 boys, participated. Fifty of them were in an experimental group and followed the music and movement program, which lasted 2 months. The rest served as the control group and followed the physical education program, for the same period of time. Children’s level in jumping and dynamic balance was assessed with the MOT 4–6 [Zimmer, R. & Volkamer, M. (1987). Motoriktest fuer vier-bis sechsjaehrige kinder. Manual, Belz: Weinheim]. Data were analyzed with the multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures. The results showed that the experimental group improved significantly in both jumping and dynamic balance. It can be concluded that a developmentally appropriate music and movement program can positively affect jumping and dynamic balance of preschool children. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Music and movement program; Developmentally appropriate practices; Dynamic balance; Jumping; Preschool children
The preschool and the early elementary school years are critical for the development of fundamental motor skills (Gallahue, 1996). According to Graham (1991), fundamental motor skills are significant because (a) they form the basis for success in sport skills during adolescence and adulthood, (b) young ∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2310 791528; fax: +30 2310 791524. E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Zachopoulou).
0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.10.005
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children enjoy learning them, and (c) once learned, are retained for a lifetime. If children fail to develop these skills during this period of their life, they often experience failure in the motor domain during childhood and adolescence (Gallahue, 1996; Poest, Williams, Witt, & Atwood, 1990). The most significant consequence of basic motor skills development and movement concepts is that they enhance psychological, social, cognitive, and affective development as well (Payne & Rink, 1997). When children take part in motor activities, their social development progresses, as they become capable of successful interactions with others, such as helping and cooperating and learn to control aggression (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Through participation in games, they learn to express their emotions in socially acceptable ways and to become capable of understanding how others feel and develop a sense of right and wrong. Besides the effects on affective development, motor and game activities provide the ideal environment for cognitive development, when the children are asked to respond to teacher’s instructions, to find many different and effective ways to solve a problem or to execute an exercise (Bee, 1999). These are factors that affect children’s thinking and reasoning. The quality in motor skills performance is related to the level of certain motor abilities (Schmidt, 1987). Some of these abilities, as for example dynamic balance and coordination abilities, are crucial for motor skills performance while others are less important for this developmental stage, such as endurance and flexibility. Dynamic balance refers to the maintenance of equilibrium in rapid changes of the individual’s kinetic condition. DeOreo and Keogh (1980) and Espenschade and Eckert (1980) argue that dynamic balance is the essential component of almost every fundamental motor skill. So, balance activities are commonly included in programs designed to facilitate the acquisition of gross motor tasks in young children. Ulrich and Ulrich (1985) found that for preschoolers, balance plays a significant role in the performance of several fundamental motor skills. These fundamental motor skills are used in a variety of recreational and daily living experiences. Running and jumping are the most common and useful motor skills for the everyday activities of young children. When children move around during free-play times, they usually run or jump. Running is the simplest motor skill and begins developing early in childhood, while jumping is a more complex motor skill because a jump involves phases of taking off and landing on. It is important for preschool-aged children to practice jumping in various ways in order to achieve the mature stage of this skill. Research on the effect of physical education programs on preschool children’s motor development is still at a rudimentary level. Music or various forms of accompaniment have enriched the above programs, in order to make them more attractive and amusing for young children. Music carries all the rhythms for locomotor skills. Walking, running, hopping, and jumping can all be expressed in sound (Kenney, 1997). The teacher might play any of these rhythms on a drum and invite children to match their movements to the drum. Or the teacher might ask a child to move and then match the drum to the movement. In addition, many song games include locomotor movements as part of the game. Song games also explore small motor coordination, body parts, movement with partners, and movement in free space (Kenney, 1997). Rhythmic motor activities and game-type activities are usually the most important components in kindergarten programs because they satisfy children’s innate desires to move, to develop body and space awareness, and help them to progress through initial, elementary, and mature stages of acquiring skills, such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing, and catching (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Orff (cited by Keetman (1974)) developed a music and movement method based on the notion that music, movement, and verbal speech are interrelated by having rhythm as a common element. He saw music, movement, and language as congenerative, related forms of expression belonging together and
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originating from the same wellspring (Cole & Nash, 2000). Dalcroze (cited by Bachmann (1991)) supported the notion that any musical idea may be transformed into movement and that any body movement may be transformed into its musical counterpart. He developed a method, known as ‘eurhythmics’, where children and teachers should improvise rhythmic motives. Children are instructed to use body movements to respond to these motives. This method was based on the following components: engaging in exercises for muscular contraction, relaxation and breathing, studying different positions of the body, walking variations, and performing exercises in the use of space and in the expression of feelings. Weikart (1989) suggested a progression in the content of rhythmic education programs, meaning that children should initially practice rhythmical verbal speech, then non-locomotor skills and, later, locomotor skills in synchronization with sound stimuli. A study by Brown, Sherrill, and Gench (1981) focused upon the application of Dalcroze’s method to early childhood education. They studied the effects of an integrated physical education/music program on perceptual-motor performance of children aged 4–6 years. This program was based on repeated rhythmic exercises designed to develop the natural rhythms of the body while training for economy and precision of movement. The experimental group received 24 rhythmic training sessions during a 10-week period. They were compared to a control group, who received a movement exploration program. This program was presented using self-testing activities and a game-like creative context. The results of this study showed that the integrated physical education/music program was more effective in improving the motor performance than was the exploration of movement. These findings agree with the results of a study conducted by Painter (1966), which showed that rhythmic accompaniment during the execution of fundamental motor skills enhanced the learning of these skills. It is known that a music and movement program based on movement concepts (body awareness, space awareness, effort concepts and relationship concepts), on elements of rhythm, and on improvised motor responses, provides variety to the physical education program (Pica, 2000). But there is no research, which studied the implementation of a more structure intervention based on movement concepts and elements of rhythm. The first parameter of movement concepts is body awareness, which involves being able to identify body parts, balancing from different bases of support, and creating body shapes and positions in a limited area. The concept of space can be broken down into several factors: general and personal space, direction of body movement (right, left, up, down, etc.), level of movement (high, low, medium body position), and path of movement (curved, zigzag, etc.). The concepts concerning effort include the flow, force, and speed of a movement, while relationship concepts refer to relationships of body parts, with objects and with people (Kirchner & Fishburne, 1995). The above-mentioned movement concepts are used to express the elements of rhythm. The elements of rhythm can be found in every measure, which indicates the rhythmical and musical structure of every auditory stimulus. These elements are tempo, intensity, and accent. Tempo is the speed of the movement or music. It can be slow, moderate, or fast, or it may gradually increase from slow to fast or vice versa. It is important for each child to sense different tempos and learn to adjust his movements to these fluctuations. Children may improve their understanding of tempo by (1) responding to tempo changes in the beat of a percussion instrument with various locomotor and balance movements, (2) performing animal-like walks at various speeds, or (3) jumping rope to different tempos. The intensity of music can be expressed in movement by changing the movement force. Intensity is recognized as the feeling of heaviness or lightness of movement. Children can develop an understanding of intensity by (1) altering their movements to various intensities of music, (2) changing the level of their
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movements to different intensities, (3) changing the amount of force they use to move, or (4) bouncing a ball with appropriate amounts of force. The third element of rhythm is the accent. Accent is the extra force, or stress, given to certain beats in a measure. Children may become aware of accent by (1) listening to music and clapping on the accented beat, (2) moving around the room according to the appropriate rhythmic pattern and changing direction on each accented beat, or (3) varying the response to the accented beat with specific locomotor, stability, or manipulative fundamental motor skills. A program is based on rhythm elements develops a child’s rhythmic ability (Weikart, Schweihart, & Larner, 1987; Zachopoulou, Derri, Chatzopoulos, & Ellinoudis, 2003). This ability is a coordinated ability and determines the level of motor skills acquisition (Frey, 1977; Hirtz, 1985; Martin, 1988). High (1987) found that a 14-week rhythmic movement program improved kindergarten children’s rhythmic ability more than a program of free-play activities. In a study with second and third graders, Moore (1984) found that the group who received rhythmic training for a 10-week period scored significantly higher on post-test measures of rhythmic ability than the control group. The development of rhythmic ability and other abilities, especially during childhood, relies on the maturation of basic functions of the central nervous system and their stimulation through practice.In music and movement programs and in other types of physical education programs, emphasis should be placed on the child, their personalities, ways of learning, needs, interests, and levels of maturation (Curtis, 1998). The programs that address the above emphases are organized based on developmentally appropriate practices (Hart, Burts, Durland, Charlesworth, De Wolf, & Fleege, 1998). According to Bredekamp (1987), developmentally appropriate programs adapt physical education content to meet the different needs of children. Burts, Hart, Charlesworth, De Wolf, & Ray (1993) stressed that this adaptation must be based on: (1) strongly interrelated domains of development (social, cognitive, motor, affective), (2) a child’s knowledge actively built through experiences in the physical and social environment, (3) motor development is accomplished when the children have opportunities to act according to their abilities, guided by more efficient children or adults, and (4) children develop various ways of learning and representing what they learned. This will create a child-centered teaching approach in which the child and their unique characteristics determine the content of the program (Charlesworth, 1998). Payne and Rink (1997) believe that most frameworks should include the following areas as critical dimensions of a developmentally appropriate physical education program for young children: (a) development of body awareness (exploring what the body and its parts can do); (b) development of fundamental locomotor patterns (e.g., walk, jump, run, hop); (c) development of opportunities to manage the weight of the body (e.g., balance, swing, climb, roll); and (d) development of fundamental manipulative patterns (e.g., catch, throw, strike, kick). When implementing such programs, physical educators or early childhood educators should consider that (a) children perform motor skills according to their chronological age; (b) the development of each motor skill follows certain stages for all children; and (c) despite the fact that children learn and develop motor skills following a successive process, the rhythm of this process differs from childto-child (Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, Mosley, & Fleege, 1993). Lubeck (1998) reported that for the effective organization of a developmentally physical education program, the active participation of the child in the teaching process is necessary. This means that children do not copy or imitate movements during the lesson but introduce their own ideas. They can ask questions and find solutions to the “problems” presented by the teacher, emphasizing the process rather than the result of the movement (Grineski, 1992).
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Although it is known that physical education programs based on developmentally appropriate practices should be an integral part of early childhood education, little research has been done to identify the effectiveness of such programs on the development of basic motor skills. The purpose of the present study was to identify the effect a developmentally appropriate music and movement program would have on the development of jumping and dynamic balance in preschool children, and compare this program with a developmentally appropriate physical education program. It was hypothesized that the children who participated in the developmentally appropriate music and movement program would have better scores on jumping and dynamic balance compared to the control group, who attended a developmentally appropriate physical education program.
1. Method 1.1. Participants The initial sample of this study was comprised of 100 children of the same ethnicity who attended a preschool center. The total number of children who were enrolled at the center was 150. They were divided into six classes of 25 children each, three classes for children ages 4–5 and three classes for children ages 5–6. From these six classes, four were randomly selected, two from each age group. From these four classes, two groups were selected at random, one for each age category, which comprised the experimental group. The other two groups were the control group. The two groups had the following final synthesis: (␣) experimental group → 1st age group (11 girls and 14 boys) and 2nd age group (13 girls and 12 boys) () control group → 1st age group (11 girls and 14 boys) and 2nd age group (12 girls and 13 boys). The experimental group participated in a 2-month music and movement program while the control group participated in a physical education program during the same period. The experimental group was therefore composed of 50 children (24 girls and 26 boys) with a mean age M = 5.3 ± 0.5 years. Since the results of study involved only the children who participated in all lessons included in the program, only 40 children in the end were used as the control group (18 girls and 22 boys with mean age M = 5.1 ± 0.7 years). All children participated with parental permission. 1.2. Measures The level of development on jumping and dynamic balance was assessed with the MOT 4–6 (Zimmer & Volkamer, 1987). 1.2.1. Dynamic balance Walking forward was used to assess dynamic balance. Children walked on a floor mat 2 m (6.56 ft) long and 10 cm (3.93 in.) wide without shoes. The length of footsteps was not pre-determined but children were not allowed to walk on the edges of the floor mat. Children performed two trials. A trial was considered successful when all steps were on the floor mat and none of them touched the ground around the floor mat. Walking backward was also used to assess dynamic balance. The same procedure as in forward walking was followed but this time children had to walk backward. Children performed two trials. Trials were considered successful when none of the steps touched the ground.
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1.2.2. Hopping The children were asked to hop on one foot into a rhythmic gymnastics hoop from a 15 cm (5.9 in.) distance. They then performed the same task with the other foot. One trial was allowed with each foot and was considered successful if the child could retain its balance on this position for 5 s.
1.2.3. Jumping The children were asked to jump over a rope placed 35 cm (13.77 in.) and 45 cm (17.71 in.) above the ground, using both feet. One trial was given for each height and was recorded as successful when the child did not touch the rope while jumping. Children also performed side jumps over a rope, from one side to the other. A 2 m (6.56 ft) rope was placed on the ground. The children, initially standing on the left side of the rope, tried to jump with both feet as many times as possible on both sides within 10 s. The children performed one trial. The number of correct jumps (without touching the rope) was recorded. More than 11 correct jumps received a ‘2’ rating, 8–11 correct jumps received a ‘1’ and less than 8 jumps received a ‘0’. 1.2.4. Jumping with 180◦ rotation The children performed a standing jump with 180◦ rotation to the vertical axis of its body, landing in a hoop in front of them. They then performed a second jump returning to their initial position. Each jump was considered correct when the rotation was 180◦ . Performance on the above tasks was assessed as following: ‘0’ when the trials were unsuccessful, ‘1’ when one trial was successful and ‘2’ when both trials were successful. Therefore, the maximum possible score for jumping and dynamic balance was 6. The total scores on the three jumping and three balance tasks were used for their final assessment. These jumping and balance tasks have reliability coefficients .85 and .80, respectively, and the validity coefficients are .79 and .76 (Zimmer & Volkamer, 1987).
1.3. Procedure Children were tested individually in the multipurpose room of the preschool center. The investigator and an assistant were present during all testing and they were ‘blind’ to children’s group membership. Prior to the test, the investigator demonstrated each task once and gave standardized verbal instructions to each subject. Children’s performance was videotaped and independently scored twice by two trained raters. A 87% intraobserver and 82% interobserver agreement level was obtained. When the raters disagreed, the final score was the average of the two initial scores. The two subgroups of the experimental group then followed the 2-month music and movement program, which was conducted twice each week for 35–40 min. The program for these two subgroups was conducted the same days every week, Monday and Wednesday, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. The same procedure was followed for the two subgroups of the control group, who participated in the physical education program every Tuesday and Thursday. A physical educator, who specialized in teaching early young children and had experience in rhythmic instruction, implemented the two programs in the multipurpose room of the preschool center. During the experimental procedure, the children did not participate in other physical activities.
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1.4. Description of the programs 1.4.1. Music and movement program The music and movement program was based on rhythmic education principles of the Orff approach (cited by Keetman (1974)). Thus, a large part of the program consisted of three types of movement: (a) percussion movements (e.g., clapping, patting knees with both hands, tapping floor with foot, etc.); (b) readiness and reaction movements; and (c) improvisation and creative movements. Creative movements allowed children to express their own ideas, emotions, feelings, and moods, through body and rhythm exploration accompanied by various forms of music. These movements were executed in a variety of ways, using the elements of movement, in order to express simple and more complex rhythmic motives. The percussion instruments used were tambourines, woodblocks, maracas, and triangles. The temporal rhythmic symbols, which were taught, were eighth notes (two movements in one beat), quarter notes (one movement in one beat), and half notes (one movement in two beats). The three elements of rhythm practiced were tempo, intensity, and accent. Each of these elements was taught using the method suggested by Weikart (1989). The goals of the first phase (2 weeks) of the intervention program were (a) to develop body awareness with different types of body support; (b) to develop space awareness, such as personal and general space, levels, and pathways; and (c) to help children explore and express their own personal rhythm. With few exceptions, children with no previous training can do such things as clap, march, walk, jump, and run (Pica, 2000). According to Dalcroze (cited by Bachmann (1991)), teachers should make an effort to determine each child’s personal rhythm and encourage the child to make up its own accompaniment with their voice, percussion movements, or percussion instruments. Only after the children have given evidence of moving in time to their own accompaniment should teachers introduce the next stage of the program, which is the synchronization of children’s movements to externally imposed rhythm. In the second phase (3 weeks) of the program, children learned to define space using their bodies and different materials, such as paper, textiles, rubbers, balloons, and hoops. Children were requested to walk forward, backward or above objects, using different types of movement. To recognize temporal symbols, simple locomotor, and non-locomotor movements were used as responses to intensity and accent of rhythm. Different space levels were also used for the expression of different accents. The understanding of simple rhythmic motives was achieved through children’s motor responses to auditory stimuli presented by the physical educator, using voice and percussion instruments. Children’s motor responses combined jumping with simple fundamental locomotor skills, such as walking and running. During the third phase (3 weeks) of the program, the complexity of the activities increased. Children had to find relations between rhythm and movement concepts. For example, they were asked to express the different intensities of sounds through the different levels of space, or to show the accented beat by changing the direction of the movement or the body shape for each accented beat. The recognition and production of elements of rhythm and the understanding of complex rhythmic motives were expressed mainly through the execution of jumping and balancing. This phase also included traditional Greek dances, such as sirtos, kastorianos, and tsakonikos, which were taught through creative activities. Moreover, traditional Greek games, such as “One-two-three-red light”, “Bee”, and “Chasing”, modified to fit in the children’s needs, were applied.
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1.5. Physical education program During the same period, the two control subgroups were taking part in the physical education program, which concentrated on the jumping and balancing tasks. The activities of this program were based on movement concepts used in the music and movement program. Children were instructed to follow and react to the physical educator’s instructions. Children were trying to execute the activities through an exploratory teaching style. This means that they had time to create their own ways to execute a movement or an exercise. The main difference between the two programs was that there wasn’t any rhythmic accompaniment during the physical education program. The content of the exercises which focused on jumping tasks included activities for jumping and landing, jumping for distance, jumping for height, jumping over a rope or obstacles, and jumping with a partner to mirror actions or to match actions. Exercises to develop balance were based on activities for balancing on different bases of support; balancing on different body parts; moving in space and stopping in balanced positions; balancing in different body shapes; balancing with partners; moving while balanced; performing sequences that combine stationary balances and moving on mats; transferring weight to different feet positions; balancing while walking in various body positions; moving while using different parts of the feet to touch the floor; and balancing while walking or running between or over cones or other forms of equipment. The activities of both programs were applied according to the principles of developmentally appropriate physical education programs (Barnett, Williams, & Whitall, 1992). In each lesson there were activities promoting social development (performing activities in groups), cognitive development (understanding relations between the rhythmic symbols, space elements), and affective development (expressing feelings according to the changes of rhythm elements). Based on the principle of active learning, exploration and improvisation activities were implemented, allowing the children to select the movements. While scheduling the activities of the intervention programs, the following attributes were taken into account (Bredekamp, 1992): • the children’s age and the different domains of development; • reinforcement of cooperation in order to promote practice in pairs or in large teams; • activities which were scheduled to provide children with learning experiences and to reinforce the acquisition of new space concepts; • use of various equipment (new or modified useless objects) respective to the children’s ability; • proper organization of the exercise environment in order to help children solve cognitive and motor problems; and • different types of music to provide opportunities for creative movement.
2. Results Mean and standard deviations for pre-test and post-test measures of both groups are depicted in Table 1. To identify possible differences between the experimental and the control group in the pre-test measures, one-way analysis of variance was used. In the absence of significant differences between the two groups both on jumping (F1,89 = .93, p > .05) and on balance (F1,89 = .40, p > .05), the multivariate analysis of variance [2 (groups) × 2 (sexes) × 2 (ages) × 2 (measures)] with repeated measures on the last factor
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Table 1 Mean and standard deviations of pre-test and post-test measures, for both groups Measures
M (S.D.) Pre-test
Jump Dynamic balance
Post-test
Experimental group
Control group
Experimental group
Control group
2.76 (.41) 2.41 (.60)
2.28 (.52) 1.93 (.35)
5.22 (.75) 4.82 (.93)
3.24 (.82) 2.54 (.49)
was used. The results showed that the multivariate effect of measure (F2,82 = 95.93, p < .001) and the multivariate effect of group (F2,82 = 12.95, p < .001) were significant. On the contrary, the multivariate effect of sex (F2,82 = 2.64, p = .072) and the multivariate effect of age (F2,82 = 2.15, p = .123) were not significant. The only significant interaction founded was the measure × group interaction (F2,81 = 27.31, p < .001). The group × sex interaction (F2,81 = 2.57, p = .084) and the group × age interaction (F2,81 = .437, p = .648) were not significant. Follow-up univariate tests showed that the measure × group interaction was significant for scores on jumping (F1,82 = 39.23, p < .001) and on balance (F1,82 = 32.63, p < .001) as well. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 this interaction is attributed to the significantly greater improvement of the experimental group in the posttest measure.
Fig. 1. Mean and standard deviations of the pre- and post-measures for both groups on jumping.
Fig. 2. Mean and standard deviations of the pre- and post-measures for both groups on dynamic balance.
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3. Discussion In the present study, it was found that the preschool’s movement program followed by the control group did not significantly affect the development of jumping and dynamic balance. This program included motor skills performed individually and games scheduled and modified for this age. All these activities focused on the jumping and balancing tasks. The experimental group improved its performance on the post-test measure compared to the control group. This means that the developmentally appropriate music and movement program positively affects the level of performance for the above measures. According to Gallahue (1996), using movement as a way to develop the elements of rhythm reinforces fundamental movement skill development and fosters an understanding and feels for rhythm. Through practice with certain fundamental movements, children begin to understand the structural elements of rhythm and are able to express this understanding through coordinated movements because moving to rhythm is an essential element of all coordinated movements. Music and movement education emphasizes the significance of rhythmic ability in motor skills execution. Rhythmic ability refers to the understanding, memorization and movement presentation of the data from the temporal–dynamical structure and modulates the execution of the movement (Martin, 1988). It is considered an important factor in the development, execution and learning of motor skills (Thomas & Moon, 1976). Martin (1988) mentioned that rhythmic ability is the ability to observe, control, and differentiate the rhythm of a movement according to the environmental demands for the given time. This enables the quick motor adjustments of the performer in an unpredictable environment, assuring success in performance (Martin, 1988). Since music and movement activities improve children’s rhythmic ability (Weikart et al., 1987; Zachopoulou et al., 2003), they may have contributed to the development of the fundamental locomotor skills in the present study. According to Martin (1988), ages 4–7 are the best to develop rhythmic ability because during this period the basic functions of the central nervous system, on which coordination abilities depend, are more developed. The success of such a program can also be attributed to the quality of its content. Painter (1966) and Brown et al. (1981) also implemented a music and movement program and examined its effect on perceptual-motor development in young children. This program was based on repeated rhythmic exercises designed to develop the natural rhythms of the body while training for economy and precision of movement. On the other hand, the content of the music and movement program in the current research had a more clear structure, based on movement concepts and rhythm elements. In addition, it was taken into account the changes of the different elements of rhythm (tempo, intensity, and accent) suggested by Sherill (1976). Concurrently, children were able to explore space and its elements (levels, pathways), which, as Fait (1978) stressed, led to a more accurate and complete body and space awareness. High (1987) studied the effect of a music and movement program on the rhythmic accuracy of preschool children and found that the experimental group improved its rhythmic accuracy more than the control group. The same conclusion was drawn by Moore (1984) and Burnett (1983), who implemented a music and movement program for preschool children with delayed development and found that they improved their motor skills and their rhythmic ability as well. It is interesting to notice that the intervention program in the present study had a greater effect on dynamic balance than it did on jumping. According to Clark and Phillips (1985), the basic patterns of coordination for the motor skill of jumping are established by about age 7. In an earlier age, the development of jumping follows slower steps. On the other hand, the developmental movement patterns
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of dynamic balance appear at age 4 (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). A 4-year-old child can walk on a line or on a beam maintaining his/her balance for short periods of time. In addition to the type of activities included in the music and movement program of the present study, the way they were organized was also taken into account. Hochmann and Weikart (1995) stated that learning depends on experiences, which are meaningful to the children and support their development through exploration, guided discovery, and problem solving. More specifically, the activities of the intervention program implemented in the present study were organized: (a) to enable both the physical educator and the children to participate actively and interact with each other (e.g., children could add their own rhythmic motives to those of the physical educator); (b) to build children’s knowledge not only through the physical educator but through themselves as well (achieved by allowing them to decide and perform skills which represented specific rhythmic motives); (c) to enable children participate in the organization of the program (suggesting, for example, the percussion instruments to produce different sounds); and (d) to reinforce children participate in the activities in pairs, in small or large groups, according to their level and way of learning. The positive effect of the developmentally appropriate music and movement program on jumping and dynamic balance could be generally implemented in preschool children programs. Taking into account that the developmentally appropriate practices do not form a specific teaching model or method but a way of thinking and acting to educate children physically, it seems important for the early childhood educators to organize or modify lesson content according to the children’s needs. The rhythmic activities seem to play an important role on motor performance of preschool children. Future studies should examine if the developmentally appropriate organization of the above activities can also positively affect the other domains of children’s development, including cognitive, affective, or social development.
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