A1 Journal article (refereed)
Päiväkotien liikuntaolosuhteiden yhteys lasten motorisiin taitoihin (2019)


Sääkslahti, A., Niemistö, D., Nevalainen, K., Laukkanen, A., Korhonen, E., & Finni Juutinen, T. (2019). Päiväkotien liikuntaolosuhteiden yhteys lasten motorisiin taitoihin. Liikunta ja tiede, 56(2-3), 77-83. https://www.lts.fi/media/lts_vertaisarvioidut_tutkimusartikkelit/2019/lt_2-3_19_tutkimusartikkeli-saakslahti_lowres.pdf


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editors: Sääkslahti, Arja; Niemistö , Donna; Nevalainen, Kaisa; Laukkanen, Arto; Korhonen, Elisa; Finni Juutinen, Taija

Journal or series: Liikunta ja tiede

ISSN: 0358-7010

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 56

Issue number: 2-3

Pages range: 77-83

Publisher: Liikuntatieteellinen Seura ry

Place of Publication: Helsinki

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: Finnish

Persistent website address: https://www.lts.fi/media/lts_vertaisarvioidut_tutkimusartikkelit/2019/lt_2-3_19_tutkimusartikkeli-saakslahti_lowres.pdf

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/64920


Abstract

Environmental and social conditions at preschools are associated with children’s physical activity (PA). Also, the development of motor skills (MS) is associated with the amount of PA. This study aimed to determine if childcare centre facilities and environmental conditions are associated with children’s MS. The study participants were 1,136 children aged 2 to 7 years attending early childhood education (ECE) at randomly selected Finnish day-care centres (N = 37). The head of each centre completed a questionnaire on the each centre’s physical and social conditions. All
children’s MS were measured with TGMD-3 test battery (Ulrich 2013) and 4–7-years old children with KTK test battery (Kiphard & Schilling 1974, 2007). Descriptive statistics describe the data. When examining the associations between MS and childcare center –related variables, hierarchical linear regression models were used. Results revealed variation in environmental and social condition between childcare centres: 32 % of centres did not have own gym, and size of the playground area varied substantially (226–11,000 m2), as did access to forests (54 %). Physical education (PE) varied also: 54 % of centres had yearly plan for PE and the amount of organized PE in a week varied from 0.5–7 times/ week. Measured conditions were associated with children’s MS as follows: children’s age, gender, the amount of surfaces. The size of yard associated with manipulative skills and shape of yard with locomotor skills. Based on these results there is need to pay attention for environmental and social conditions. Otherwise, there may be difficulties for early educators to achieve the targets of supporting children’s overall learning prerequisites, stated by Act of Early education.


Keywords: children (age groups); day care centres; physical training; yards; motor skills (general)

Free keywords: liikuntaolosuhteet; piha-alueet


Contributing organizations


Related projects


Related research datasets


Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 1


Last updated on 2023-27-02 at 11:29