The Effectiveness of a Music-Movement Program on

Manipulative Skills Performance of Six Years Old Children

Athanasia Chatzipanteli1, Elizana Pollatou2, Nikolaos Diggelidis2, & Thomas Kourtesis1

1Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Hellas

2Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Hellas

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a music-movement program on the performance of manipulative skills in six-year-old children. Seventy-five children (34 girls and 41 boys: M=6.3 years, SD= 0.2 months) were the participants in this study. Forty of them participated in the music-movement program twice a week, while the rest participated in the same movement program without the music. The study lasted eight weeks with two teaching sessions per week. The Test of Gross Motor Development (Ulrich,2000) was used for the assessment of manipulative skills (catching, throwing, dribbling, kicking, striking and underhand roll). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used for the data analysis. According to the re- sults the experimental group (music-movement) exhibited larger improvement on catching, throwing, drib- bling, kicking, striking and underhand roll than the control group. Conclusively, it seems that a music- movement program might improve significantly the performance of manipulative skills.

Key words: music, rhythm, primary school children, manipulative skills