Purpose
The study aimed to investigate how often kindergarten teachers reported that they carried out gross motor and physical activities with the children in kindergarten, as well as the employees’ self-reported physical activity levels in their spare time.
Result
The study shows that adult-led physical activity rarely takes place in kindergarten, and kindergarten teachers believe that children get enough physical activity and develop gross motor skills through free play. Children are expected to develop these skills in short periods of outdoor play. The kindergarten teachers who are physically active three times a week or more appear to offer more gross motor exercise than those who are less active. Therefore, kindergarten teachers’ own experiences of physical activity seem to influence the teaching of movement and physical activity in kindergarten.
Design
The researchers developed a questionnaire with multiple choice questions and Likert scale questions to map experiences and perceptions about movement and physical activity. The questionnaire was completed on paper and answered by 359 kindergarten educators aged 20-65 years from 68 kindergartens in southern Sweden
References
Sollerhed, A. C. (2023). Factors associated with implemented teacher-led movement and physical activity in early childhood education and care. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1221566.
Financed by
The Collaboration for Learning research platform, The Faculty of Education at Kristianstad University, Sweden; Gyllenstiernska Krapperupsstiftelsen, Sweden.