Abstract:

This study was conducted to compare the developmental status of balance and flexibility, which are the physical fitness parameters of preschool children receiving sportive recreation education. The participant group of the study consisted of a total of 60 children, 30 of whom were experimental and 30 of whom were control groups, who were studying in preschool education between the ages of 4-6. The study lasted a total of 8 weeks and experimental method with control group and pre-test-post-test design was used in the study. While a 40-minute sportive recreation education program was applied to the experimental group 3 days a week for 8 weeks, the control group continued its normal curriculum. In the study, sit and reach test for flexibility and flamingo balance test for balance were used as data collection tools. A normality test was applied to decide on the tests to be applied. Due to the normal distribution of the data, Independent Samples T-Test was used to determine whether the difference between the groups was significant, and Paired Samples T-Test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test within the group, and the significance value was accepted as p < 0.05. After the 8-week sportive recreation education program, there was a advanced significant difference in the pre-test-post-test values of flexibility and balance parameters in the experimental group (p <0.001), while there was no significant difference in the control group (p> 0.05). When the experimental group and the control group were compared, a significant difference was found in the flexibility and balance test values in favor of the experimental group after the sportive recreation activity program (p <0.001). As a result, it was observed that the children who participated in preschool sportive recreation education programs had more advanced balance and flexibility development levels compared to the children who received standard curriculum.

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