Learning of gross motor skills based on fun games: a study of coordination development in 5–6-year-old children

Background and Study Aim. Coordination skills in early childhood are essential for overall physical, cognitive, and social development. However, conventional approaches to teaching basic motor movements often fail to produce optimal outcomes. The research aims to formalize learning basic movements based on fun games to develop the coordination of movements in children aged 5–6 years. Material and Methods. Forty-five children from several schools in Padang City, West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, comprised the experimental group, who participated in fun game-based movement learning. The control group did not engage in such learning. The experimental design for this study adopted the pre-test and post-test measurement and comparison method between the groups. The data collected were analyzed using covariance analysis with SPSS version 26. Results. The experimental group showed a significant difference in children’s movement coordination development compared to the control group. They also showed significant differences in the development of the ability to perform balance beam, eye-hand coordination, jumping sideways, moving sideways, and shuttle throw among the sub-factors of the test items conducted for movement coordination, compared to the control group. Conclusions. The research results also indicated the importance of a fun game-based form of basic movement learning as an implication for Early Childhood Education programs. The movement-based learning model using fun games effectively teaches movement patterns while enhancing children’s coordination, motivation, responsibility, and social skills. Its engaging nature makes it suitable for early childhood education, helping improve learning quality for children aged 5–6 across Indonesia.