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Address for correspondence:
Dr. Teodora-Mihaela Iconomescu
University “Dunarea de Jos” from Galati
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport
Department of Games Sports and Physical Education
Garii Street, No. 62-64, 800217, Galati, Romania
Telephone: +40755603144
E-mail: ticonomescu@ugal.ro
INTRODUCTION
Motor anthropology is a branch of applied
anthropology, which deals with movement as
an effect of bio-psycho-social activity. Motor
anthropology explores the effect of movement
on the development and education of the hu-
man being (Cordun 2009: 18). A milestone in mo-
tor anthropology is constitutional typology so-
matosensory physiological, motor and psychic,
correlated to sports activity requirements (If-
rim1986: 24). From this perspective the research-
ers consider that the theme addressed in this
study on children’s psychomotor skills and the
ability to improve them, through physical activ-
ity, fall within the human anthropology domain.
In the training activity with preschoolers and
primary school, there are often cases when they
show certain inabilities, placing them in an infe-
rior position in comparison with their peers. Even
if these inabilities are not made a fuss over and
these children usually pass for “clumsy” or “un-
talented” for certain activities, these children
gradually develop an inferiority complex in rela-
tion to others. Some place importance on the
difficulties they experience, and as they try to
overcome, remove or hide them, they grow big-
ger. They become more and more obvious in
school activities, where performance is constant-
ly assessed and compared to other children. In
general, these inabilities belong to the psycho-
motor area and manifest in the difficulty or im-
possibility of effecting well-coordinated move-
ments during games or school activities, which
require mobility, awareness and self-control. As
a rule, preschoolers and primary school children
are concerned with educating the motor skills
involved in writing, their bodily self-awareness,
localization in relation to themselves or others,
and organizing their own movements into effi-
cient actions.
Tolerating psychomotor difficulties in pre-
schoolers or primary school children in the hope
that they will eventually disappear in time, as
the child grows older is a huge mistake. With the
passage of time, difficulties increase taking into
account the increasingly complex activities the
child has to perform. That is why the research-
ers opine that the education of psychomotricity
starting from a very young age should be one of
the main concerns of parents and teachers, be-
ing also very important for older age groups.
Discussions with individuals in preschool
and primary school confronted with the chil-
© Kamla-Raj 2016 Int J Edu Sci, 15(1,2): 27-33 (2016)
Developing Spatial and Body Schema Orientation in
Preschoolers and Primary School through Physical Activities
Mircea Ion Ene1, Teodora-Mihaela Iconomescu2, Laurentiu-Gabriel Talaghir3 and Adriana Neofit4
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University “Dunarea de Jos” from Galati, Romania
Telephone: +40755603144, + 40745651297, +40745033806, +40744596744
*E-mail: 1<ticonomescu@ugal.ro>2, <ieemircea@outlook.com>, 3<gtalaghir@ugal.ro>,
4<neoadriana@gmail.com>
KEYWORDS Children. Games of Movement. Physical Activities. Psychomotricity Test
ABSTRACT The present research aims at studying, out of the content of psychomotricity, spatial orientation and
the recognition of the body schema, which is basic in the extracurricular physical activity of normal children. In
order to test the level of acquisition of these qualities in terms of psychomotor learning, subjects included in the
research took part twice a week in physical activities based on movement games, having as the objective the
improvement of psychomotricity. Their testing was achieved by adapting the test evincing the capacity of spatial
orientation and body schema, which is grounded in evincing the capacity of spatial orientation and the degree of
knowledge the child has of its own body, by acknowledging the spatial rapports and operating with specific
language. After tests, it was observed that after going through physical activities with the proposed objectives,
spatial orientation and bodily scheme had improved significantly, and there is a relationship between games of
movement within the program of physical activities and the level of acquired skills on the orientation in space and
body scheme.
28 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
dren’s psychomotor difficulties in the education-
al process led the researchers into the in-depth
study of the issues of psychomotricity, by study-
ing specialized literature. Unfortunately, it does
not supply complete answers to the requirements
of the practitioner who needs succinct theoreti-
cal information, concrete assessment tools and
methods, as well as practical examples of psy-
chomotor education.
The motor development of children pro-
vides mental, social and personality develop-
ment. Children develop in a predictable way, from
total dependence to adult, to personal autono-
my and physical and social independence. The
speed and rhythm of development, motor pecu-
liarities and language peculiarities of all children
are different, but the development mode is simi-
lar, with everyone going through the same pre-
dictive stages. Some children go through this
evolution differently to their peers, and these
differences manifest themselves by delaying the
formation of habits, which then impede social-
ization and integration of the child in the group.
Montessori claims that motor education is
part of the very life of children, linking it to the
everyday activities and games of children, by
introducing education of movement in a single
and indivisible whole of the training of infant
personality. The child is in continuous motion,
and in childhood, the child feels constantly the
need to move, and this situation is blurred with
the development of inhibition capacity that, to-
gether with motor impulses, begins to build tools
for listening to the will (Montessori 1977: 144).
The psychomotor education of the child is
a transdisciplinary action, pedagogical and phys-
ical education, the purpose of which is the sys-
tematic education of different behaviors, start-
ing from living the motility, bodily scheme and
leading to operate with notions.
Maite and coauthors (2015) consider that-
the concept “psychomotricity” contains the
“psycho” term, which refers to the psychologi-
cal activity at the cognitive and affective levels,
and the “motricity” term, which refers to move-
ment (Maite et al. 2015: 1616).
Specialized literature by Coler et al. (2010),
Lupu (2011), Shingjergji (2014) and Glushkov et
al. (2014) is generally centered on the psycho-
motricity of special needs children, and much
less on normal children with a psycho-motor in-
ability manifest through the non-recognition of
the body schema or the impossibility of spatial
orientation.
Psychomotor development comprises sev-
en components whose development is interre-
lated. These are gross motor skills, fine motor
skills, bodily scheme, laterality, perceptive orga-
nization, spatial organization, time management
and the evolution of rhythmic sense.
Motor skills’ training is dependent on the
evolution of psychomotor components, which
together constitute the level of psychomotor
development (Horghidan 2000: 46).
Psychomotor specialists Mascarenhas et al.
(2011) and Trouli (2008) have established as a
result of longitudinal studies, a stage of age
named by them as the “optimum interval of edu-
cability”, which is located between 6 and 10 years,
during which psychomotor skills can be devel-
oped to the maximum.
Despite the requirement that the child has
to move, his motor skills often are not explored
during childhood, causing changes in their psy-
chomotor development, which will be reflected
in adulthood.
These cases are due to lack of exercise, hav-
ing a sedentary lifestyle, such as a static life in
front of the computer or television. Children no
longer run out in the open, no longer play vari-
ous games of childhood on the street in front of
the house and do not practice exercise.
Children in kindergarten have an education-
al program in which the focus is not on psycho-
motricity, but just on the acquisition of language,
communication, drawing, music, with the phys-
ical exercises having a percentage of just ten
percent of the weekly educational program.
All these shortcomings of educational ac-
tivities for kindergarten children, but also those
enrolled in primary school (sedentary lifestyle,
computers, television, gadgets) lead to deficient
psychomotor development at their age.Given
those factsmentioned regarding kindergarten
and primary school, one can say that physical
inactivity, sedentary life and general lifestyle
influence the motor development of children.
Therefore, the researchers consider that by
knowing the level of psychomotor development
of children, one can propose and implement pro-
grams of motor development that meet the needs
of different groups of children (kinder-garten,
primary, secondary). These programs should be
designed to allow children to perform necessary
motor activities throughout life.
The research aims to promotepsy-chomot-
ricity development through playful activities
DEVELOPING SPATIAL AND BODY SCHEMA ORIENTATION 29
specific to the age of the children undergoing
research, and the level of the individual possi-
bilities. Individualization comes to capitalize the
diversity of identities mental, physical and ex-
periential of children, respecting the child in the
educational process.
METHODOLOGY
Population and Sample
The population of this research constitutes
children aged between 4 and 6 years old, and
belongs topreschools and primary schools from
Galati, Romania.
Research Model
The purpose of the research was to improve
the components of psychomotricity (spatial ori-
entation and body schema recognition) in nor-
mal children aged between 4 and 6 years old
(preschoolers and primary school), by movement
games (ludic activities) performed within the
framework of physical activity.
The research took place in the 2013-2014
academic year with subjects aged between 4 and
6, participating in a program of physical activity
twice a week.
The subjects’ evaluation was performed at
the beginning and end of the research through
testing the orientation and spatial abilities, and
the level of awareness of the children’s own
bodies.
The materials used were objects familiar to
the children (ball, notebook, pencil, toy, book)
placed in relation to the child in order to testthe
following spatial relations (far-close, up-down,
front-back, outside-inside, above-below, right,
left, hand, foot, on, and under).The test by orien-
tation and spatial abilities belongs to Comsa et al.
(2006) and contains a set of 20 requirements.
Methodology
The test is applied individually, requiring the
child to respond to the following items:
•Item 1: Lift the right hand/bend the left hand
•Item 2: Turn right/left
•Item 3: Place the right hand on the right
shoulder/place the left hand on the left
shoulder
•Item 4: Name two objects on your left/right
•Item 5: Which child is the closest to you/
farthest from you?
•Item 6: Name an object in front of you/be-
hind you
•Item 7: Name an object on/under the desk
•Item 8: Name two objects above/below
•Item 9: Name an object outside/inside the
box
•Item 10: Where is the sky/the ground in
relation to a house?
Grading
1 point is awarded for each accurate answer.
The evaluation was performed through next
scoring:
•18-20 points: Very good
•15-17 points: Good
•12-14 points: Satisfactory
•Under 14 points: Unsatisfactory (Comºa et
al. 2006: 32).
The playful physical activities performed
during the research have consisted in realiza-
tion of movement games with psychomotor ob-
jectives, including spatial orientation and bodi-
ly scheme recognition.
Statistical analysis was performed using
SPSS for the Windows version 20. Frequency
statistics were used to calculate the group com-
parisons as a whole. For this the researchers
use the contingency coefficient χ2 (Chi-square).
Procedure
The subjects participated in a program of
physical activity twice a week for a period of 40
minutes (the 4 and 5-year-olds) and 50 minutes
(the 6-year-olds).
The physical activity program was aimed at
improving the spatial orientation and body sche-
ma by movement games (dynamic games) with
the following objectives:
1. Using and building open or closed figures
(spaces) (that is, irregular or regular
shapes, by means of cubes, laces, wire and
rope).
2. Acknowledging where they are in relation
to a certain space/object in space (in the
room, outside the room, on the chair, un-
der the table, near their classmates).
3. Handling objects over, on, above, below,
inside, outside a certain space/object giv-
en or built by themselves.
4. Recognizing and using the proper lan-
guage for these spatial relations, that is,
on, under, in, over, above, below, inside,
outside, close, far, closer, farther, the clos-
est, the farthest, near me, here and there.
30 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
5. Identify the main corporal segments (one’s
own, the partner’s, on dummies, on images).
6. Identify the missing elements (dismem-
bered toys, gapped images with increas-
ing difficulty degrees).
7. Decompose and recompose the body from
constituting segments (gradually increas-
ing in difficulty). So, the game becomes a
method, means, and form of organization,
with or without competition, adapted to
the motor and mental skills of the pupils.
Psychomotor activities achieved by the
movement games allow the child to know,
explore, interiorize or exteriorize states and
feelings, interact with his/her own body,
the game partners and the environment.
RESULTS
The sample comprised 96 children (50 boys
and 46 girls) aged 4-6 years. The groups were
composed of 30 subjects of 4 years (14 boys
and 16 girls), 34 subjects of 5 years (18 boys and
16 girls) and 32 subjects of 6 years (18 boys and
14 girls).
Statistical analysis of the scores obtained
by the group of 4 years highlights a significant
difference between the expected and observed
frequencies in the two tests, both girls and boys.
In statistical terms, the level of acquisition of
orientation in the space and bodily scheme is
significant due to the scores presented in
Table 1.The scores obtained by girls was χ2 =
5.33, df = 1, p < .05 and by boys χ2 = 9.54, df = 1,
p< .05.
By participating in the physical activity, the
group of 4-year-olds has significantly improved
spatial orientation and awareness of the human
body, due to motion games with specific themes
during the course of the research.
The 5-year-olds in terms of psychomotrici-
ty are able to use various body notions, imitate
certain characters, and have a good visual dis-
crimination of the different body parts.
Statistically speaking, at this age there is
no significant association between physical ac-
tivity and the development of the psychomotor
components under study. The results obtained
are presented in Table 2 and contains statistical
analysis scores obtained by girls χ2 = 3.69, df =
1, p >.05 and boys χ2 = 2.81, df = 1, p > .05.
The initial test evinced that the subjects up
to 5 years of age (boys and girls) did not have
issues of psychomotor inability, being normally
developed from a psychomotor point of view. In
the initial test, ninepercent of the subjects
showed a psychomotor inability. By observing
the final test it was found that these subjects
also got normal scores,which is why the statis-
tics did not evince the relation between physi-
cal activity and the improvement of the psycho-
motor components.
Table 1: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
4 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 5.3 .021*9.5 002*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
Table 2: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
5 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 3.6 .055*2.8 .094*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
DEVELOPING SPATIAL AND BODY SCHEMA ORIENTATION 31
Following the statistical analysis the re-
searchers may conclude that the skills of the 6-
year-olds included in the research were acquired,
given the significant results and the existence
of differences between the two tests. The differ-
ences did not occur at random, but they are due
to the activities classified according to the di-
dactic purpose intended. Statistical analysis
scores obtained by girls was χ2 = 4.20, df = 1, p
<.05 and boys χ2 = 4.14, df = 1, p < .05. Table 3
shows the differences in the scores occurring
pre- and post-test.
DISCUSSION
Difficulties in body schema may also occur
in children with normal physical and intellectual
development, but who are deprived of an appro-
priate sensorial stimulation and education, or
have certain afflictions (not considered as spe-
cial needs) preventing their optimal sensorial
operation.
The body schema is formed and consolidat-
ed as the child gains control over his/her own
body, and by means of this body, over the sur-
rounding objects and environment. A series of
aspects of the child’s mental development de-
pend on the acquisition of the body schema,
among which is the development of psychomot-
ricity, a child with a well-integrated body sche-
ma will walk harmoniously, have certain, firm
movements, be able to carry his/her body with
grace and ease, so that his/her motor behavior
will not be affected by clumsiness, hesitation or
slowness. In addition, she/he will not have an
inharmonious, asynchronous physical appear-
ance, and the speed and amplitude of his/her
movements will be normal and natural). On the
other hand, children who have not yet totally
integrated their body schema will display slow-
ness or clumsiness in movements, lack of coor-
dination in simple physical activities (for exam-
ple, in ball games focusing on adroitness), un-
certainty in gestures and deficient interpreta-
tion of successive sequences in simple move-
ments or activities. As a result, these children
will have difficulty in learning simple dance
steps, in reproducing physical activity move-
ments, simple short successions of movements
or gestures, even by immediate imitation.
This study aimed to investigate the influence
of a physical activities program based on move-
ment games for the motor development of chil-
dren. These results justify the rejection of the
null hypothesis and the acceptance of the con-
clusion that the differences between the two
tests on the subjects of the research are signifi-
cant and not due to random sampling variation.
This allows the conclusion that there is a rela-
tionship between playful activities with objec-
tives specific to psychomotricity and the level
of acquired skills concerning spatial orientation
and bodily scheme.
That is why the researchers consider that
physical activity through its specific exercises
and objectives may help overcome the psycho-
motor inability shown by preschoolers and pri-
mary education at some points.
Researches done in Brazil (2011) which eval-
uated the psychomotor diagnosis motor age of
preschool children, have shown that the kinder-
garten program class is not always properly
planned. In physical education activities the re-
searchers were able to find many movement
games but these were not adapted for the age or
particularities of each class. The authors con-
sider that this could not happen because differ-
ent activities require different levels of teach-
ing. Because of this teachers do not make a con-
tribution to the overall development of their
students.
In Spain, a study run by Teixeira and co-au-
thors (2015) observed the increasingly low psy-
chomotor skill levels in pre-school aged chil-
dren. They have shown that children who do
not receive adequate motor skill instructions and
Table 3: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
6 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 4.2 .040*4.1 .042*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
32 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
practice may show a development delay in their
abilities and recommend increasing the time of
physical activity engagement and playing time
for pre-school children in early learning settings.
Researchers have noticed the same thing in
this research about the level of motor develop-
ment of pre-schoolers. Previous research has
demonstrated that decreasing the physical ac-
tivity is an important factor in increasing obesi-
ty and is associated with the cognitive function
of children and school performance.
According to several studies, the level of
physical activity is minimal at an early age, so
children who do not develop their psychomotor
skills may experience a delay in cognitive and
social development. It is therefore essential to
remove the generally accepted idea often sus-
tained by teachers that children are spontane-
ously active.
CONCLUSION
The main objectives of physical activity in-
volve a harmonious coexistence of body and
mind, a balance between what the body express-
es and what the mind believes. Unfortunately,
the objectives of physical education in public
education at preschool and school are not well
defined. Physical education is taught in an inap-
propriate manner, without the necessary involve-
ment and without providing sufficient attention
to each student.
The role of early childhood education is
essential in the development of the child. At this
stage, teaching practices should stimulate chil-
dren, given their individual characteristics and
their needs, to assist in the acquisition and de-
velopment of more skills and abilities essential
in everyday life.
When investigating the components of psy-
chomotricity it was possible to find that the sub-
jects of the present research, 4 to 6-year olds,
did not acquire laterality (which is typically ac-
quired around 5 or 6 years of age), do not know
spatial positions and coordinates and neither
the objects positions in relation to the axis of
their own body, nor the position of their body in
relation to external points of reference.
In other words, the lack of total integration
of the body schema results in serious difficul-
ties in spatial orientation and identification and
recognition of the position and localization of
other objects and even one’s own body. More
often than not, these children cannot differenti-
ate between right and left, up and down, and
front and back.
All these problems are solved by psycho-
therapy through psychological therapies cen-
tered on the ludotherapeutic method.
Ludotherapy, or game therapy, is a psycho-
therapeutic technique applied to children, based
on the functions of mental and intellectual exer-
cise, reality integration, mental assimilation of
events, socialization, and unloading.
By carrying out the present research the
researchers managed to evince another method
of solving the psychomotor inability in normal
children. This method is based on physical ac-
tivity, movement games (dynamic ludic activi-
ty), performed in natural conditions,that is, the
reality in which the children carry out their daily
activity.
It determined the nature of the researchers’
proposal,which is that the educational activities
with preschoolers and primary school children
should include physical activities (movement
games) centered on improving psychomotor
skills.
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