Activities, patterns and approaches for using ropes in physical education are discussed, and emphasis is placed on varying the activities in order to focus on quantity of movement for fitness purposes, quality of movement for perfection of patterns, and personal interaction and working together for social goals. The objective is to provide ways…

Investigated how play in the natural environment of three Norwegian kindergartens might stimulate 5- to 7-year-olds' motor fitness, focusing on the affordances of the landscape for versatile play. Found that children using the forest as a playscape performed better in motor skills than children on a traditional playground. Play activities related…

This collection of papers reviews the effects of sport and physical activity on children. It is organized around six sections representing the basic disciplines that contribute to a broad view of the child in sport and physical activity: physiology; medicine; growth and development; psychology; sociology; and motor learning. Although each paper…

Maintains that the "getting into shape" hypothesis of explaining the inverted-U distribution of exercise play across age is likely incorrect. Argues that the biological study of human physical activity play, as recommended by Pellegrini and Smith (1998), will reveal whether physical activity play represents an example of…

Early exploratory activities enable children to develop motor skills. Boys and girls must be provided similar experiences in movement. Teachers should provide experiences in which children can be successful. Situations in which children initially fail, but later learn to persist and try alternative solutions, are valuable. (BC)

This book is a compilation of homemade and inexpensive developmental play equipment ideas that may be used in the home and school with preschool and elementary school children. Each equipment idea contains the objectives for its use, the materials and approximate cost, how to assemble the equipment, and a variety of activity ideas. Illustrations…

This guide book is addressed to those responsible for early childhood physical education. It is divided into nine segments, each covering in detail different facets of the subject: (1) the young child's development and learning processes in their relation to physical education; (2) the child's physical education program, its purpose and…

This practicum report describes an intervention designed to increase opportunities for children in a day care center and preschool to practice gross motor skills, and to help teachers gain confidence in their ability to foster children's maturation. It was expected that as a result of the intervention, 50 of 70 children would participate in gross…

The bibliography contains 150 annotated citations of research articles on individuals with mental retardation who were studied in relation to their physical activity settings. Citations provide information on the title, author, journal or related document in which the article appears, and the content or focus of the article. Citations are indexed…