Open Discussion Forum

Competitive games for small children

  • 1.  Competitive games for small children

    Posted 12-05-2018 09:44 AM
    There where lots of research done on the importance of movement for young children. As early as in 1972, David Gallahue et al, explained in the book A Conceptual Approach to Moving and learning, that competetive performance occurs from the fifth and final level of motor development and learning which includes the specialized movement skill phase and as such has no place in the pre-school or even elementary school. Competitive games and sport goes beyond participating in low level and informal forms of competition as is appropriate for young children. He explains this concept again in the later book of 2015 Understanding Motor Development where he stresses again the importance for children to move through all the movement phases which starts at the fundamental phase. When these phases are skipped or the child is hurried through, it often causes learning problems. Keeping competitive games and sport out of pre-school is just another factor that pre-school teachers has to fight for!