Purpose: To examine the relationship between the experience of movement patterns and the refinement of fundamental movements in free play in nursery schools.
Method: The subjects were 24 middle‒aged children (13 boys and 11 girls) in a nursery school. The measurement items were the acquisition status of fundamental movement and movement patterns (type/frequency) in free play. As for the fundamental movement, running, jumping, throwing, catching, ball bouncing, forward rolling, and moving on a balance beam were measured twice at 5‒month interval. For the movement patterns in free play, the types and frequencies of movement that appeared in the 30‒minute play scene were recorded twice per subject. To examine the relationship between the experience of movement patterns and the amount of change in fundamental movements, the correlation coefficient was calculated for the type and frequency of the movement pattern that appeared in free play and the amount of change in the movement score of the fundamental movement.
Result: There was no relationship between the amount of change in the movement development score and the experience of the movement pattern in free play. However, there was a relationship between the frequency of stability movements and balance beam movements in girls, and fundamental movements that had a limited but influential effect were also confirmed.
Conclusion: There was no relationship between the experience of movement patterns in free play and the transformation of fundamental movements, and it was not confirmed that the experience of various movement patterns led to the refinement of fundamental movements.
