The purpose of this study was to examine the fundamental developmental changes in children's motor ability in recent years.
For this study, motor ability tests were applied to 4 kinds of events: 25 m dash, throwing a soft ball, standing long jump and timed sustaining. These tests were thought to cover the following elements of fundamental motor ability: speed, explosive strength, total body coordination and muscular staying power. Physical measurements, such as standing height, body weight and the Rohrer scale were recorded. The participants were 123 preschool children (62 boys and 61 girls) from 4 to 6 years old in 2001. Data analysis utilized the Student's t test to determine differences in motor ability according to age and sex.
Motor ability and physique of boys and girls increased almost proportionally with increases in age. Scores for motor ability were higher among boys at almost any age than among girls. This superiority among boys was obvious in the three events: 25 m dash, throwing a soft ball and standing long jump. The score of timed sustaining was higher in 1997 than in 2001 scores. The motor ability difference is perceivable among the testees older than the age of 4, and it became greater with the increase of age.
