This study examined the effects of incorporating warm-up exercises along with main mat exercises, in elementary school physical education classes on children’s motor skills and learning conditions. The intervention group, implementing a circuit-type warm-up alongside main mat exercises, was compared with a control group that followed a formal and routine warm-up. The analysis focused on 30 sixth-grade students from an elementary school, with 14 in the intervention group and 16 in the control group. The primary practice exercises included cartwheels and handstand forward rolls. The results reveal that, with respect to learning conditions, the intervention group exhibited significantly higher scores than the control group for the following items: “Was there anything that left a deep impression on you or moved you?,” “Did you enjoy it (the class)?,” and “Did you enjoy warm-up exercises?.” Regarding motor skills, no significant interactions were observed for handstand forward rolls. For cartwheels, significant interaction effects were observed for the following items: “raising the feet high,” “stretching the knees,” “stretching the hips,” “landing on the soles of the feet,” and “overall evaluation,” with the intervention group performing significantly better in the 4th and 6th hours than in the 1st hour. Thus, it is assumed that incorporating circuit-type warm-up exercises along with main mat exercises in an elementary school physical education classes enabled children to begin the class with fun and enjoy the whole physical education class. Additionally, it was suggested that incorporating warm-up exercises along with main exercises leads to skill improvement (especially for cartwheels) albeit only partially.
