Increasing the Level of Physical Activity Intensity with Child-Designed Games and Creativity of 6-8 Year-Olds during Gymnastics Lessons in Physical Education

Higher levels of physical activity (PA) during physical education (PE) are important for 6- to 8-year-old children because it can improve their physical health, cognitive skills, academic performance, and social development. The purpose of the study conducted was to determine the effects of incorporating child-designed games and student creativity while waiting for teacher supervision during gymnastics lessons in PE on the quantity and intensity of PA among 1st and 2nd grade students. The sample included 91 1st and 2nd grade students (53 boys) from a Slovenian school. The sample included 91 1st and 2nd grade students (53 boys) from a Slovenian elementary school, of whom 48 (age = 6.8 ± 0.7) participated in the experimental teaching program that included child-designed games and student creativity, while 43 (age = 7.0 ± 0.6) belonged to the control group where traditional teaching continued. They were taught three gymnastics elements that had to be supervised by the teacher: the squat jump on the vault box, the backward roll, and the cartwheel. The results of the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test showed statistically significant differences between groups (EXP vs. CON) in terms of light PA (LPA) and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) for all three gymnastics elements taught: the squat jump on the vault box (LPA: p=0.001; MVPA: p=0.001), the backward roll (LPA: p=0.001; MVPA: p=0.001), and the cartwheel (LPA: p=0.002; MVPA: p=0.001). Statistically significant differences between groups in terms of vigorous PA (VPA) did not occur for any gymnastics element: the squat jump on the vault box (p=0.462), the backward roll (p=0.833), and the cartwheel (p=0.636). The results show the effectiveness of incorporating child-designed games and student creativity to reduce inactivity while waiting for teacher supervision and to increase the amount of LPA and MVPA in 1st and 2nd grade elementary school during gymnastics lessons in PE.