Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of some selected traditional developmental games on balance abilities of children aged 10 to 12 years in the Cape Coast Metropolis of the Central Region of Ghana. Using a quasi-experimental design, 30 school children, comprising of 15 boys and 15 girls, aged 10, 11, and 12 years were randomly selected for the study. The school children participated in a 12-week motor skills intervention program designed for this study. Balance was measured among the school children at baseline (pretest), after four weeks (posttest 1), then eight weeks (posttest 2), and 12 weeks (posttest 3) using BOT-2 battery test (Bruininks and Bruininks, 2005), which takes 15 to 20 min to administer. Two hypotheses were tested using repeated measure ANOVA, with gender as interaction variable. Using Bonferroni post-hoc analysis, the results indicated a significant difference in balance improvement between the Pre-Test (M = 7.33, SD = 0.66) and Post-Test 1 (M = 8.57, SD = 0.68), Post-Test 2 (M = 8.70, SD = 0.59) and Post-Test 3 (M = 8.83, SD = 0.50) scores. However, there was no significant gender interaction effect on balance after the intervention program (5, 84) = 1.79, p = 0.174, Pillai’s Trace = 0.171, partial η2 p = 0.171]. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that , developmental games could be effective tools for improving balance among children aged 10-12 years, especially if they are given about three months interval to practice. Thus, using these available games can reduce source challenge in teaching and learning of PE and help improve sports in the country.

Keywords: Developmental Games, Balance, School Children, 12-week Practice