Implementación de un programa de juegos tradicionales para mejorar la coordinación general en niños preescolares del Centro de Educación Inicial “Antonio Borrero”

Abstract

The development of general coordination in the first years of life constitutes a fundamental pillar for an adequate motor development in later childhood. However, this area is often underestimated in the school environment, especially in public institutions, where teachers, addressing multiple areas of knowledge, often lack specialized training in motor development. In view of this problem, the present study aimed to analyze the impact of a program based on traditional games to improve general coordination in preschool children at the “Antonio Borrero” Early Education Center. The research adopted a quantitative approach with a quasi-experimental design. The research included 39 students divided into two groups: an experimental group made up of 21 children from classroom “B”, and a control group made up of 18 children from classroom “D”. The results showed a significant impact in the experimental group, where an improvement was observed in the average scores from pretest to posttest. In the case of men, average scores increased from 38 to 42.8, while in women they increased from 41 to 48.7. To analyze differences within and between groups, nonparametric tests were used, specifically the Wilcoxon test for related samples and the Mann-Whitney U test to compare changes between the experimental and control groups. These findings confirm the efficacy of traditional games as a pedagogical tool to enhance motor coordination in the preschool stage.