Correlation between Gross Motor Activities and Hand Writing Skills in Elementary School Children

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the relation between developmental gross motor activities and hand writing skills in elementary school aged children. One hundred normal Egyptian children of both sexes were selected out of 600 from three private national elementary language schools, their ages ranged from 48-72 months old. Fifty four children were in grade senior kinder (group A) and 46 children were in grade one (group B). Each child in both groups was evaluated individually by using Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2) to determine the level of gross motor activities and the McMaster Handwriting Assessment Protocol (MHAP) to detect level of hand writing skills including speed of near point copying, speed of dictation, hand dominance and type of pencil grasp. The results of the study revealed significant positive correlation between gross motor quotient and speed of near point copying in both groups: Group A (n = 54, r = 0.664, p = 0.000), group B (n = 46, r = 0.769, p = 0.000) and significant positive correlation between gross motor quotient and speed of dictation in both groups: Group A (n = 54, r = 0.621, p = 0.000), group B (n = 46, r = 0.667, p = 0.000). Results also revealed non-significant positive correlation between gross motor quotient and hand dominance in both groups:group A (n = 54, r = 0.440, p = 0.842), group B (n = 46, r = 0.505, p = 0.617) and non-significant positive correlation between gross motor quotient and type of grasp in both groups: Group A (n = 54, r = 0.782, p = 0.09), group B (n = 46, r = 0.759, p = 0.171). It can be concluded that in the selected age range, gross motor skills were strongly correlated to speed of hand writing either in near point copying or dictation and not correlated to hand dominance or type of pencil grasp.