Effect of Participation in a Cup Stacking Unit on Hand-Eye Coordination of Elementary Children

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the influence of a cup stacking instructional unit on the hand-eye coordination of children. Participants (N = 104) consisted of three grade level groups (first/second, third and fourth). Within each grade level participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental groups received a three-week instructional unit of cup stacking. The control groups received the standard physical education curriculum. All participants completed pretests and posttests on three tasks designed to measure hand-eye coordination. The results indicated significantly faster performance for older children than younger children for all three tasks. None of the tasks were statistically influenced by the cup stacking unit. Overall, the results of this study indicate that participation in a three-week instructional unit does not significantly improve hand-eye coordination in elementary age children. (Contains 2 figures.)