Developing Children’s Motor Skills by Having Fun With Orff’s Approach

Environmental factors have a clear effect on children’s motor development and can be manipulated; while biological factors are also powerfully influential, they are more resistant to intervention. Especially in restrictive environments (e.g., the recent pandemic-related shutdown), there can be increased importance to simple, fun, at-home, indoor programs. In this study, we investigated the effects on motor skill development of a movement education program based on the Orff approach, which has long been used in music education. This was an experimental research design involving 78 children, aged 6–7 years old, in two groups (Control Group, n = 39; Experimental Group, n = 39). We used a simple randomization method to determine the groups. We measured the children’s skill levels with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2), and we analyzed data using 2 × 2 repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVA). Our results revealed significantly greater improvement in the children’s scores on object control (p < .001), locomotor skills (p < .001), and total TGMD-2 (p < .001) in the experimental group than in the control group. Thus, programs designed with music and rhythm can help ensure that children have fun and are better motivated to participate in activities that have a positive effect on their motor skills.