Development of manipulative skills by children in primary grades

The purpose of the present study was to investigate a. the level of manipulative skills development and b. the effect of age and sex on the quality of the above skills in primary schoolchildren. Three groups of children (N=186) with mean age 6.5, 7.5 and 8.5 years participated. Each group was consisted of 62 children (31 boys and 31 girls). Manipulative skills (kicking, dribbling, catching, overhand and underhand throwing and ball rolling) assessment was conducted by the Motor Skills Inventory (Werder and Bruininks, 1988). The results showed that boys in group 3 significantly outperformed boys in group 1 on dribbling and catching. Girls in group 3 had better scores on underhand throwing than those in groups 1 and 2. Moreover, girls in groups 2 and 3 had better scores on dribbling than girls in group 1. Differences between the two sexes were also significant. Boys in group 1 had better scores on dribbling than girls in group 1. Boys in group 2 outperformed girls in the corresponding group on kicking and on ball rolling while boys in group 3 outperformed girls on dribbling, ball rolling and underhand throwing. These findings would assist the physical educatior in planning and implementing the specific curriculum theme effectively.