Development of a Kids Athletics Training Model to Improve Motor Skills in Children Aged 7–8 Years

Abstract

The low level of motor skills among elementary school children in Indonesia is a major concern, especially during the critical developmental phase of ages 7-8. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the increase in sedentary lifestyles due to technology and the lack of attractive, structured physical activities that are in line with child development principles. The implementation of existing kids athletics programs tends to be unsystematic and fails to accommodate the aspects of happiness and active participation. Therefore, this study aims to develop an effective, enjoyable, and structured kids athletics training model to improve the motor skills of 7-8-year-old children. The method used is Research and Development (R&D) by adopting the Borg and Gall model, involving 30 students from SDN 1 Sukoharjo 2 as research subjects. The development process includes the stages of needs analysis, product design, expert validation by three experts (learning, athletics, and coaching experts), and gradual field trials (small and large scale). The final model consists of six game activities divided into three categories of basic athletic movements: running (obstacle course and agility ladder), throwing (turbo throw and accuracy throw), and jumping (precision jump and agility ladder jump). Expert validation results showed a very high level of feasibility with an average score of 94.89%. Field trials on a small and large scale obtained feasibility percentages of 92.67% and 94.58%, respectively. Pretest-posttest results showed a significant improvement in students' motor skills, with the average score rising from 1.7 to 3.17. A dependent t-test confirmed a significant effect (t = 11.406 > t_table 2.042; p = 0.001 < 0.05). The conclusion of this study is that the developed kids athletics training model is proven to be effective, feasible, and enjoyable for improving the motor skills of 7-8-year-old children. This model not only successfully integrates child athletics pedagogical principles centered on students but also provides practical contributions as an innovative alternative in physical education learning in elementary schools.