Playing, then and now – differences in time and elements of play from parents’ perspective

Authors

  • Ranko Rajović University of Primorska, Faculty of Education http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5319-0958
  • Vanja Ković Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade
  • Dragana Berić Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35469/ak.2020.150

Keywords:

motor skills, play, cognitive development, childhood, leisure time

Abstract

The question how the general trend toward physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affects children’s capabilities and cognitive skills is becoming increasingly important. The aim of this study was to compare children’s play time with parents’ play time at their child’s age, as well as the elements of play. A survey was conducted among parents of children aged 6 to 8 years. The results of the survey, which was based on a sample of 37 parents, showed that a child nowadays spends more time playing at home (110 minutes/day on average compared to the 96 minutes/day their parents played as children) and, conversely, with a statistically significant difference, only half the time their parents did playing outside (96 minutes/day on average compared to the 157 minutes/day on average that their parents spent at the same age). We also found a statistically significant difference in screen time in children today (93 minutes/day on average), which is three times as much as it used to be in their parents at that age. Differences were also evident in activities involving elements of rotation, balance, and dynamic accommodation, with most children now spending 0-15 minutes/day compared to parents who used to spend an hour or more on similar activities. For activities based on fine motor skills, half of the children nowadays spend 15-30 minutes/day, whereas half of the parents used to spend an hour or more. The contemporary lifestyle that is highly sedentary can affect many aspects of children’s play. The paper discusses differences of play in the time dimension and possible consequences of such behavior for child development.

References

Brookman, A., McDonald, S., McDonald, D., & Bishop, D. V. M. (2013). Fine motor deficits in reading disability and language impairment: Same or different? PeerJ, 1(e217). https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.217

Buckley, J., Cohen, J. D., Kramer, A. F., McAuley, E., & Mullen, S. P. (2014). Cognitive control in the self-regulation of physical activity and sedentary behavior. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 747. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00747

Cameron, C., Brock, L., Murrah, W., Bell, L., Worzalla, S., Grissmer, D., & Morrison, F. (2012). Fine motor skills and executive function both contribute to kindergarten achievement. Child Development, 83(4), 1229–1244. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01768.x

Chaddock, L., Erickson, K., Prakash, R. S., VanPatter, M., Voss, M. W., Pontifex, M. B, ... Kramer, A. F. (2010). Basal ganglia volume is associated with aerobic fitness in preadolescent children. Developmental Neuroscience. 32(3), 249-256. https://doi.org/10.1159/000316648

Christakis, D. A. (2009). The effects of infant media usage: what do we know and what should we learn? Acta Paediatrica, 98(1), 8-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01027.x

Cole, M. W., Yarkoni, T., Repovš, G., Anticevic, A., & Braver, T. S. (2012). Global connectivity of prefrontal cortex predicts cognitive control and intelligence. Journal of Neuroscience, 32(26), 8988-8999. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0536-12.2012

Denham, J., Marques, F. Z., O’Brien, B. J., & Charchar, F. J. (2014). Exercise: putting action into our epigenome. Sports Medicine, 44(2), 189-209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-013-0114-1

Elliot, L. (1999). What‘s going on there? How the brain and mind develop in the first five years of life. New York: A Bantam Book.

Erickson, K., Hillman, C., & Kramer, A. (2015). Physical activity, brain, and cognition. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 4, 27–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.01.005

Gomez-Pinilla, F., & Hillman, C. (2013). The influence of exercise on cognitive abilities. Comprehensive Physiology, 3(1), 403-428. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c110063

Grissmer, D., Grimm, K. J., Aiyer, S. M., Murrah, W. M., & Steele, J. S. (2010). Fine motor skills and early comprehension of the world: Two new school readiness indicators, Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1008-1017. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020104

Henderson, M., Gray-Donald, K., Mathieu, M. E., Barnett, T. A., Hanley, J. A., O’Loughlin, J., ... Lambert, M. (2012). How are physical activity, fitness, and sedentary behavior associated with insulin sensitivity in children? Diabetes care, 35(6), 1272-1278. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc11-1785

Horska, A., Kaufmann, W. E., Brant, L. J., Naidu, S., Harris, J. C., & Barker, P. B. (2002). In vivo quantitative proton MRSI study of brain development from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 15(2), 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.10057

Lillard, A. S., Drell, M. B., Richey, E. M., Boguszewski, K., & Smith, E. D. (2015). Further examination of the immediate impact of television on children’s executive function. Developmental psychology, 51(6), 792-805. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039097

Martinez-Gomez, D., Tucker, J., Heelan, K. A., Welk, G. J., & Eisenmann, J. C. (2009). Associations between sedentary behavior and blood pressure in young children. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 163(8), 724-730. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.90

Milošević, Z., & Obradović, B. (2008). Posturalni status dece novosadskih predškolskih ustanova uzrasta 7 godina [Postural status of 7 years old children from Novi Sad pre-school institutions]. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Serbia, Novi Sad, 43, 301-309.

Piaget, J. (1953). The origin of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Protudjer, J., Kozyrskyj, A. L., McGavock, J. M., Ramsey, C. D., & Becker, A. B. (2012). High screen time is associated with asthma in overweight Manitoba youth. Journal of Asthma, 49(9), 935-941. https://doi.org/10.3109/02770903.2012.724753

Rajović, R. (2010). NTC sistem učenja: metodički priručnik za vaspitače [NTC learning system: methodical manual for teachers]. Vršac: College of Professional Studies in Education of Teachers Mihajlo Palov.

Rajović, R., Rajović, I., Kovačić, D., & Dajčman, N. (2016). Descending trend of motor and cognitive abilities of school children. In New challenges in education: 1. International Conference, Čatež, Slovenia, Book of proceedings (pp.56–61). Novi Sad: Smart Production.

Sandercock, G. R., & Ogunleye, A. A. (2013). Independence of physical activity and screen time as predictors of cardiorespiratory fitness in youth. Pediatric research, 73(5), 692-697. https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2013.37

Sibley, B. A., & Etnier, J. L. (2003). The relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: a meta-analysis. Pediatric Exercise Science, 15(3), 243-256. https://doi.org/10.1123/pes.15.3.243

Tau, G. Z., & Peterson, B. S. (2010). Normal development of brain circuits. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 147–168. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2009.115

Ullrich-French, S. C., Power, T. G., Daratha, K. B., Bindler, R. C., & Steele, M. M. (2010). Examination of adolescents’ screen time and physical fitness as independent correlates of weight status and blood pressure. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(11), 1189-1196. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2010.487070

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2013). America’s children and the environment, third edition.

Videmšek, M., Klopčič, P., Štihec, J., & Karpljuk, D. (2006). The analysis of the arch of the foot in three-year-old children – a case of Ljubljana. Kinesiology 38(1), 78-85. Retrieved from https://hrcak.srce.hr/4190

Downloads

Published

05-05-2021

How to Cite

Rajović, R., Ković, V., & Berić, D. (2021). Playing, then and now – differences in time and elements of play from parents’ perspective. Annales Kinesiologiae, 11(2), 99–119. https://doi.org/10.35469/ak.2020.150

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2020): Annales Kinesiologiae

Section

Articles

License

Open Access Policy and Copyright

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors grant the publisher commercial rights to produce hardcopy volumes of the journal for sale to libraries and individuals.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.