The Outdoor Game “Catch-Up” is A Tool to Support the Development of Coordination Abilities in Children

Background. The actual problem of physical inactivity among schoolchildren can be solved by supplementing the school program on physical culture with outdoor games. Objectives. To assess the impact of the outdoor game named “Catch-up” on some variables (throwing, running and agility) featuring coordination abilities of schoolchildren 7–8 years old. Methods. Assessment was performed at the Kirov primary school in Russia. 120 boys and girls participated in the study over 4 months. As they went to the same school, it was assumed them to have similar previous coordination development and performed similar extra-school physical activities. First-graders from the control group were engaged in a standard program of physical education at school and children from the experimental group were additionally engaged in a physical activity game Catch-up. To match the effort between the two groups, the control group prolonged the standard program (warm-up phase) by a time corresponding to how long it took the control to play Catch-up. The level of development of coordination abilities of schoolchildren was assessed using two tests: throwing a ball to a target and 3×10-meter shuttle running. Results. The variables in the control group in the throwing test improved from 3.35±0.92 to 3.60±0.69 hits (7.5%, p>0.05) and in the shuttle running from 10.20±0.40 to 9.85±0.39 seconds (3.4%, p<0.001). In the experimental group, there was a significant improvement in both tests. In the ball throw test, the experimental group improved from 3.15±0.76 to 4.30±0.62 hits (36.5%, p<0.001) and in the shuttle running from 10.50±0.48 to 8.95±0.46 (14.8%, p<0.001). Conclusion. The physical activity game Catch-up could be included in physical education lessons in schools to improve some variables featuring the coordination abilities of young schoolchildren.