Relationship Between Gender and Motor Skills in Preschoolers

Motor skills play an important role in daily skills and learning of children. Hence, any disorders in their motor skills cause weaknesses and problems in learning and social skills. The current study aimed to compare motor skills between preschool girls and boys in Semnan city, Iran. Results can be used by preschool education authorities to prioritize and focus on learning programs. The current descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 91 children (51 girls and 40 boys), with the mean age of 6.4 (SD ± 0.2). Multi-stage sampling method was employed on preschoolers in Semnan city, Iran; and data was analyzed using the Lincoln-Oseretsky motor development scale. Results of the current study showed no significant difference between balance skills and coordination of arm and leg movements in preschool girls and boys, but significant difference was observed between the catcher throwing skills (P < 0.001), objects balance (P < 0.001), jumping skills (P < 0.001), speed and hands fundamental movement skills (P < 0.001), eye-hand coordination (P < 0.001), and general motor skills (P < 0.002). Results of the current study showed that at preschool stage girls had higher performance compared to boys in fine motor skills and at preschool stage boys had significantly higher performance compared to girls in gross motor skills. Hence, it seems to be necessary to train preschool authorities in teaching fine and gross motor skills, considering the gender.