Arts and Creative Activities as Predictors of Physical Skills Development in Pre-Primary Schools in Ilorin South LGA of Kwara State
Keywords:
Arts And Creative Activities, Physical Skills Development, Pre-Primary School Pupils, Early Childhood EducationAbstract
The concerns about inadequate exposure of pre-primary school pupils to regular and varied arts and creative activities could limit opportunities for developing essential physical skills. The study therefore investigated arts and creative activities as a predictor of pre-primary school pupils’ physical skills development in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design with simple linear regression analysis. The population comprised 15,352 pre-primary school pupils, while the target population was 755 Nursery 3 pupils, from which a sample of 253 pupils was proportionately selected. Two researcher-designed instruments, Arts and Creative Activities Rating Scale (ACARS) and Pupils’ Physical Skill Rating Scale (PPSRS), were used for data collection, with reliability coefficients of 0.82 and 0.79, respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Simple Linear Regression was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that pupils’ engagement in arts and creative activities was moderate (M = 2.72, SD = 0.97), while their level of physical skill development was also moderate (M = 2.73, SD = 0.96). Furthermore, arts and creative activities significantly predicted pupils’ physical skill development, R = 0.709, R² = 0.503, F(1, 251) = 253.835, p < .001, with a positive predictive coefficient (B = 0.533, β = 0.709, t = 15.932, p < .001). The study concluded that arts and creative activity scores were significantly and positively associated with pupils’ physical-skill scores. It recommended that schools should provide regular opportunities and adequate materials for pupils to participate in diverse arts and creative activities.
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