Gender Differences in Some Motor Abilities of Preschool Children

The paper presents the results of the investigation of gender differences in motor abilities of preschool boys (n=106) and girls (n=121), 6-7 years of age. Eighteen composite motor tests adapted for preschool children, three for each hypothetical latent motor dimension (coordination, flexibility, strength, agility, accuracy and balance) were used to measure motor performance of the subjects. Statistically significant gender differences in motor variables were established. In the majority of variables better results were achieved by boys, except for the variable assessing flexibility – straddle seated forward bend, in which girls performed better. The results showed that this set of variables had a relatively high discriminant power. The measures influenced by the motion regulation mechanism had the greatest contribution to the discriminant function. The results indicate occurrence of sexual dimorphism in children’s motor abilities even at the age of six and half years.