The purpose of this literature review was to detect and study the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention programs, such as physical activities and sports, on children and adolescents with Developmental Motor Coordination Disorder (DCD) to improve their motor skills. The sample for this study consisted of 48 (100%) papers, specifically, 40 (83.5%) articles, 3 (6.2%) doctoral theses, 2 (4.1%) master’s theses and 3 (6.2%) papers from conference proceedings from the year 2014 to 2022. To search the sample, the following terms were used: DCD or dyspraxia, physical activity programs, intervention, physical intervention, physical education, etc. The results for the existence of statistically significant results and internal validity of intervention programs using physical activities and sports in children and adolescents with DCD showed that a large number of intervention programs improved the children’s motor skills as well as their daily functionality. In contrast, other interventions failed to improve dynamic and static balance. The negative result could be due either to the short duration of the interventions or to the improper suboptimal design—organization of the methodology of these programs—such as the heterogeneous intervention samples and the use of inappropriate and reliable assessment tools.

The purpose of this paper is twofold, first to study in depth by analyzing the phenomena in the circle of the psychodrama group and then to highlight the results from the application of the psychodrama tech¬nique to young athletes who would take part in competitions. A group of 6 boys and 4 girls (N = 10, 100%) aged 12 years ± 5 months have participated in psychodrama sessions, lasting 90 minutes, with a frequency of every 15 days for 12 months (January 2019 — January 2020). The meetings took place in parallel and in combination with the judo training that lasted 90 minutes for three times a week. Both the trainings and the psychodrama meetings took place in the same place. The present work is a case study for the detailed examination and qualitative analysis of the group of young judo athletes in the process of psychodrama. The results of the coupling of the program of physical education and the method of psychodrama were impres¬sive both by the testimonies of the children and the official results of the Panhellenic championship for girls and boys. Psychodrama can be an alternative method of education in school.

Σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας ήταν η προαγωγή της κινητικής ανάπτυξης, της κοινωνικής συμπεριφοράς και της αυτοεκτίμησης, καθώς και η εκτίμηση της σχέσης αυτών, πριν, κατά τη διάρκεια και μετά την εφαρμογή ενός δεκάμηνου παρεμβατικού προγράμματος ψυχοκινητικής αγωγής. Αρχικά συστάθηκε και δομήθηκε το πρόγραμμα της ψυχοκινητικής παρέμβασης, το οποίο περιλάμβανε κινητικές δραστηριότητες (ατομικές, ομαδικές) με μουσική και έντονο το στοιχείο της εκδραμάτισης ιστοριών – παραμυθιών. Τα παιδιά πολλές φορές αυτοσχεδίαζαν ή ομαδοσυνεργατικά σχεδίαζαν τις κινητικές δράσεις και έπαιζαν με αυτές υπό την καθοδήγηση και εποπτεία της νηπιαγωγού. Το πρόγραμμα είχε συχνότητα εφαρμογής τρεις φορές την εβδομάδα για σαράντα λεπτά και διήρκεσε από την τελευταία εβδομάδα του Σεπτεμβρίου 2014 ως την πρώτη εβδομάδα του Ιουνίου 2015. Το δείγμα της έρευνας αποτέλεσαν 44 νήπια (23 αγόρια και 21 κορίτσια) ηλικίας 62 (±4) μηνών, τα οποία επιλέχτηκαν από τρία δημόσια νηπιαγωγεία της πόλης των Ιωαννίνων. Τα παιδιά χωρίστηκαν σε (πειραματική Ν1=22 και ελέγχου Ν2=22) δύο ισάριθμες και ισάξιες ομάδες, όπως φάνηκε και από τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας στις αρχικές μετρήσεις. Στην πειραματική ομάδα...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychomotor development and visual creativity. Thirty students ranging in age from 6 to 7.5 years had participated in the study. For the measurement of psychomotor development, the Degree of Kinetic Performance was used from the application of a Set of four kinetic tests of K.T.K. test (Schillinh & Kiphard, 1974). To measure artistic creativity, three tests were administered which were a combination of the Test Torrance of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1998) and the Test for Creative Thinking Drawing Production (Urban & Jellen, 2010). Specifically, the Test Torrance of Creative Thinking used the element of completing the circle and in the (Urban & Jellen, 2010) test the element of humor was used, as one of the factors measuring creativity. The tests of creativity were evaluated by two different judges who were visual artists and professors at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Ioannina. The results showed that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the Degree of Kinetic Performance and artistic creativity and in particular with aptitude, originality and processing. Psychomotor development reveals the inextricable link between mental and motor activities, addresses the whole of the human condition and it is a key area of pre-school and school education of kinetic development with artistic creativity. Future research could also look at an extended sample of the relationship between physical-motor performance and visual creativity in early and late childhood students possibly with a larger number of diagnostic tests.

Introduction: Handwriting readiness is a key indicator of school readiness in early preschool age, as it is directly linked to academic performance, the child’s self-concept and their participation in the learning process. Modern developmental and pedagogical approaches recognize that writing is not an isolated skill, but rather emerges through the cooperation of psychomotor, visuomotor, and rhythmic functions. Purpose: To investigate the effect of a structured psychomotor and rhythmic intervention on the handwriting readiness of preschool children. Methodology: The research was based on an experimental design with an intervention group and a control group and repeated measurements before and after the implementation of the program. The intervention group participated in a program of psychomotor and rhythmic activities that aimed to enhance fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and temporal organization. Results: The findings showed a significant advantage of the experimental group across all indicators of psychomotor and handwriting development, along with very large effect sizes. Improvements were observed in fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, spatiotemporal organization, and overall handwriting readiness. Conclusions: The findings indicate that psychomotor and rhythmic education constitute an effective intervention for enhancing handwriting readiness in early preschool education. The integration of such programs into the kindergarten curriculum can act preventively and supportively for future school learning.

Introduction: Self-esteem is a fundamental factor in the psychological development and social adjustment of children with autism; therefore, in order to develop effective interventions, it is considered critical to understand the factors that influence it. Aim: To investigate the self-esteem and psychomotor clumsiness of children with autism and the factors that affect children's self-esteem, studying the role of psychomotor clumsiness. Methodology: A cross-sectional quantitative correlation study was conducted. The dependent variable of the study was self-esteem, and was measured by the RES tool, and the independent variables were a) psychomotor clumsiness, which was measured by the M-ABC test (2nd Edition) and b) the characteristics of the child with autism. 152 teachers, the majority of whom were women, aged 21-40 years, living in an urban center, with a postgraduate qualification, specialization in special education, up to 10 years of experience and up to 5 years of experience in special education, who teach in a primary school, participated in the survey. The substudy children with autism (38 low, 65 moderate, 50 high functionality) are mostly boys, aged 8-14 years, with normal BMI and perform physical activity in and out of school. Data analysis was performed at α=5% using independent samples t-test, One Way ANOVA, Pearson, Spearman and multiple linear regression tests. Data collection took place in special education schools from May 2023 to February 2024. The study received ethical approval from the University of Ioannina on 4/24/2023. Results: Moderate levels of psychomotor clumsiness emerged. Students struggled to an above-average degree in tests where the child is stationary and the environment is changing (AV=1.62), to a moderate degree in tests where the child is moving in a changing environment (AV=1.62), to a moderate degree in tests where the child is moving in a changing environment (AV=1,47) and stable environment (AV=1,42) and below average in tests where the child is stationary and the environment is stable (AV=1,29). Self-esteem levels scored slightly above average (AV=2,71). The variables "Child Stationary/Environment Stable" (beta=-0.256, p=0.036), attendance at "SMEAE/ENEEGY/KEDASY" (beta=-0.245, p=0.002) and "Physical activity outside of school" (beta=0.232, p=0.003) were found to be predictors of a decrease in "Self-Esteem". Lower levels of self-esteem were observed in low-functioning students (AV=2.58) compared to high-functioning students (AV=2.81, p=0.011). Conclusions: It is considered necessary to address the psychomotor clumsiness of children with autism on low-difficulty tests and physical activity outside of school in order to increase self-esteem levels. Vulnerable groups with low self-esteem were identified as students with autism attending special schools for SMEAE/ENEEGY/KEDASY and low-functioning children. Article visualizations: