Background/Purpose Previous research has shown greater participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in small- and medium-sided games than large-sided (12v12) games among college-aged participants. Research with children in physical education regarding this topic is limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of participating in a small- (3v3), medium- (6v6), and large-sided (12v12) passing and catching game on physical activity levels and actual ball touches of elementary school children in physical education class.
Method Participants were 29 students (13 girls, 16 boys) age 10-11 yrs from one intact physical education class. Each game size condition occurred during one of three physical education lessons held on three different days. Game play was limited to 12 minutes for each condition. All participants wore a Yamax SW-200 pedometer during the study; twelve participants also wore an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer. Each participant's ball touches during each game-size condition were monitored and recorded. Data were analyzed using a repeated measure MANOVA.
Analysis/Results Statistical analyses indicated a significant game size effect for pedometer step counts (F(2,50)=8.787, p<.01; η =.26), accelerometer activity counts (F(2,20)=9.992, p<.01; η =.50) and ball touches (F(2,52)=84.575, p<.001; η =.765). Specifically, the small-sided game condition yielded significantly higher ball touches but lower pedometer step counts than the other two conditions. Also, the small- and medium-sided game conditions yielded significantly higher accelerometer counts than the large-sided game condition.
Conclusions Findings suggest the importance of using small sided-games in elementary school physical education for higher levels of engagement and increased physical activity.