PDFE #1

Bethani

Motor Learning


Dr. Epling

Assignment # 1


The event that I chose to observe for my Professional Development Experience was two of the games coordinated at the YMCA celebration day at the YMCA in Rome, Georgia. This event took place on Saturday, August 28 on the field behind the Rome YMCA. The event was open to children and families in the community, YMCA members and his/her families, and the YMCA staff and his/her families. There were several hundred people attending the event. I specifically observed two different areas where movement was present: the dart throw and an inflatable.

Both the dart throw and the inflatable were safe for the children playing them. Both of the stations were supervised by adults while the children were moving. The dart throw was led by two individuals who made sure the children formed a line. The children throwing darts stood about seven feet from the dart board and aimed to hit the target. The children used their motor skills in several different ways. They used discrete skills when throwing the dart and the children had to have good hand eye coordination. There was a large difference between the accuracy of a younger child and that of an older child. The differences in their stages of learning were apparent; those children excelling at the task were in the late stage, while the children having a harder time were in the early stage of development. The inflatable jump was also enhancing the children’s motor movement skills. The children had to focus on balance and coordination while in the inflatable.

The children jumping in the inflatable were actively moving, while the children throwing darts were only moving his/her arm and using only object manipulation. Both of these activities were in my opinion developmentally appropriate for the children participating. Most of the children were between the ages of three and twelve. Though this is a large range, both of these activities seemed to work for all ages. The only problem that arose was when children who were three or four did the dart throw they had to stand very close to get the dart into the hole. There were not any modifications that I would have made to the activities because they were supervised properly; the inflatable only held a certain number of kids at a time and the dart throw was coordinated well also.

The children participating in the dart throw and the inflatable enjoyed the activity and many of the children returned several times to repeat each station. The children used continuous skills when jumping in the inflatable and used discrete skills when throwing the inflatable dart. Overall, the event was well run and helped children enhance his/her motor learning skills while having a great time.