The Effect of Gardening Activities On Motor Skills Development of Pre-K and Kindergarten Students

Fine and gross motor skills play a very important part in childhood development. The famous educator, Maria Montessori, believed that children must exercise their “various coordinated movements” (i.e. motor skills), and realized that working in the garden and carrying out its related chores could actually improve motor development. There are definitely physical exercise and coordination components involved in gardening. However this connection has not been evaluated. This study investigated the relationship between gardening and motor skills in pre-k and kindergarten-aged children by quantitatively measuring students’ levels of motor development in both a control population and one that had participated in gardening activities. The study integrated a pre-test/post-test design that used treatment (gardening) and control (non-gardening) groups of pre-k and kindergarten students. Students in the treatment group participated in the Cylinder Gardening Program which was presented through the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.  The Beery Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) was used to test students’ motor skills. Classrooms of students were tested at the beginning and end of their 2009 spring semester. A brief general and demographic questionnaire was also sent home to parents to provide clues into other factors that may have contributed to students’ motor development and to provide a means for sorting data. Results will be used to promote outdoor activities including gardening programs for children.