“Creative dance and football” education program improves cognitive skills of 9–10-year-old school children

OpenAlex İngilizce

In this research, the impact of a 10-week school-based pedagogical approach and sport-specific ‘Football and Creative Dance Education’ program on cognitive skills in 9–10-year-old school children was examined. A total of 79 children were included in the study. The children were divided into 3 groups. Group 1: General Control Group; Group 2: Creative Dance Group; Group 3: Football Training Group. Groups 2 and 3, in addition to physical education classes, participated in creative dance and football training activities three days a week. In the creative dance group, no significant difference was found in processing speed and concentration performance between the pre-test and post-test; however, significant differences were observed in focused attention, accuracy, and attention span parameters. In the football training group, significant differences were found in processing speed, focused attention, concentration performance, and attention span. In intergroup comparisons, the football training group achieved the best results in processing speed, focused attention, accuracy, and concentration performance. The Creative dance group obtained the second-best results, performing better than the control group in processing speed, focused attention, and concentration performance parameters. In conclusion, both creative dance and football training significantly improved cognitive function compared to the control group.