Mastery of fundamental movement skills among 6-year-old Flemish pre-school children

The purpose of this study was to assess mastery of Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) in 6- to 6.5-year-old Flemish pre-school children. The subjects were 236 6-year-old children (138 boys, 98 girls; mean age 6 years 2.4 months, SD 2.4). Children were individually assessed with the Motoriktest für Vier- bis Sechsjährige Kinder (MOT 4-6) in four performance areas. Scores on each item varied from 0 to 2 and generated a maximum total score (TS) of 34. Percentiles and descriptive analyses were used to report on frequencies of scores. The mean TS was 20.78 (SD 5.7), without significant gender differences. Score 2 was reached by more than 50% of children in 6/17 FMS: 'forward balance', 'placing dots', 'grasping a tissue', 'passing through a hoop', 'height jump' and 'turning jump'. In conclusion, 6-year-old pre-school children scored well on 6/17 FMS (one stability, two fine motor and three locomotor tasks). Object control tasks showed lower skill levels than other performance areas.