This research was conducted with the purpose of determining to what extent and how a dance program affects the pre-school children's coordination. The sample comprised 65 children of a pre-school age (the control group consisted of 31 children, the experimental of 34 children), aged 6 years ± 6 months. The experimental group performed dance activities over a period of 8 weeks (2X35 minutes each week). The control group performed regular activities in the kindergarten. The level of coordination in children was determined applying a BOT-2 test battery (the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of Motor Proficiency). By analyzing the obtained research results, a statistically significant difference was found between the dance and the control group in three variables: Jumping Jacks (0.000), Jumping in place -same sides synchronized (0.012) and Tapping feet and fingersopposite sides synchronized (0.011), respectively. Statistically significant differences between the groups indicate the positive effect of the applied dance program on the development of motor coordination in pre-school children using an experimental dance program for twelve weeks. The dance program influences the coordination of pre-school age children. The results showed that children participating in the dance program achieved better results in the studied bilateral coordination in three variables, thus recommending its application in the regular preschool curriculum.

The research was conducted with the aim of determining to what extent and in what manner the kindergarten sports school program affects the coordination of preschool children. The sample consisted of 57 preschool age children. The control group comprised 31 children and the experimental one 26 children, aged 6 years ± 6 months. The experimental group applied the sports school program for a period of 8 weeks (2 x 45 minutes each week). The control group only had regular activities in the kindergarten. The level of bilateral coordination in children was determined applying seven tests and a level of balance applying nine tests at the initial and final measurement. At the initial measurement, experimental and control groups showed similar results, while the experimental group showed significantly better results at the final measurement. The tests applied in the research were taken from the BOT-2 battery of tests: the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of Motor Proficiency (Bruininks, 1987; Bruininks and Bruininks, 2005, taken from Cools et al, 2009), where body coordination as a separate composite is assessed by subtests of bilateral coordination and balance. The obtained data were processed by the SPSS 20 statistics software, and ANCOVA was used to determine the effects of the sports school program. It is assumed that the experimental program has influenced the improvement of the results between two assessments of the bilateral coordination (on three tests) and balance estimates (on one test). The obtained results point to the need for a wider application of similar programs in working with preschool age children.

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Abstrakt: Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se utvrde razlike u motoričkom izvođenju ritmičkih strukura između plesača društvenih plesova salsa i argentinski tango. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 50 ispitanika uzrasta od 19 do 25 godina ± šest meseci. Ispitanici su usvajali plesne strukture navedenih plesova tokom 12 meseci. Motoričko izražavanje ritmičkih struktura plesača je procenjeno baterijom koja se sastojala od 5 testova. Razlika između grupa je procenjivana T-testom za male nezavisne uzorke. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da statistički značajna razlika postoji samo kod izražavanja rimičkih struktura nogama u korist salsa plesača.