Purposive sampling was used to recruit 1,200 preschoolers between the ages of three and seven from 12 preschools throughout Taiwan in order to examine locomotor skills, object control skills, and fundamental motor skills with respect to sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Fundamental motor skills were measured using the TGMD-2. Only age had a significant influence on locomotor skills, object control skills, and fundamental motor skills; sex had a small influence on object control skills, and BMI had a very limited influence on all three categories. The difference from previous studies related to BMI may be due to the different items included in the various tests, the number of trials conducted, and ways in which BMI was categorized.

The main purpose of the present study is to elucidate any differences which may exist in the FMSs of children between the ages of six and nine. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 485 participants (244 boys and 241 girls) in Chiayi City and Chiayi County. All of the participants were between the ages of six and nine and had no disabilities or major health problems. Of these, 92 were between the ages of six and seven; 197 were between the ages of seven and eight; and 196 were between the ages of eight and nine. The average age was seven years and eight months. The main research tool used in this study was the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). There was a significant difference in both overall object control skills (t = 9.08, p < .001) and overall performance (t = 5.45, p < .001), with the boys performing better than the girls in both overall object control skills (M = 31.48 ＞ M = 20.29) and overall performance (M = 56.84 ＞ M = 52.47). Significant differences were also found for overall locomotor skills (F = 12.29, p < .001), overall object control skills (F = 12.81, p < .001), and overall FMSs (F = 20.44, p < .001). For locomotor skills the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged eight and nine performed better than those aged between six and eight, and that those aged between seven and eight performed better than those aged between six and seven. For object control skills and overall FMSs the Scheffé post hoc test revealed that those aged between eight and nine performed better than those aged between six and eight. Thus it would be desirable for physical education teachers at elementary schools to have girls participate in a variety of ball games, and also to encourage girls to engage in simple catching, throwing, and dribbling activities after school. In sum, schools need to provide a variety of movement activities which students find interesting, and also encourage students to participate in sports after class and outside of school.

Childhood was the key period for the development of fundamental movement skills, the acquisition of which had a definite bearing on a child's overall development, including such areas as cognition, interpersonal relationships, social behavior, and environmental awareness. The main purpose of this study was on the development of the norm of fundamental movement skills for children aged three to seven. In the method, we measured the development of such skills amongst 1,029 children in Taiwan aged 3-7 using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). The results indicated that the fundamental movement skills increase with age. With a percentile rank of 50 in the overall fundamental movement skills, the mean score of the eight age groups, boys performed better than girls in the seven age groups. In conclusion, compared to the United States, Taiwanese five through seven-year-olds lag far behind their American counterparts in locomotor and object control skills, and this situation needed to be addressed by education authorities in Taiwan. Based on the findings of this study, for preschool teachers, most are women with little or no training in FMS education. The curriculum of preschool teachers' training at the universities should incorporate FMS into the PE course, and it is important to ensure that each pre-service preschool teacher has the ability to design a series of 30-60 minutes of dynamic, age-appropriate and fun vigorous exercise.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of an integrated movement course on the FMSs of preschool children. Purposive sampling was used to select two classes at a public preschool in Chiayi City, Taiwan. The experimental group consisted of 9 boys and 12 girls, and the control group consisted of 11 boys and 8 girls. Both were administered a pretest and a posttest. There were 5 results as follows: 1. For LS, the experimental group (M = 32.38) performed better than the control group (M = 23.53). For OCS, the posttest revealed no significant difference between the two groups. 2. The experimental group performed better than the control group in running (t = 2.23, P < .05), galloping (t = 8.09, P < .001), leaping (t = 2.96, P < .01), and horizontal jumping (t = 2.96, P < .01). 3. There was a significant difference between the pre-and posttests of the experimental group in running (t =-3.05, P < .01), galloping (t =-7.90, P < .001), hopping (t =-5.19, P < .001), jumping (t =-2.31, P < .05), dribbling (t =-2.71, P < .05), throwing (t =-3.99, P < .01), and rolling (t =-3.47, P < .01), indicating improvement in each of these seven skills. 4. For the control group, there was a significant difference between the pre-and posttests only for sliding (t =-2.88, P < .05); even though they didn't participate in the integrated movement course, their sliding ability improved. 5. The experimental group performed better in the posttests for both the LS (M = 32.31 ＞ M = 24) and the OCS (M = 25.71 ＞ M = 18.81). This indicates that the integrated movement course had a positive influence on both the LS and OCS of the experimental group.

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