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Children in the Czech Republic before the beginning of compulsory school attendance undergo assessment evaluating so called school readiness. The part of this evaluation is assessment of children’s biological, mental, social and emotional readiness for the demands of school education. The assessment of gross motor skills is an important part of this evaluation. But motor skills are also connected not only with academic achievement but also with physical activity in future lifestyle. Therefore is the aim of the research analysis of gross motor skills in pre-school children. The research group consisted of 232 children (102 boys, 130 girls) from kindergartens and nursery schools at the age 5,9 ± 1,63 years. For the assessment of gross motor skills was used TGMD-2 test battery. The results show strong relationship between locomotor and manipulative skills in children at pre-school age. The results indicate strong positive correlation r = 0,76 on the significance level p < 0,05 between locomotor and manipulative skills. From the results is obvious that teachers in kindergartens should focus on the development of locomotor skills, which are strongly connected with manipulative skills. That means pre-school teachers should focus on basic skills and then develop them which could result in highly motor-skilled children with interest in physical games and activities. The data was obtained within the project GF_PdF_006_2018. According to preference of parents’ sedentary lifestyle the physical activity of Czech children at younger school age is lowering. Possibilities for improvement we see in the aimed development of gross motor skills in Czech kindergartens and nursery schools.

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The level of motor skills is an important indicator when evaluating children's readiness for school attendance. The deficit in the area of motor skills can lead to a decrease in children's activities. Is there a relationship between the level of motor skills and factors of self-concept in children attending lower levels of primary schools? The aim of this research is to analyze the relationship between the level of motor skills and factors of self-concept in children attending lower levels of primary schools, especially at the middle school age. The research sample consisted of 300 pupils (149 boys, 151 girls) of middle school age. The level of motor skills (locomotor and manipulative) was monitored by the TGMD-2 test (Ulrich, 2000). The self-concept factors were measured by using the Piers-Harris questionnaire (Piers & Herzberg, 2009). Based on the results, which were realized within the IGA_PdF_2017_002 project, no significant relationship was detected between the levels of motor skills and self-concept. The importance of the research lies mainly in identifying targeted interventions in the area of children's motor skills and development of self-concept factors, which can support adaptive behaviour in the first years of compulsory school attendance.

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