Motor intervention program based on expressive movement and its influence on body and emotional development in Early Childhood Education

Authors

  • Juana María Lorencio Agudo Universidad de Granada
  • Beatriz Granados Castillo Grupo de investigación HUM1016: Ciencia, Educación, Deporte y Actividad Física, Universidad de Jaén

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17561/jump.n13.10543

Keywords:

motricity, Early Childhood Education, expressive movement, motor development, motor coordination, body awareness, self-regulation, body expressions, body trace

Abstract

Movement constitutes an essential dimension of learning in Early Childhood Education, as it promotes environmental exploration, the construction of the body schema, behavioral regulation, and the development of motor skills through meaningful experiences. A motor intervention based on expressive movement and body traces, implemented with five-year-old students across six 40-minute sessions distributed over three weeks, was analyzed. Plastic materials and the dripping technique were employed as resources to record bodily action, prioritizing the motor process over the artistic result. The sessions integrated displacements, turns, changes of direction, postural control, eye-hand coordination, force regulation, rhythm, breathing, and bodily-emotional verbalization. The evaluation was carried out through teacher observation, a motor rubric, a classroom diary, anecdotal records, an emotional traffic light, and the analysis of the generated visual traces. The findings showed high student involvement and a positive evolution in body awareness, motor coordination, gesture regulation, spatial occupation, emotional expression, and the ability to transition from motor activation to calm. Overall, the intervention confirms that expressive movement and body traces can serve as a useful strategy to foster comprehensive development in Early Childhood Education, by placing the body at the center of learning and transforming the visual trace into evidence of the motor process experienced.

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Published

2026-07-31

Issue

Section

Research Papers

How to Cite

Lorencio Agudo, J. M., & Granados Castillo, B. (2026). Motor intervention program based on expressive movement and its influence on body and emotional development in Early Childhood Education. JUMP, 13, e10543. https://doi.org/10.17561/jump.n13.10543