Dance and choreographic exercises for physical development and physical fitness in 5-6-year-old children

Aim. The paper aims to verify the methodology for using dance and choreographic exercises for physical development and physical fitness in 5-6-year-old children. Materials and methods. The program was used in No 31 and No 353 municipal preschool educational institutions in Chelyabinsk. The study involved 33 preschool children ages 5-6. All children were divided into the control and experimental group of 17 and 16 persons respectively. The following methods were used during the study: anthropometric measurements (body weight, body length, chest circumference, chest to body height ratio (Erisman index), weight to height ratio). Plantography examination was performed by using the method of V. Striter and the method of G. Serdukovskaya. Physical fitness was evaluated by the method of N. Notkina. Increase in physical fitness was calculated by the V. Usakov formula. The results obtained were processed with biometrics. Results. The article describes the methodology for using dance and choreographic exercises for improving physical fitness and increasing the interest of preschool children in physical education classes. Higher values were obtained in children of the main group in terms of body weight, body length, weight to height ratio, chest circumference, while in the control group there was a delay in physical development. A positive change towards more harmonious development, improved posture and foot arch structure was found in preschool children of the main group. Conclusion. The pedagogical experiment shows that dance and choreographic exercises contributed to the increase in physical fitness in preschool children and improved effectiveness of the educational process in general. The best results were achieved in terms of endurance development, speed and strength qualities, coordination abilities and flexibility.