The Effect of Mini Foosball Tables Made from Recycled Materials on Fine Motor Skills and Force Control in Children Aged 5–6 Years

Abstract

Manipulative activities play an important role in developing young children’s fine motor skills, particularly finger coordination, hand control, and visuomotor accuracy. However, motor stimulation in the digital era tends to decrease because children are increasingly engaged in passive screen-based activities. This study aimed to analyze the effect of a Mini Foosball game made from recycled cardboard on the fine motor skills and force control of children aged 5–6 years. The study used a quantitative quasi-experimental method with a one-group pretest-posttest design involving 16 children from Group B at Shandy Putra Telkom Kindergarten. Data were collected using an observation sheet covering pincer grasp, wrist flexibility, eye-hand coordination, and force control. Instrument validity was confirmed through expert judgment with an Aiken’s V value of 0.86. The intervention was conducted in six play sessions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, and a paired-sample t-test. Results showed improvement in children’s fine motor skills from 54.8% (pretest) to 84.6% (posttest). The t-test result (t = 8.73; p < 0.05) indicated a significant effect of the recycled-material Mini Foosball on fine motor development and force control. The findings suggest that recycled play media can provide effective and economical sensorimotor stimulation in early childhood education.