The Impact of a Motor Affordance Intervention on Motor and Cognitive Development of Young Children

This research evaluated the impact of a motor affordance intervention on motor and cognitive development. The sample included 46 healthy Iranian toddlers ages 24-42 months. The sample was randomly selected by multi-stage cluster sampling from a single community. The sample was divided into three groups: intervention (n = 16), control-daycare (n = 15) and a control (n = 15). The intervention group was placed in an enriched motor affordance environment for 36 sessions over a 3-month period. All participants were pre and post-tested using the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development- (AHEMD), Denver Developmental Screening Test D, and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. Data was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance. The key findings were that the motor affordance intervention had a positive effect on gross and fine-motor and cognitive development (verbal IQ subscale).