Annals of Applied Sport Science

Background. The problem of insufficient motor activity in schoolchildren can be solved at physical education lessons at school by using outdoor games. Objectives. To study the influence of outdoor games on the indicators of physical fitness of primary school children in physical education classes at school.
Methods. The pedagogical experiment was conducted based on secondary school 14 in Kirov, Russia. The study involved school children who entered the first grade, 7-8 years old. Physical education classes in the control group were conducted under the requirements of the general school curriculum. The children from the experimental group also fulfilled the aim and the tasks of the general education program, but they played outdoor games for 9-10 minutes during the lesson.
Results. Despite the improvement in the indicators in the control group, there was no significant increase from the beginning to the end of the study. In the experimental group, from the beginning to the end of the study, a significant increase in indicators for all tests was revealed: "Running for 30 meters" improvement by 18.2% (p=0.02); "Pull-up from the lying vis" improvement by 40.2% (p=0.01); "Shuttle run 3x10 m" improvement by 10.3% (p=0.02); "Tilt forward" improvement by 43.2% (p=0.01).
Conclusion. The results of the pedagogical experiment showed that the use of outdoor games in physical education lessons at school with children who study in the first grade has a positive and significant impact on the development of the physical qualities of children 7-8 years old.