Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) are essential for children's holistic development, impacting their physical, mental, and social well-being (Likhar et al., 2022). Locomotor skills such as running, jumping, and hopping are very important for FMS because they allow children to move and interact actively with their environment. This makes it a key predictor of children's lifelong participation in physical activity (Wintle, 2022). However, children's physical development today is very poor. Fundamental motor skills have declined due to increased sedentary behavior, driven by the increased use of electronic devices and reduced outdoor play time (Faigenbaum et al., 2015).

Preschoolers also had low FMS proficiency and spent less time engaging in active play (Demirhan et al., 2019). As a result, many kids fail to develop the fundamental motor skills expected for their age (Webster et al., 2019). This lack of FMS proficiency will have broader developmental implications, including motor issues and reduced fitness levels in later life (Lopes et al., 2021). To prevent long-term loss of motor abilities, research continues to highlight the importance of early implementation of targeted motor therapies.

Children who do not master fundamental locomotor skills tend to avoid physical activity and are at risk of developing a negative cycle that could potentially lead to long-term health problems (Barnett et al., 2024). Therefore, effective, accessible, and engaging interventions are needed (Goodway & Robinson, 2015). In the context of early childhood education, play is a natural medium for skill acquisition (Komaludin et al., 2025). Jump rope is the perfect choice because it biomechanically offers excellent plyometric training that targets limb strength, rhythm, and coordination, which are essential for locomotion. Cognitively, jump rope has been shown to improve executive function, particularly working memory and cognitive flexibility, especially in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Kanzari et al., 2025). Additionally, jumping rope is explicitly mentioned as one example of a play activity that contributes to children's physical and sensory development (Garaigordobil et al., 2022).

Jump rope essentially requires locomotor skills (jumping and hopping continuously), coordination, balance, and rhythmic jumping (Fernandes & Hans, 2022). Its adaptability allows for variation and child engagement. Because this sport is internationally recognized, jump ropes can help with universal motor development (Norman et al., 2019). Although the benefits are clear, there is little empirical evidence that structured, varied jump rope programs effectively improve gross motor skills in preschool students. This is especially true for standardized assessments like the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2) in preschool populations. However, there is more evidence regarding broader physical activity interventions.

The novelty of this research lies in shifting the focus from product-based quantitative outcome measures (such as duration and frequency) to the quality of process-based movement patterns specifically tailored to the preschool child's motor development stage. This distinguishes the intervention from most studies of school-aged children, which tend to emphasize strength or endurance protocols. This research aims to fill a literature gap by addressing the scarcity of process-oriented empirical data for the 5–6 age group and the limited objective evidence from the standard TGMD-2 instrument relevant to the natural characteristics of early childhood. Through the Play Rope Jumping approach, this research fills that methodological gap by presenting a more flexible, valid, and targeted intervention design.

In research on the potential use of jump rope as a motor intervention, there is significant variation in the literature regarding the age of the study subjects (Barrio et al., 2023). Most existing research on the effectiveness of jump rope training focuses on school-aged children (7 years and older) (Singh et al., 2022), as it is easier to measure fitness levels and adherence to structured exercise protocols at this age (Chen et al., 2024). This implicitly leaves little objective evidence about how effective jump rope programs are for preschool-aged children (3–6 years old) (Andini et al., 2022). However, the preschool stage is very important for acquiring fundamental motor skills (FMS). This decline in data is due to methodological issues: research on young children requires specialized tools for measuring movement processes, and problems with test subject compliance often arise (Logan et al., 2018). Responding to this urgency, this study aims to test and document the effectiveness of the Jump Rope Game intervention program in improving locomotor skills in early childhood.

This section presents the study's findings, beginning with the descriptive characteristics of the participants and then analyzing locomotor skill outcomes. Descriptive statistics are provided to offer an overview of the sample prior to further inferential analysis.

The demographic characteristics of the participants are summarized in Table 1. A total of 30 preschool children were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 5 years and 3 months (SD = 6 months). Regarding gender distribution, the sample comprised 19 males (63%) and 11 females (37%), indicating a slightly higher proportion of male participants.

Furthermore, the increase in post-test score variability (SD) may indicate that children responded to the intervention at different rates, which is common in early childhood motor development contexts. Nevertheless, the overall positive trend indicates that the structured jump-rope activities provided sufficient stimulus to facilitate meaningful development of locomotor skills. These findings support the effectiveness of play-based, progressively structured physical activity interventions in enhancing fundamental motor skills among preschool children.

The results of the paired-samples t-test indicate a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest locomotor skill scores (Table 3). The magnitude of the mean difference reflects a substantial improvement following the intervention, suggesting that the jump rope program had a meaningful impact on children’s motor skill development.

The obtained p-value (p < 0.001) confirms that the observed improvement is unlikely to have occurred by chance. This finding provides strong empirical support for the intervention's effectiveness in enhancing locomotor skills among preschool children. Therefore, the research hypothesis is supported.

Beyond sparking motivation, both organizational factors also directly contribute to the athletes' overall contentment. Service quality shows a significant direct effect on athlete satisfaction (β = 0.170, ρ = 0.023), as does communication (β = 0.165, ρ = 0.040). However, the data unequivocally show that the most substantial direct driver of athlete satisfaction is their own internal motivation (β = 0.582, ρ = 0.000). This implies that when athletes are intrinsically driven, find joy in their skill development, and feel actively engaged in the process, their overall satisfaction with the club experience reaches its peak.

The main objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Jump Rope Play intervention program in improving the locomotor skills of early childhood children. The research results convincingly support the hypothesis, as evidenced by a statistically significant improvement in locomotor scores (p=0.000). The average score increased substantially from 23.30 (Pre-test) to 27.87 (Post-test), indicating that the four-week game-based jump rope intervention was highly effective. This increase not only demonstrates an improvement in basic jumping ability but also the child's ability to regulate rhythm, timing, and dynamic balance, which are essential components of locomotor mastery.

The principles of strength and coordination, as well as biomechanics literature, indicate that this program is running well. The muscle stretch-shortening cycle in the lower limb muscles is the focus of repetitive jumping movements in jump rope (Barrio et al., 2023). This repeated stimulation is crucial for increasing muscle power and elasticity, which are necessary for more efficient locomotor performance (Chen & Wu, 2022). This study adds to previous evidence and confirms that jump rope is physiologically beneficial for preschool-aged children, a group whose locomotor skills are developing rapidly.

Specifically, the observed improvement in locomotor skills (jumping, hopping) is directly attributable to the intrinsic nature of jump rope activities, which largely involve repetitive, rhythmic jumping (McGann et al., 2020). This activity provides many opportunities for children to practice and refine lower-body coordination, balance, and propulsion (Anggraini, 2025). The improvement of motor skills and bilateral coordination can be indirectly enhanced through the timing and coordination required to manipulate the rope during swinging and to maintain rhythm (Trecroci et al., 2015). However, this is not directly related to improving object control abilities, which are fundamental for many object control tasks (Huang et al., 2024). Moreover, many variations of jump rope often include elements that implicitly enhance body awareness and spatial reasoning, which are crucial for effective object manipulation.

The use of a game context (game-based) rather than formal training is a specific contribution of this research. Game-based jump rope encourages children's natural desire to practice regularly, which is important for automating their motor skills (Deng et al., 2024). Additionally, jump rope requires precise synchronization between rope swings, rhythm, and jumps (Huang et al., 2022). To adjust their movements to this rhythm, children practice visuomotor coordination and timing, which are important components that often pose obstacles in mastering complex locomotor skills such as skipping or galloping (Warmansyah et al., 2024).

Theoretically, these findings support Dynamic Systems Theory (Torrents & Balagué, 2018). Jumping rope requires children to optimize and reorganize their motor systems. Measurable improvements in locomotor skills indicate that the child's musculoskeletal system and task demands are working together, such as when jumping over a moving rope. This enhances the exploration and selection of movement solutions, which helps them master their skills (Zhao et al., 2023). By introducing a variety of jump rope activities, this intervention effectively manipulates task constraints, encouraging children to explore new movement solutions and adapt their motor patterns (Huggett & Howells, 2024).

By offering a variety of increasingly challenging activities, structured jump rope modules effectively manipulate the "task" constraint (Storli & Lorås, 2025). Children are encouraged to explore various movement solutions and adapt their motor patterns. This increases movement variability, which is not considered a disturbance but is an important part of healthy exploration and flexibility in the motor system, leading to stronger skill development. Game-based interventions encourage children's engagement and practice by tapping into their intrinsic motivation (Glass & Galati, 2025).

The success of the jump rope intervention is also consistent with the established principles of Motor Learning Theory (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016). This program offers many practice opportunities; the 8-week intervention with regular sessions provides numerous repetitions of key movements, which are crucial for automation and skill enhancement (Goodway & Robinson, 2015). This program incorporates various jump rope activities (such as running, two-footed, one-footed, etc.) to provide a diverse training context. These varied exercises are known to enhance learning and the transferability of skills across different situations, making them more adaptive and resilient (Hulteen et al., 2017). The inherent nature of skipping rope provides immediate feedback, such as a sense of rhythm and the ability to jump over the rope, even though it is not explicitly explained. External feedback, or facilitator guidance, will more directly direct performance. This combination of feedback greatly aids motor learning. Fun, accessible, and possibly innovative jump rope activities encourage children to engage. High motivation has been shown to enhance motor learning and practice perseverance, resulting in better performance.

In line with the emphasis on accessible physical interventions, this study provides empirical evidence that complements Ludyana et al. (2022), which emphasizes the importance of locomotor movement abilities at an early age as a reference for motor development as children get older. We offer a tested intervention model using standard instruments (TGMD-2) that physical education teachers in the field can replicate.

The results of this study have direct and important implications for early childhood learning, as rope skipping intervention should be systematically integrated into preschool physical activity programs. This offers a cost-effective, easily accessible, and sustainable alternative to expensive sports equipment. Educators will have evidence that game-based programs can significantly improve locomotor skills (Rahmanifar et al., 2025), allowing them to focus on fun, repetitive practice rather than rigid exercises.

This study provides empirical evidence that the jump-rope-based intervention program (Play Jump Rope) is effective in enhancing locomotor skills among preschool children. The findings demonstrate that structured, repetitive, and play-based physical activities are developmentally appropriate strategies for supporting motor coordination and overall movement competence in early childhood. The observed improvements highlight the potential of integrating enjoyable and skill-oriented activities to optimize motor development during critical growth periods.

In addition to its effectiveness, the intervention offers practical advantages, as it is low-cost, easily implemented, and adaptable to various educational settings. Therefore, incorporating structured jump rope activities into early childhood physical education curricula is strongly recommended as a sustainable approach to promoting physical literacy from an early age. This is particularly relevant to addressing the growing concern about reduced physical activity among children, driven by increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

The authors express their deepest appreciation and profound gratitude to all parties who have provided invaluable assistance, guidance, and support throughout the completion of this research.

The empirical data supporting the findings of this study are contained within the manuscript and its supplementary materials. Additional detailed datasets or raw data used for the structural equation modeling are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable academic request.

This research does not receive external funding.

The authors hereby declares that this research is free from conflicts of interest with any party.