PLAYING THERAPY PUZZLE INSIDE IMPROVES PRESCHOOL CHILDREN'S FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Physical abilities known as fine motor skills need the coordination of small muscles and are an important aspect of assessing child development. Delays in fine motor skills in preschool children result in children having difficulty exploring the environment, hampering the learning process, being unable to write, and resulting in decreased interest in learning and creativity. One of the treatments used to help preschoolers enhance their fine motor skills is the use of game therapy puzzles. The goal of this case study is to ascertain how play therapy puzzles affect preschoolers' ability to enhance their fine motor skills. With a one-group pre-test and post-test design and a sample size of 13, this study was a quasi-experimental one. The instrument used was the DDST II. DDST II is one method of screening to assess child development and the research was carried out 8 times in 4 weeks with a frequency of 1 week 2 times Evaluation results after playing puzzle therapy eight times in four weeks were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test and showed that before and after being given an educational game, the media puzzle gave a p-value of 0.05. This shows that there is a significant effect caused by the puzzle game intervention. It is hoped that by providing educational games with optimal media puzzles. In kids ages 4-5, it can enhance the development of fine motor skills.