The Relationship of Creativity and Motor Creativity with Physical Activity and Motor Fitness in a Gender Perspective Among 8-9-Year-Old Children

Background: In this study, we aimed to determine the presence of any potential gender differences and relationships in terms of creativity, physical activity (PA), motor fitness, and motor creativity in children aged 8-9 years. Methods: The study included 195 primary school children (92 girls and 103 boys) aged 8-9 years old from grade 2. To determine creativity, the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production was used, while motor creativity was assessed using Torrance's 'Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement' test. Motor fitness was assessed with the selected items from the Eurofit battery and Pi & oacute;rkowski tests. The level of moderate-to-vigorous PA was determined with the Physical Activity Screening Measure. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed for in-between group comparison and Spearman's correlation to determine relationships between the variables. Results: The results of the research showed the presence of differences in motor fitness between boys and girls, but no differences in PA, creativity, as well as motor creativity between genders. Moreover, it was found there was no association between PA and motor fitness and creativity or motor creativity in either boys or girls at this age. Conclusions: Thus, it can be assumed that to develop creativity through PA in children aged 8-9 years, it might be necessary to create an appropriate environment and strategy that will strengthen, inspire, and promote children's creativity through movement. Having established that there is no difference in creativity between genders at this age, it was pointed out that it is necessary to look for teaching methods that would effectively awaken this ability in a co-educational setting.