• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.51-63
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among parental perception of home-based fine motor experiences in early childhood, home environment, and frequency of fine motor activities, and to investigate a mediating role of home environment in the process of parental perception influencing early childhood's frequency of fine motor activities. The data from 214 five-year-old children and their parents from six early childhood education centers in Gyeonggi province were collected and analyzed. The data were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and bootstrapping analysis. The major findings were as follows: First, gender differences in parental perception, home environment, and frequency of fine motor activities existed in that values across all three variables were higher for girls than for boys. Second, parental perception, home environment and frequency of fine motor activities were positively correlated. Third, partial mediating effects of home environment on the relation between parental perception and the frequency of fine motor activities were found. These findings show an existence of gender differences in early childhood's fine motor activities. This research also affirms the significance of increasing the frequency of fine motor activities by enhancing parental perceptions for balanced motor development of boys and girls, and establishing a home environment conducive to fine motor activities at any time and in any location.