Enhancing Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood through Children’s Songs and Body Percussion Activities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33830/ijeiece.v8i1.14508Keywords:
Children's Songs, Early Childhood Education, inhibitory control, body percussion activities, self-regulationAbstract
Inhibitory control is a fundamental component of executive functions that enables children to regulate impulses, control behaviors, sustain attention, and respond appropriately to environmental demands. The development of inhibitory control during early childhood has received increasing attention because of its contribution to later academic achievement, self-regulation, and socioemotional competence. Although movement-based and music-based interventions have demonstrated potential for supporting executive function development, limited evidence has investigated the integration of body percussion activities and children’s songs as a developmentally appropriate strategy for strengthening inhibitory control among preschool children. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of body percussion activities integrated with children’s songs on inhibitory control development in early childhood. This study employed a mixed-methods pretest–posttest one-group design with an embedded qualitative component involving 40 parents and 8 preschool teachers from South Jakarta and Malang, Indonesia. Quantitative data were collected using pretest–posttest questionnaires developed from inhibitory control domains adapted from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function–Preschool Version (BRIEF-P). At the same time, qualitative data were obtained through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired-samples t-tests, whereas qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings revealed significant improvements in inhibitory control scores with a large practical effect size, while qualitative results indicated observable changes in stopping behavior, attention regulation, patience, emotional control, and participation. These findings suggest that body percussion activities integrated with children’s songs may provide a meaningful and developmentally appropriate approach for supporting inhibitory control development and strengthening self-regulatory capacities among young children.
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