Understanding the perceived value of relational psychomotricity in Early Childhood Education: a mixed-methods study of parents’ and teachers’ perspectives

Relational psychomotricity is useful during childhood because it aims to support children’s overall development by integrating movement, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. Teachers’ and parents’ opinions and perceptions of psychomotricity are crucial for supporting its implementation and sustainability in school settings. The aim of the study was to assess the opinions of parents and teachers regarding the effects of psychomotor skills on children in the motor, affective, and relational domains. A sample of 72 teachers (49.47±10.18 years) and 72 parents (39.32 ± 5.64 years) of children aged 3–7 who participated in school-based psychomotricity programs completed an online questionnaire including nine Likert-scale items and one open-ended question. Results indicated a very positive evaluation by participants, with higher ratings for general satisfaction and for perceived changes in socialization, attention, language, and motor skills. The parents reported significantly higher ratings in 4 out of 9 Likert-scale items. Furthermore, participants largely agreed that the relational psychomotor program should be proposed again at school next year for the children. Qualitative responses to the open-ended question were categorized into 10 thematic clusters: socialization (reported by 47.2% of the participants), emotional regulation (41%), and self-esteem (22.2%) were the most representative. Overall, this study describes teachers’ and parents’ perceived value of relational psychomotor across multiple domains. Future research could benefit from more objective longitudinal monitoring of children's progress, but the strong and nuanced support from caregivers reported in this study should be interpreted as an indicator of acceptability and perceived benefit, representing a crucial step toward broader recognition and integration of relational psychomotricity in educational systems.