Abstract:

The aim of this research was to study how much free time during one school day students of the first three primary school grades spend engaged in some physical activity and how much they differ with regard to the attendance in the extended day program. The research was conducted on a convenient sample of 290 parents of children who at the time of the research attended the first three grades of primary schools in the City of Zagreb and Split-Dalmatia County. If the time from student’s arrival from school until going to sleep is observed within one school day, the results of the conducted research do not indicate a statistically significant difference with regard to the attendance in the extended day program in the amount of free time that students spend on some physical activity.

However, if we consider the part of the school day after the end of regular classes until going to sleep, the results of the study indicate a statistically significant difference among students with regard to the attendance in the extended day program in the amount of free time used for some physical activity. Students who attend the extended day program have within the extended day school program structured free time when they voluntarily engage in some physical activity and thus spend more time participating in physical activities than those students who go home after regular classes.

Keywords:

Free time, physical activity, primary school, extended day school program.