Assessing the Efficacy of Kinect-Based Educational Gaming on Primary School Cognitive and Motor Development

Paiva-Centeno S.M. · Publicaciones de la Facultad de Educacion y Humanidades del Campus de Melilla (2026) · DOI: 10.30827/publicaciones.v56i1.36858

Resumen

Introduction: Motion-based educational technologies have gained relevance because of their potential to integrate body movement, digital interaction, and gamified learning. This study assesses the use of a Kinect-based educational video game aimed at supporting psychomotor and cognitive development in primary school students. Method: Nine 10-year-old students from “Institución Educativa Santísima Niña María” in Arequipa, Peru, participated in the study. The intervention was organized into four stages: interactive board engagement, postural and lateral coordination, short-trajectory obstacle navigation, and guided long-distance movements. Data were collected through performance records during game interaction and surveys completed by three observing teachers. Results: The results show favorable performance in motor accuracy, lateral coordination, sequence following, and movement-based problem solving. Teachers positively evaluated the tool in terms of appearance, efficiency, satisfaction, and user experience, although they also identified technical limitations in the recognition of fine-motor gestures. Conclusions: The Kinect-based video game is a promising educational tool for promoting active learning experiences in primary education. Nevertheless, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory evidence because of the small sample size, the observational assessment of computational thinking, and the absence of a pre-test, post-test, and control-group design.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa