There is no ideal measurement instrument for motor skills in children yet

Some other findings from the study are:

• In both youth healthcare and childcare, the vast majority of professionals believe that measuring motor skills in children aged 0 to 4 is important.
• Although almost all professionals in both youth healthcare and childcare indicate that their organisation pays attention to measuring motor skills in children aged 0 to 4, more than one in four professionals would like to spend more time on this.
• Professionals in youth healthcare indicate that they consider the reliability of the measurement instrument, validity (does the instrument measure what it is supposed to measure?), impact on the child and administration time to be the most important properties of a measurement instrument.
• In childcare, professionals place the greatest value on the extent to which the use of the measurement instrument is pedagogically responsible. They consider it important that the child does not experience the test as unpleasant or feel that they can fail.

It is recommended that youth healthcare focus on further investigating the reliability and further developing the current measurement instruments. In childcare, attention should be directed towards drawing up guidelines in the area of motor skills and addressing this topic in the training of childcare professionals. The report mentions 95 measurement instruments that meet four criteria established by the researchers:

• the instrument measures gross motor skills, or components thereof (speed, strength, coordination, flexibility or endurance);
• the instrument is suitable for (part of) the target group of children aged 0 to 4;
• the instrument is suitable for all children in this target group (and is not intended for a target group with a specific condition, such as cerebral palsy);
• the instrument is available in Dutch or English.

Of these 95, 27 instruments are available in the Netherlands (or in Dutch). For all 95 instruments, the age of the target group is between 0 and 4 years. Of these, 24 instruments are specifically aimed at babies and/or young toddlers (0 to 2 years), 27 instruments target toddlers/preschoolers (2 to 4 years), and 44 instruments are aimed at both target groups.

Click here for the report ‘Measurement instruments for motor skills in children aged 0 to 4. An overview and the most important properties’.