Abstract
Motor skills are part of and a prerequisite of all movements. The development of a child reflects maturation of the central nervous system and the interaction between the maturing organism, environment and a task (bio-psycho-social development).
Any motor impairment may have a negative impact on an individual's function within activities of daily living, on his or her cognitive behaviour and inclusion in the society. When testing motor skills in children, it must be determined which deviation needs to be actively treated and corrected and which can be classified as a developmental variation that disappears with age independently of therapy.
Since a child's motor development is continuous and dynamic, paediatric testing methods must be different than those used in adults. Various assessment tools are used to determine the level of motor skills and to identify abnormalities.
The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview and description of the most used motor tests in children of a younger school age. The described assessment tools allow one to decide which child requires therapy and which one only needs specific recommendations or monitoring.