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Development and validation of the motor measures in the NIH Baby Toolbox®

Karen E Adolph1, Whitney G Cole1, Miriam A Novack2

  • 1New York University, United States.

Infant Behavior & Development
|July 31, 2025
PubMed

Insights

The NIH "Baby" Toolbox app offers reliable and valid motor skill assessments for infants and toddlers. This iPad-based tool uses everyday tasks to evaluate fine and gross motor development in young children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Motor Development Assessment
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Motor skills are crucial for early childhood development and serve as key indicators of developmental progress.
  • Assessing motor skills in infants and toddlers is essential for early identification of developmental delays.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and validate the NIH "Baby" Toolbox, an iPad-based application for assessing motor skills in children aged 16 days to 42 months.
  • To evaluate the reliability and validity of the "Reach to Eat" and "Get Up and Go" motor skill measures.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an iPad application with direct observation of functional tasks (reaching to eat, getting up to go to a caregiver).
  • Employed video capabilities for instantaneous review and comparison to standard exemplars, enabling export for further analysis.
  • Conducted a large-scale norming study with 2353 participants (1921 English-speaking, 432 Spanish-speaking).

Main Results:

  • The "Reach to Eat" and "Get Up and Go" measures demonstrated reliability and validity in a large, diverse sample.
  • The supplementary "Sit and Stand" measure effectively assesses stationary postural control.
  • Findings confirm the Baby Toolbox as a dependable and scalable instrument for infant and toddler motor skill evaluation.

Conclusions:

  • The NIH "Baby" Toolbox is a reliable, valid, and scalable assessment instrument for infant and toddler fine and gross motor skills.
  • The app's design facilitates use by nonexperts, promoting broader accessibility for developmental monitoring.
  • The use of video technology enhances the precision and utility of motor skill assessment in young children.

Keywords:
LocomotionManual skillMotor developmentMotor planningPostural transitionsTool use

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