A Qualitative Observation Tool for Folding, Writing, and Cutting in School-Aged Children: Hands-On!

Background. Fine motor skills such as folding, writing, and cutting are daily activities of children, yet reliable, valid tools to qualitatively assess these skills remain limited. Purpose. To develop the Hands-On! observation tool and evaluate its reliability and validity in assessing fine motor skills in 5- to 10-year-old children. Method. Hands-On! was created using literature review and expert feedback to determine intratask components for folding, writing, and cutting. The sample included 178 typically developing children (M_age 8.06 ± 1.58 years, 47.8% boys). Inter- and intraobserver reliability were measured, alongside concurrent (duration and errors DCDDaily) and construct validity (age, sex) for each task. Findings. Moderate to very strong interobserver (folding 84.5%-84.9%, writing 81.8%-86.0%, cutting 75.4%-83.8%) and intraobserver reliability (folding 92.8%, writing 91.7%, cutting 93.7%) were found. Concurrent validity was supported by moderate to strong correlations between qualitative scores for folding (ρ_duration = 0.624, ρ_folds = -0.441) and cutting (ρ_duration = 0.335, ρ_errors = 0.377) with DCDDaily metrics, though no significant correlation was found for writing. Construct validity was supported for folding and cutting, with age and sex explaining 22.1% and 14.1% of the variance. Conclusion. Hands-On! is a reliable and valid qualitative observation tool for assessing fine motor skills in children, enhancing assessment practices, and informing effective interventions.