Background and Purpose
Physical literacy is widely recognized as a multidimensional construct encompassing motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding required for lifelong engagement in physical activity (International Physical Literacy Association, 2019). Despite increasing scholarly interest, most assessment tools focus predominantly on school-aged children, leaving a significant research gap concerning preschool populations.
Early childhood represents a crucial period during which foundational movement experiences shape future attitudes, behaviors, and sustained participation in physical activity. Effective assessment and intervention at this stage are essential to foster the development of lasting physical literacy. The Preschool Physical Literacy Assessment Tool (Pre-PLAy), developed by Cairney et al. (2019), provides a comprehensive framework assessing key domains including movement competence, coordinated movements, motivation, and enjoyment. It leverages observations by early childhood educators during structured activities, free play, and self-care tasks, facilitating the capture of developmental and contextual nuances appropriate for children aged 18 to 48 months.
This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and psychometrically evaluate the Pre-PLAy tool for Iranian preschool children. The objectives focused on establishing content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency reliability, ensuring the instrument's methodological soundness and cultural relevance within Iran. Establishing a valid and reliable tool is vital for researchers, educators, and practitioners to accurately assess and promote physical literacy in this age group. Valid assessment facilitates early identification of developmental delays or deficits in physical literacy components, enabling tailored interventions. Moreover, such a tool supports cross-cultural comparisons, enriching global understanding of physical literacy development during early childhood.
Given the rising prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and childhood obesity globally, this research underscores the critical need for early assessment and intervention to cultivate lifelong healthy behaviors. Ultimately, this study contributes foundational evidence toward culturally sensitive practices in early childhood physical education and health promotion.
Materials and Methods
A descriptive-applied cross-sectional design was employed involving 330 healthy children aged 18 to 48 months, selected via multistage cluster random sampling from kindergartens in Tehran. Following ethical approval from the national research committee and informed parental consent, preschool educators underwent comprehensive training on instrument administration.
The adapted tool retained the original 19 items across three domains: fundamental motor skills, coordinated movements, and motivation/enjoyment, translated and culturally adapted for use in Iran. Content and face validity were assessed by eight motor behavior specialists using Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) metrics.
Construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) performed with SmartPLS software. The analyses examined factor loadings, convergent and discriminant validity, and model fit indices. Internal consistency reliability was determined via Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability coefficients.
After excluding 25 incomplete responses, analyses were conducted on 305 children, balanced by gender. Educators rated each child during structured play, free play, and self-care using Likert scales adapted per subdomain. Reverse scoring was applied to one item to maintain scale integrity. Scoring protocols and analytic procedures closely mirrored the original study to ensure cross-cultural consistency.
 
Findings
The overall CVR for the Preschool Physical Literacy Assessment Tool was 0.96, and the CVI achieved a perfect score of 1.00, indicating excellent content validity. Face validity was unanimously confirmed by reviewers, reflecting appropriateness and clarity of all items.
CFA findings corroborated the theoretical three-factor model encompassing motor competence, coordinated movements, and motivation/enjoyment. Consistent with Cairney et al. (2019), Items 17 and 19 exhibited insufficient factor loadings and were consequently removed to optimize model fit and interpretability.
Structural path coefficients revealed motor competence (β = 0.97), coordinated movements (β = 0.70), and motivation/enjoyment (β = 0.60) as statistically significant predictors of overall physical literacy.
Convergent validity was confirmed with average variance extracted (AVE) values exceeding the 0.50 threshold for all constructs. Discriminant validity was established via the Fornell-Larcker criterion, confirming distinctiveness among factors.
Reliability analyses demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values and composite reliability estimates surpassing 0.70 and 0.80, respectively, indicating robust measurement precision and stability.
These psychometric properties align closely with previous validations of the Pre-PLAy tool and support its suitability for application in research and practical settings to assess physical literacy in young Iranian children. facilitating early identification and intervention efforts.
 
 

Figure 1. The magnitude of the effect coefficients of the research model in CFA
 
Conclusion
Based on analyses of validity and reliability indices, the Preschool Children’s Physical Literacy Assessment Tool demonstrates acceptable levels of conceptual validity, structural validity, and internal consistency. Consistent with internationally recognized definitions of physical literacy, this instrument proves reliable and practical for assessing physical literacy and its core components in preschool-aged children. The findings endorse its use not only in academic research but also as a valuable tool for educators, motor development specialists, and early childhood program planners, particularly within educational and physical activity contexts.
Given Iran’s cultural diversity, it is recommended to further examine and psychometrically validate this tool across varied ethnic, geographic, and cultural populations to verify its generalizability and applicability on a national scale. Moreover, applying this instrument within educational, rehabilitative, and therapeutic interventions for children with special needs presents considerable potential for future research. Such studies could explore how environmental, social, and individual factors influence physical literacy development during early childhood.
 
Article Message
This study introduces a valid, culturally adapted physical literacy assessment for Iranian children aged 18 to 48 months, encompassing three primary domains: motor competence, coordinated movements, and motivation/enjoyment. With robust psychometric properties, it offers a practical resource for educators, researchers, and policymakers to design targeted early childhood motor development interventions. Addressing a critical gap in preschool physical literacy monitoring, this tool supports evidence-based decision-making in early education and health promotion.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical approval was granted in 2023 by the Ethics Committee of the Sport Sciences Research Institute (IR.SSRC.REC.1402.217). Written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians. Participant confidentiality was strictly maintained, and data were reported anonymously.
Authors’ Contributions
Z.S. was responsible for all research stages and assumed full responsibility for the project from inception to completion.
Conflict of Interest
The author declares no competing interests.
 
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges the families of participating children for their invaluable cooperation and trust, without which this research would not have been possible.