AbstractThe assessment of motor abilities is important to identify atypical development, to measure progress obtained with intervention, and for research. Motor assessment usually is based on the use of standardized tests, onwhich children are expected to perform specific tasks that are deemed common. As the majority of the motor development tests were created by researchers fromEuropean and North American countries, concepts from these cultures are embedded in the tasks, ma-terials, and format of the instruments. This raises the question as to whether these instruments can be used internationally, with the perhaps misguided assumption that motor skill devel-opment is the same across different countries. Is it necessary to adapt standardized motor ability tests for cross-cultural use? This paper discusses the relationship between culture and mo-tor development and points out some aspects that should be considered to make our assessment of motor ability more rel-evant cross-culturally. KeywordsMotor abilities. Motor development. Motor assessment. Standardized tests.Translation.Validity. Cross-cultural adaptation