Abstract：Objective To determine the convergent validity and stability reliability of pedometry as compared to the criterion variable of triaxial accelerometry（RT3）in measuring structured play activities of preschool children. Methods The subjects were 143 preschoolers including 80 boys and 63 girls aged 4 to 5. The preselected ten play activities，including balance beam walk，cycling，sliding，crawl，running，rhythmic movement，hopscotch，throwing bean bag，kicking ball and rolling ball in two 30-minute normal school playtime sessions with five activities at a time were measured by both pedometer（Digi-Walkers SW-700）and RT3. The same testing procedure was repeated in another two 30-minute playtime sessions. In each session，the test administrators clipped the pedometer and the RT3 onto the left side and right side of a child’s waist，respectively. Pedometer data were recorded as the total steps accumulated while the accelerometer data were recorded as the vector magnitude scores. Results The lowest convergent validity coefficients by correlating pedometer and RT3 data were sliding（r = 0.31）for boys and cycling（r = 0.03）for girls while the other eight activities had acceptable validity coefficients in 0.50s to 0.70s. The play activities with the highest validity coefficients were hopscotch（r = 0.78 for boys，r = 0.77 for girls），rolling ball（r = 0.76 for boys），and walking balance beam（r = 0.76 for girls）. Lastly，the intraclass reliability coefficients for pedometer and RT3 respectively were 0.34 to 0.87 and 0.37 to 0.82. Conclusion Pedometer is a valid tool when measuring most of the preschoolers’play activities.
2014, Vol. 2 
