The aim of this study was to describe the development of the paediatric daily occupation scale (PDOS) that was validated with Taiwanese children aged from birth to 72 months. Item-scale correlation coefficient was also used to select items. The psychometric properties of PDOS were examined based on the results of 957 children who participated in the study. The Chinese child development inventory (CCDI) was used as a standard to examine the concurrent validity of PDOS on two different samples. The PDOS, completed by parents, contains 340 items with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.99), test-retest reliability (r = 0.99) and concurrent validity (r = 0.88 between PDOS and CCDI). The sensitivity of PDOS (83%) in detecting children with developmental problems was much higher than CCDI (33%). Because the PDOS is developed and examined on children from greater Taipei area, when using the PDOS with children from different socio-cultural environments, the results need to be interpreted cautiously. Further research of the PDOS to justify its use as a screening tool for early detecting of children with developmental problems is suggested.