Introduction: muscle strength is an important indicator of neuromuscular function and a component of physical fitness essential for performance in different activities of daily life. Its alteration may cause functional limitations and affects the independence and the roles that a person develops. That is why the evaluation of muscle strength is ne-cessary to determine the level of motor performance and identify risks associated with growth and development. Objective: to describe the state of art related to the use of muscle strength assessment scales in children between 3 and 8 years of age. Materials and Methods: a review of the literature was performed using the PICO strategy, with bibliographic search in the Ovid, Sage, Science Direct, Proquest and Clinical Key data-bases. Results: in the initial phase of the screening process, 69 eligible records were identified by title and abstract, of which 56 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Additionally, 3 books with relevant information were identified, which is why 16 references that are part of the qualitative synthesis of this study were taken into account. Conclusions: srategies and tests such as dynamometry, Functional Strength Measurement, Bruininks Oseretsky’s Motor Skills Test, Fitness Testing Preschool Chil-dren and FUPRECOL are tools that allow evaluating muscle strength in childhood, and provide important elements in early identification of risk factors for the person’s health.