A significant improvement in neonatal intensive care has caused a reduction in mortality in babies at risk and therefore an increase in its morbidity, which stressed the importance of assessing the development of these children. This review was designed to identify the main instruments indicated to assess the development of preterm infants. The databases used were Medline, Lilacs, SciELO, manuals, tools and books in the field of Pediatrics for presenting details on the instruments and not set time limit, because the research objective was to identify the instruments from ancient to most published recently. We identified 11 instruments for assessing development published from 1947 to 1994. Knowledge of these scales and tests can help health professionals and researchers working on the development of premature children, since they constitute an additional tool in the evaluation process. The choice of instrument of assessment should be conducted in accordance with the needs of each child. Can be used for screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and monitoring.