The advent of new technologies has replaced physical manipulatives - which are physical models of equivalent representation of concepts by virtual manipulatives which many learners and teachers find useful in the mathematics classroom. The current study investigated students' motivation to engage with virtual manipulatives as a tool in the mathematics education. Activity theory was used to conduct a multicomponential survey of virtual manipulatives in education and administered it to 442 Iranian high school students with the aim of examining students' perception of various aspects of the manipulatives. Using the Rasch-Andrich rating scale model (RSM), an item response theory model, psychometric features of the instrument were examined item endorsibility, learners' ability, fit, and unidimensionality. The validated instrument can be used to find the factors that could improve students' perceptions of virtual manipulatives in the mathematics classroom.