
Many parents worry at some point whether their child is typically developing and are looking for skills of walking, talking, sitting, and jumping. However, a big question we get is when should a child have a hand preference?
A hand preference should be observed at about 3 years old. It is important for children to learn skills with both hands to influence higher level skills later in life. A child is likely to pick the hand that can complete activities easier. Things that can influence this include strength of their hand, bilateral coordination, and their ability to cross midline. For example, if a child has challenges with crossing midline and a cheerio is presented on their right side, they are more likely to use their right hand to pick up the cheerio compared to the left.
If a child uses one hand most of the time with things like pincer grasp, playing with puzzles, stacking blocks, and reaching for toys between the age 0-3 years then this is considered asymmetrical. Asymmetry happens when one side of the body isn’t working the same as the other. This would be a could time to seek out an occupational therapy evaluation.
If a child does not have a hand preference by the age of 5 and is switching hands during activities such as drawing, cutting, and using feeding utensils, this might be an area of concern. When a child switches hands during activities, this could be due to endurance and strength of the hands. If your child is exhibiting these signs, it is important to work on fine motor strengthening activities and address core strength to improve postural control to allow for greater functional use of the hands. Occupational therapists can assist in developing these skills and helping your child develop a hand preference.
Here are some quick activities to complete for hand strengthening:
- Making shapes/letters out of play doh
- Squeezing theraputty
- Finding beads in theraputty
- Squeezing clothes pins
- Spraying spray bottle
- Pinching bubble wrap
- Tearing paper
- Cutting resistive card stock
- Hole punching
Here are some quick activities to complete for core strengthening:
- Bear walks
- Crab walks
- Hanging from monkey bars
- Resistive crawling
- Tummy time activities
- Wheelbarrow walking
- Climbing on ladders